In Gaelic speaking regions, Halloween was also the festival of Samhain and was seen as a time when supernatural beings (the Aos Sí) walked the earth. In the 19th century, " turnips or mangel wurzels, hollowed out to act as lanterns and often carved with grotesque faces," were used on Halloween in parts of Ireland, Wales and the Scottish Highlands. It is believed that the custom of making jack-o'-lanterns at Halloween time began in Ireland and Britain. The carving of vegetables has been a common practice in many parts of the world. Modern carving of a Cornish Jack-o'-Lantern made from a turnip. History A plaster cast of a traditional Irish Jack-o'-Lantern in the Museum of Country Life, Ireland. The OED gives 1837 as the earliest date for when the term was used to refer to a lantern carved from a turnip or pumpkin. The Oxford English Dictionary ( OED) records use of the term in Britain from 1658 in reference to ignis fatuus, and from 1663 to 1704 in reference to a man with a lantern or to a night watchman. Used especially in East England, its earliest known use dates to the 1660s. The term jack-o'-lantern was originally used to describe the visual phenomenon ignis fatuus (lit., "foolish fire") known as a will-o'-the-wisp in English folklore. Artificial jack-o'-lanterns with electric lights are also marketed.Įtymology An assortment of carved pumpkins. A light source, traditionally a candle flame or tealight, is placed within before the lid is closed. To make a jack-o'-lantern, the top of a pumpkin is cut off to form a lid, the inside flesh is scooped out, and an image-usually a "scary" or "funny" face-is carved out of the rind exposing the hollow interior. It is common to see jack-o'-lanterns used as external and interior decorations prior to and on Halloween. Jack-o'-lanterns carved from pumpkins are a yearly Halloween tradition that developed in the United States when Irish, Cornish, Scottish and other Celtic influenced immigrants brought their root vegetable carving traditions with them. It is suggested that the name also has ties to the Irish legend of Stingy Jack, a drunkard who bargains with Satan and is doomed to roam the Earth with only a hollowed turnip to light his way. Its name comes from the phenomenon of strange lights flickering over peat bogs, called jack-o'-lanterns (also known as, will-o'-the-wisps). Jack-o'-lanterns are associated with the Halloween holiday. A jack-o'-lantern in the shape of the Wikipedia logo.Ī jack-o'-lantern (or jack o'lantern) is a carved lantern, most commonly made from a pumpkin, or formerly a root vegetable such as a mangelwurzel, rutabaga or turnip. A traditional American jack-o'-lantern, made from a pumpkin, lit from within by a candle. For other uses, see Jack-o'-lantern (disambiguation).
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