How did the pumpkin correspond with Halloween?

Answer 1

when settlers came to America. before they used pumpkins they would use turnips.and other things as jack o lanterns to scare off bad spirits.

Answer 2

Before the pumpkin became the prefered carving medium for the jack-o-lantern people used things like turnips for jack-o-lanterns. At one time it was believed that the jack-o-lantern was a device to keep away evil spirits. So a scary face was carved into a turnip or some other vegetable and a burning ember or candle was put in to lit the face, thus warding off evil spirits. When people immigrated to the new world, they brought their traditions with them and found new elements to incorporate into those traditions. The pumpkin proved larger and easier to carve than a turnip. So it was easier to make a nice large jack-o-lantern to ward off evil spirits out of the pumpkin.

Answer 3

Pumpkins are generally associated with autumn and harvest festivals.

Jack-o-lanterns come from an old folk tale about a mean and stingy man named Jack. When he died it was rumored that he was forced to roam around the world carrying a turnip with a hot, glowing coal inside, and people called him Jack of the Lantern. So, on Halloween, when spirits are abroad, we see Jack-o-Lantern and his lantern, although now we use pumpkins instead of turnips.

Answer 4

Using pumpkins as lanterns at Halloween is based on an ancient Celtic custom brought to America by Irish immigrants. All Hallows Eve on 31 October marked the New Year of the Celtic calendar year, the Festival of Samhain, and on that night hollowed-out turnips, beets and rutabagas with candles inside them were placed on windowsills and porches to welcome home the spirits of deceased ancestors and ward off evil spirits and a restless soul called "Stingy Jack," hence the name "Jack-o-lantern".

Answer 5

Halloween came to the US in the 1840s from Ireland, where it is still a big deal.

It started as a celtic holiday called Samhain, and it was adopted by the catholic church sort of like christmas and easter were. (It's been a great strategy for the church, but it leads to some peculiar things - like out-of-place pine trees and bunnies)

Back in Ireland, people used to carve lanterns out of potatoes and turnips (and in some cases beets - imagine that!).

When the Irish came here, they were introduced to pumpkins (which are native to central america) and which were already being carved in the fall, but as part of a harvest celebration, not for Halloween. The first mention of carved pumpkins and halloween was in the US in 1866.

Answer 6

Pumpkins (at least in north america) are directly associated with the jack-o' lantern mythos.


To Quote:
"n Scotland and Ireland, there is a long tradition of carving lanterns from vegetables, particularly the turnip, mangelwurzel, or swede. But not until 1837 does jack-o'-lantern appear as a term for a carved vegetable lantern, and the carved lantern does not become associated specifically with Halloween until 1866."

"An old Irish legend tells of Jack, a lazy yet shrewd farmer who uses a cross to trap the Devil. One story says that Jack tricked the Devil into climbing an apple tree, and once he was up there Jack quickly placed crosses around the trunk or carved a cross into the bark, so that the Devil couldn't get down. Another myth says that Jack put a key in the Devil's pocket while he was suspended upside-down; Another myth says that Jack was getting chased by some villagers whom he had stolen from, when he met the Devil: it was time for him to die. However, the thief stalled his death by tempting the Devil with a chance to bedevil the church-going villagers chasing him. Jack told the Devil to turn into a coin with which he would pay for the stolen goods (the Devil could take on any shape he wanted); later, when the coin/Devil disappeared, the Christian villagers would fight over who had stolen it. The Devil agreed to this plan. He turned himself into a silver coin and jumped into Jack's wallet... only to find himself next to a cross Jack had also picked up in the village. Jack had closed the wallet tight, and the cross stripped the Devil of his powers; and so he was trapped. In both myths, Jack only lets the Devil go when he agrees never to take his soul. After a while the thief died, as all living things do. Of course, his life had been too sinful for Jack to go to heaven; however, the Devil had promised not to take his soul, and so he was barred from Hell as well. Jack now had nowhere to go. He asked how he would see where to go, as he had no light, and the Devil mockingly tossed him an ember that would never burn out from the flames of hell. Jack carved out one of his turnips (which was his favourite food), put the ember inside it, and began endlessly wandering the Earth for a resting place. He became known as "Jack of the Lantern", or Jack-o'-Lantern."

Answer 7

Not sure. My best guess is because it is close to harvest season when it is Halloween. Another one that I am not positive about would have to be indian corn.

Answer 8

Its pumkin season. This is the time of year that pumkins grow

Answer 9

Ever heard of the headless horse man???

Answer 10

It emailed it, hand written letters are old fashioned nowadays.