Published in the Intermountain Farm & Ranch, October 28, 2011
Halloween is upon us. I can remember the fun time of going trick-or-treating around our country community. We didn’t have costumes purchased at the local stores, but resorted to what we could find in our closets, or sometimes Mom would make us something, using crepe paper and her imagination. Some examples of our costumes: ghosts, using sheets for our costume; farmers, using Dad’s overhauls; a ballerina, with a crepe paper tutu; a pirate with a patch over an eye; a “bum” with a bandanna tied onto a stick carried over a shoulder. There would always be a large assortment of masks of Disney characters and of course the scary ones that we could buy.
Kids then and now make Jack O’Lantern's, carving them at home, in school, at cub scouts and girl scouts. Every October, these carved pumpkins, with a lighted candle in them, sit on porches, doorsteps and windows of homes in the United States and other countries.
This practice originated from an Irish myth about a man who was nicknamed “Stingy Jack.” Stingy Jack apparently invited the Devil to have a drink with him. Being true to his nickname, Stingy Jack was hesitant to pay for his own drink, so he convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks with. Once the Devil did so Jack decided to keep the coin and put it in his pock. He had a silver cross in the same pocket, and with the coin next to the cross it prevented the Devil from changing back into his original form. Jack finally freed the Devil with the condition that he would not bother Jack for one full year and if Jack happened to die within the year the Devil would not claim his soul.
The next year Jack again tricked the Devil by getting him to climb a tree to pick some fruit. While he was up in the tree, Jack carved a sign of the cross into the tree’s bark so that the Devil couldn’t come down. This time Jack had the Devil promise not to bother him for ten years.
Jack died soon after this. The story goes that God would not allow such a deceitful person into heaven. The Devil, upset by the tricks Jack had played on him, kept his word not to claim his soul, thus no allowing Jack into hell. The Devil sent Jack off into the dark night with only a burning coal to light his way. Jack put the coal into a carved-out turnip and has been roaming the Earth with this turnip since. The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as “Jack of the Lantern,” now simplified to “Jack O’Lantern.”
In Ireland and Scotland, people began making their own versions of Jack’s lanterns by carving scary faces on hollowed out turnips, and potatoes then placing them in window sills or near doors to frighten away Stingy Jack and other wandering evil spirits. In England, large beets were used. As people from these countries immigrated they carried with them the Jack O’Lantern tradition. Coming to the United States they discovered that pumpkins, a native of America, made perfect Jack O’Lantern's.
Kind of fun to learn some of the history of our traditions, isn’t it? Have a fun and safe Halloween, and watch out for "Stingy Jack."
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