2006-10-27 13:39:38 · 12 answers · asked by frog 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Holidays ➔ Halloween
the history of the pumpkin
The Great Pumpkin
Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Pumpkins But Were Afraid To Ask...
- Pumpkins are fruits. A pumpkin is a type of squash and is a member of the gourd family (Cucurbitacae), which also includes squash, cucumbers, gherkins, and melons.
- The largest pumpkin pie ever baked was in 2003 and weighed 418 pounds.
- Pumpkins have been grown in North America for five thousand years. They are indigenous to the western hemisphere.
- In 1584, after French explorer Jacques Cartier explored the St. Lawrence region of North America, he reported finding "gros melons." The name was translated into English as "pompions," which has since evolved into the modern "pumpkin."
- Pumpkins are low in calories, fat, and sodium and high in fiber. They are good sources of Vitamin A, Vitamin B, potassium, protein, and iron.
- The largest pumpkin ever grown was 1,337 pounds. It was grown by Charles Houghton of New Boston, New Hampshire.
- Pumpkin seeds should be planted between the last week of May and the middle of June. They take between 90 and 120 days to grow and are picked in October when they are bright orange in color. Their seeds can be saved to grow new pumpkins the next year.
History Of The Jack-O'Lantern
Pumpkin carving is a popular part of modern America's Halloween celebration. Come October, pumpkins can be found everywhere in the country from doorsteps to dinner tables. Despite the widespread carving that goes on in this country every autumn, few Americans really know why or when the jack o'lantern tradition began. Or, for that matter, whether the pumpkin is a fruit or a vegetable. Read on to find out!
People have been making jack o'lanterns at Halloween for centuries. The practice originated from an Irish myth about a man nicknamed "Stingy Jack." According to the story, Stingy Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him. True to his name, Stingy Jack didn't want to pay for his drink, so he convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks. Once the Devil did so, Jack decided to keep the money and put it into his pocket next to a silver cross, which prevented the Devil from changing back into his original form. Jack eventually freed the Devil, under the condition that he would not bother Jack for one year and that, should Jack die, he would not claim his soul. The next year, Jack again tricked the Devil into climbing into a tree to pick a piece of fruit. While he was up in the tree, Jack carved a sign of the cross into the tree's bark so that the Devil could not come down until the Devil promised Jack not to bother him for ten more years.
Soon after, Jack died. As the legend goes, God would not allow such an unsavory figure into heaven. The Devil, upset by the trick Jack had played on him and keeping his word not to claim his soul, would not allow Jack into hell. He 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 ever since. The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as "Jack of the Lantern," and then, simply "Jack O'Lantern."
In Ireland and Scotland, people began to make their own versions of Jack's lanterns by carving scary faces into turnips or potatoes and placing them into windows or near doors to frighten away Stingy Jack and other wandering evil spirits. In England, large beets are used. Immigrants from these countries brought the jack o'lantern tradition with them when they came to the United States. They soon found that pumpkins, a fruit native to America, make perfect jack o'lanterns.
2006-10-27 13:43:32 · answer #1 · answered by dee luna 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Celts that lived in what is now Great Britain and Northern France would carry a lantern when they walked on the eve of October 31. These lanterns were carved out of big turnips and the lights were believed to keep the evil spirits away. Children would carve faces in the turnips. These carved turnips were called "jack-o-lanterns.
Legends have it that the "jack-o-lantern" got its name from a stingy and mean old man, named Jack, who when he died was too mean to get into heaven. When Jack went to hell he was meet by the Devil who gave him a piece of burning coal and sent him away. Jack placed the burning coal in a turnip to use as a lantern to light his way. The legends claim that Jack is still walking with the lantern looking for a place to stay.
When the early settlers came to America they found the big round orange pumpkin. Being larger and much more colorful than turnips, the pumpkin made great "jack-o-lanterns". Eventually the pumpkin would replace the turnip.
As the settlers spread across America they took their Halloween celebrations with them. The custom of the "jack-o-lantern" would travel with them. Eventually the Pumpkin would become the most widely recognized symbol of the Halloween holiday.
2006-10-27 20:42:43 · answer #2 · answered by magnolia_76 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The carved jack-o'-lantern, lit by a candle inside, is one of Halloween's most prominent symbols. Although there is a tradition in the British Isles of carving a lantern from a rutabaga, mangelwurzel, or turnip, the practice was first named and associated with Halloween in North America, where the pumpkin was available, and much larger and easier to carve. Many families that celebrate Halloween carve a pumpkin into a frightening or comical face and place it on their home's doorstep after dark.
2006-10-27 20:41:03 · answer #3 · answered by redstarzero 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A pumpkin is a guord, and they were used first as lanterns, cut out and carved the same way we do with pumpkins today, and then put on a stick for light.
A pumpkin is also a very colorful harvest vegetable, and Halloween really is a harvest festival, same as Thanksgiving exactly, just a festival for things brought in cause' they ripened earlier.
And it tastes good in pie! Might be a reason too. Though we think of pie as Thanksgiving.
2006-10-27 20:51:22 · answer #4 · answered by smoothsoullady 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The old Celtic belief was that there was an old man named jack O'Lantern who was so mean that he was not allowed in Heaven or hell. He was condemned to walk the earth with a lump of coal burning in a turnip for light. It later became a pumpkin because pumpkins are harvested during the time of Salou which was the Celtic version of halloween.
2006-10-27 20:42:22 · answer #5 · answered by dropkicksiu 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
In ireland they used turnips to carve jack o'lanterns. But when the iris came to America they found that the pumpkin was much easier to carve and worked better than the turnip. it became so popular that other groups adopted the custom and ever since we use the pumpkin jask o'lantern to symbolize halloween.
2006-10-28 00:24:36 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well the great pumpkin came down from the sky and told us we should always use pumpkins on that special day.
2006-10-27 20:43:10 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Initiated by irish immigants who came over to usa in the 1800s during the potato famine in ireland. They orginaly used turnips carved out to represent their dear departed but due to a shortage of that vegetable in the US., they reverted to pumpkin.
2006-10-27 21:20:08 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I believe that people carve scary faces into pumpkins to ward off evil spirits, but who knows....I may be totally full of it.
2006-10-27 20:42:10 · answer #9 · answered by freezerburn 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
People originally carved turnips for Jack O' Lanterns during Hallowe'en/Samhain/Whatever. I guess when turnips weren't available they used another harvest fruit and decided it looked better?
2006-10-27 20:41:50 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋