People in ancient Ireland used to put out turnips (they didn't have pumpkins) carved with human faces, in the belief that there was a man named Jack who was not allowed to enter Heaven and had to roam Earth forever. The turnips were to give him light on his journey. Then when the Irish came to the US, they found that pumpkins were much easier to carve than turnips, so they continued their tradition, but with pumpkins instead of turnips. Eventually the tradition spread all over the US.
Stingy Jack Folktale
An old Irish folktale tells the story of Stingy Jack(known as Jack the Smith in some variations), who was a lazy yet shrewd farmer. In all the variations, Jack is used as a character who traps the Devil with a cross. The way with which he does this varies from version-to-version. In any case, Jack forces the Devil to agree to never take his soul in return for his release.
Later, because of Jack's hectic lifestyle of thievery and drinking, he eventually falls victim to his own habits and dies. Jack is denied entrance through the gates of Saint Peter into Heaven due to his sinful life. As a result, Jack travels to the gates of Hell and begs the Devil to allow him to rest his soul there. In keeping the agreement he made with Jack earlier, the Devil cannot take his soul and refuses him entrance into Hell.
Mockingly, the Devil gives Jack an ember of Hell that never burns out and forces him to forever wander in the netherworld searching for a place to rest his soul. As a warning to others, Jack places the ember inside a carved turnip to light his way, forever known as Jack of the Lantern.
As time passed, the legend became more and more variated. The original carved turnip was turned into a carved pumpkin and "Jack of the Lantern" was changed to Jack o' the lantern, which was eventually turned into jack-o'-lantern.
i have an awnser about the jack story...:Jack was a boy who had been cursed by the devil/satin and he had to walk around with a turnip and inside the turnip was a candle stick and thats what made us have pumpkins today and that is also why we call them jack o lanterns!
In America, the tradition of pumpkin carving began in 1834. It was associated with the harvest season in general, not Halloween when it began.
the jack-o-lantern was originated in the 1800s by the bad boy from ireland jack
A guy named Jack was tanting the devil
the jack - o - lantern story comes from Ireland they thought the jack-o-lantern light keep the evil sprits away.
from spain
from ireland
Ireland
from Spain
from Spain
from Spain
Large turnips or beets were the original jack o'lanterns.
The "o" in Jack-o'-lantern is a shortened form of "of." So "Jack-o'-lantern" originally meant "Jack of the lantern," referencing a light source made from a carved pumpkin or turnip.
· Junior Mints (candy for trick or treat bag) · Jack-o-lantern
It is Jack-o’-lantern.
the Jack o' lantern comes from Europe