Adapted from an article by Zack Sterkenberg in Ambius, October, 2018 – Photo unattributed

Scary Squash

Mimi Cavender

The story of the Jack-o’-lantern goes back hundreds of years and has its roots in Irish folklore. As the tale is told, Stingy Jack, a notorious trickster notably fond of his strong drink, staggered home one Halloween night to find the Devil waiting for him, ready to take his sorry soul. Old Jack begged the spirit to join him in one last cup at the local tavern. He ordered drinks for himself and his sinister companion, who remained strangely invisible to the other patrons. When it came time to pay, Jack asked the Devil to pick up the tab—fair, considering he’d soon be handing over his soul. Stingy Jack convinced the evil spirit to turn into a coin with which he would pay the barkeep, but Jack pocketed the coin and left, pleased with himself. A silver cross that Jack had stowed in his pocket kept the Devil in place. Never to be outsmarted, the Devil bargained his way out of Jack’s pocket, promising not to bother him again for one full year.

These things never turn out well. Exactly one year later on Halloween night, the Devil came to claim Jack’s soul. The old reprobate was doomed to walk the earth for an eternity of Halloween nights with a single coal ember to guide his ghostly way. He dug up a large turnip from a farmer’s field, carved the first Jack-o’-lantern, and placed the coal ember inside. Jack’s wandering ghost became known as Jack of the Lantern, or in Irish dialect, Jack O’Lantern.

As the tale of Jack-o’-lantern spread throughout Ireland, adults and children alike made their own versions of Jack’s lantern and carved the face of wily Jack or of the Devil himself into large turnips, beets, or later, potatoes. You might say the tradition became deeply rooted. And it spread from Ireland to England, Europe, and across the world.

Jack-o’-lantern carving was brought to colonial North America and thrived here with our pumpkins, a squash that was native to drier parts of Central and South America. With transatlantic colonial trade (the Columbian Exchange) it quickly became a food, livestock, and cover crop in North America and Europe. Pumpkins, easier to carve than turnips, eventually took over the lantern carving tradition, notably since the 1950s with the commercialization of Halloween worldwide. Ol’ Jack has walked a long, long way.

Pumpkins are members of the Curcurbita family—squash, melons, cucumbers, and gourds. Pumpkin acreage is widely dispersed throughout the United States, but in 2017 about 40% of pumpkins were grown in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Texas, and California. Most Texas pumpkins are grown in dry, sandy South and West Texas soils. (2017 U.S. Census of Agriculture, USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).

Texas designated pumpkin as the official state squash in 2013. Here’s the Texas House Resolution from Texas State Library & Archives: Texas H.C.R. No. 87

Yep, Texans love Mom, Halloween, and pumpkin pie. Happy Halloweeeeeeen.

Originally published in The Hays Humm — October 2021 Magazine

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