Why Do We Carve Pumpkins on Halloween
The tradition of carving pumpkins, or jack-o-lanterns, began when early Irishmen immigrated to the U.S. According to Irish folklore, Jack was a blacksmith who had tricked the devil on several occasions. When he died, he was denied entry to both heaven and hell with the devil sentencing him to roam the Earth for eternity. In Ireland, people started to carve demonic faces out of turnips to frighten away Jack’s wandering soul. When Irish immigrants moved to the U.S., they discovered that pumpkins were more readily available and made better jack-o’-lanterns than turnips.
