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Carved Pumpkin or Hack-o-lantern is the most popular Halloween emblem. Halloween has always been associated with wearing scary costumes and masks, sharing ghost stories, throwing creepy parties, giving your guests a good fright, trick-or-treating and pumpkin carving for as long as it has been around. However, it originated from an ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, which was celebrated from sunset on October 31st to sunset on November 1st to honor the dead and our deceased relatives and friends. It was believed that the veil between this world and the other world was at its thinnest on this night and thus, it was considered the most magical night of the year. In Wiccan religion or religion of the witches, it is celebrated as the New Year and the Last Harvest.
The ‘magic’ element of the night has filtered down to the present along with the tradition of glowing jack-o-lanterns that were originally carved from turnips, pears or gourds. Burning lumps of coal were usually placed inside these jack-o-lanterns. These turnips, pear or gourd lamps were set on porches and in windows to welcome the spirits of loved ones and guide their way and to protect people from evil and malevolent spirits. With time, the coal was replaced by lit candles for the light. Pumpkins are fruits native to the western hemisphere. Though they were being grown for about 5000 years in America, they were unknown in Europe before Columbus. Native Americans called them ‘isquotersquash.’
The first reference to pumpkins is attributed to the French explorer Jacques Cartier, who mention in his report from the St. Lawrence region in 1584, about ‘gros melons’ that were translated ‘ponpions’ in English. Later, the words gradually changed into the popular name of ‘pumpkins’. When Europeans, especially those from Ireland, arrived in America, they came across indigenous pumpkins, which were much larger and easier to carve and hollowed. Thus, they were substituted for making Jack-o-lanterns. By late 1800s, Halloween became very popular with Americans too.