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jack o lanterns originally came from the Celts and the Irish. It started when the Celts started to carve turnips and stuff them with candles to make them look like skeletons. The Irish had a story about a man named Stingy Jack. He tricked the devil into climbing a tree and then carved a cross into the tree. The devil cursed him by condemning to walking the earth with his only light - a turnip with a light in it.
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What is a jack-o-latern?
it is a pumpkin that is carved with a spooky face
What does the jack-o-lantern came from?
The Jack-o'-Lantern gets it's roots from the Gaelic festival of Samhain, where the glowing shell of a hollowed out turnip - not pumpkin - would be set out to ward off the creatures of the Underworld. When the European tradition came to America, pumpkins were much easier to come by than turnips, and the switch was made.
When were pumpkins first used as jack-o'-lanterns in the US?
The Irish carried the Hallow's Eve tradition with them. They would originally carve out squash-like vegetables and make lanterns out of them. The only squash-like ones they had in America were pumpkins. A native (of America) saw them and called it a Jack O' Lantern. Then it stuck.
Why was there a jack-o-latern on Halloween?
There has been a long tradition of carved vegetables in the British Isles. When immigrants came to the U.S., the pumpkin was much more readily available and was easier to carve than the traditional turnips. They were associated with the harvest (since that is when they would ripen) and slowly became associated with Halloween (possibly because the origin of the name tells a tale of a man who associated with the devil and Halloween is supposed to be a day when devils, demons, witches, and the like are out).
What does the word lantern mean?
Its actually the Latern of Jack. Its from an old Irish legend of a man called Stingy Jack who tricked the devil into keeping him out of hell. After he dies though Satan remembers him and wont let him into hell and he was too bad to go to heaven. But he is given a live coal. Jack puts the coal into a gourd fruit (turnips pumpkins ECT) to carry about as he wanders the earth. The tradition of carving jack o laterns was a way of telling Stingy Jack he had best move on. The scary faces were devised later to frighten away other less savory ghosts.
Where does the jack-o'-lanterns story come from?
From someone who got accute Pancreas cancer after walking around with a latern. Because of the tumor he got so mutiliated that he became a legend.
Where did the tradition of carving pumpkins into Jack-O-Lanterns originate?
What modern Halloween tradition is linked to an Irish myth surrounding a man named stingy jack?
jack o'lanterns
How did the jack-o'-lanterns tradition begin?
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.
Could the Tradition of flying the skull and crossbones or Jolly Roger be related to he way Blackbeard was killed with his head hanging from the mast?
No. The tradition came from Calico Jack's flag, which was called the Jolly Roger with the traditional skull and crossbones, but the name went on to represent all flags, regardless of what they actually portrayed on them.
Where did the of jack o lantern originate?
That ultimately depends on how you use a Jack-O-Lantern. Most commonly, Jack-O-Lanterns are used on Halloween as a spooky or silly head of a false person. For the origin of this tradition, see the related question "Where did the tradition of carving pumpkins into Jack-O-Lanterns originate?".
Where did the use of the jack-o'-lantern originate?
That ultimately depends on how you use a Jack-O-Lantern. Most commonly, Jack-O-Lanterns are used on Halloween as a spooky or silly head of a false person. For the origin of this tradition, see the related question "Where did the tradition of carving pumpkins into Jack-O-Lanterns originate?".
