The name Jack O’Lantern has its origins in old Irish folktales. A long time ago, there was an Irishman named Jack who was of a dubious character. He was a notorious drunk and troublemaker.

One day he tricked the Devil into climbing a tree. The reprobate Jack proceeded to carve a representation of the Holy Cross into the trunk of the tree, thus trapping Satan high up in the branches.

Jack and Satan made a deal: Jack would let the Devil out of the tree, on the condition that the Devil never try to tempt Jack astray ever again.

Jack had sunk into the proverbial hole: when he died, he was denied entry to heaven due to his wicked ways. Hell denied him entry because he had deceived the Devil. Satan gave Jack a single ember to guide his way through the bitterly cold darkness. A hollowed-out turnip was used to support the ember, allowing the flame to continue to glow.

Jack’s punishment was endless walking in the dark; he carried a burning coal inside a hollowed-out turnip to help him see wherever he traveled. After a while, he became known as “Jack of the Lantern” or “Jack O’Lantern”.

Turnips were originally used in Ireland as lanterns. However, the Irish who immigrated to the United States soon realized that turnips were not as abundant as pumpkins. American settlers quickly adopted the pumpkin as the gourd of choice for their Jack O’Lantern, complete with a glowing ember.

When carving your Jack O’Lantern, you’ll need the right tools to produce your masterpiece. For good results, you’ll need knives and other implements that are sharp, flexible, thin, and sturdy.

A long, thin-bladed boning knife is the ideal tool for cutting the top hole and any large face pieces of the squash. Detail work can be done with a very thin blade kitchen knife. Several different types and sizes of spoons do a great job of removing the seeds, pulp, and skin from inside the pumpkin. A large metal scoop or ice cream scoop are perfect for scrapping.

There are plenty of Halloween superstitions floating around to entertain us. The black cat is believed to have magical powers: certain bones are said to make wishes come true or turn someone invisible. A strange superstition involves snails. Some believers who embrace Old World tales say that if you catch a snail on Halloween night and encase it in a flat dish, you’ll wake up in the morning to see the first initial of your loved one’s name written in the snail slime. Yuck!