Jack-O-Lantern
Is a carved pumpkin lantern, associated with the holiday of Halloween and named after the phenomenon of a strange light flickering over peat bogs, called will-o'-the-wisp or jack-o'-lantern. In a jack-o'-lantern, the top of the pumpkin or turnip is cut off to form a lid, the inside flesh is scooped out, and an image, usually a monstrous or comical face, is carved out of the rind to expose the hollow interior.
To create the lantern effect, a light source is placed within before the lid is closed. The light source is traditionally a flame such as a candle or tea light, but artificial jack-'o-lanterns with electric lights are also marketed. It is common to see jack-o'-lanterns on doorsteps and otherwise used as decorations prior to and on Halloween.
The term jack-o'-lantern was originally used to describe the visual phenomenon ignis fatuus ("foolish fire") known as a will-o'-the-wisp in English folklore. Used especially in East England, its earliest known use dates to the 1660s. The term "will-o'-the-wisp" uses "wisp" (a bundle of sticks or paper sometimes used as a torch) and the proper name "Will": thus, "Will-of-the-torch." The term jack-o'-lantern is of the same construction: "Jack of (the) lantern".
It is believed that the custom of making jack-o'-lanterns at Halloween began in Ireland. In the 19th century, were used at Halloween in parts of Ireland and the Scottish Highlands. In these Celtic-speaking regions, Halloween was also the festival of Samhain and was seen as a time when supernatural beings and the souls of the dead, roamed the earth. The belief that the souls of the dead roamed the earth at Halloween was also found in other parts of Europe. Jack-o'-lanterns were also made at Halloween in Somerset during the 19th century.
In North America
Adaptations of Washington Irving's short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (1820) often depict the Headless Horseman with a pumpkin or jack-o'-lantern in place of his severed head.
The application of the term to carved pumpkins in American English is first attested in 1834. The carved pumpkin lantern's association with Halloween is recorded in the 1 November 1866 edition of the Daily News.
The old time custom of keeping up Hallowe'en was not forgotten last night by the youngsters of the city. They had their maskings and their merry-makings, and perambulated the streets after dark in a way which was no doubt amusing to themselves. There was a great sacrifice of pumpkins from which to make transparent heads and face, lighted up by the unfailing two inches of tallow candle.
It is an ancient British custom to light great bonfires (before winter froze the ground) on Hallowe'en, and carry blazing fagots about on long poles; but in place of this, American boys delight in the funny grinning jack-o'-lanterns made of huge yellow pumpkins with a candle inside.
In the United States, the carved pumpkin was first associated with the harvest season in general, long before it became an emblem of Halloween. In 1900, an article on Thanksgiving entertaining recommended a lit jack-o'-lantern as part of the festivities.
Folklore
The story of the jack-o'-lantern comes in many variants and is similar to the story of Will-o'-the-wisp retold in different forms across Western Europe, with variations being present in the folklore of Scotland, England, Wales, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Spain and Sweden. In Switzerland, children will leave bowls of milk or cream out for mythical house spirits called Jack o' the bowl. An old Irish folk tale from the mid-19th Century tells of Stingy Jack, a lazy yet shrewd blacksmith who uses a cross to trap Satan. One story says that Jack tricked Satan 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 Satan couldn't get down.
Another version says that Jack was getting chased by some villagers from whom he had stolen, when he met Satan, who claimed it was time for him to die.
In both folktales, Jack lets Satan go only after he agrees to never take his soul. Many years later, the thief died, as all living things do. Of course, Jack's life had been too sinful for him to go to heaven; however, Satan 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 Satan mockingly tossed him an ember from the flames of Hades, that would never burn out. Jack carved out one of his turnips (which were his favorite 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 ».
Jack-o-lanterns were also a way of protecting one's home against the undead. Superstitious people used them specifically to ward away vampires. They thought this because it was said that the jack-o-lantern's light was a way of identifying vampires who, once their identity was known, would give up their hunt for you.
World's largest jack-o'-lantern
On October 31, 2005, Scott Cully carved the world's largest jack-o'-lantern from the world's-largest pumpkin, in Northern Cambria, Pennsylvania. The pumpkin was grown by Larry Checkon and weighed 1,469 lb (666.33 kg) on October 1, 2005, at the Pennsylvania Giant Pumpkin Growers Association Weigh-off.