Jack-o'-Lantern: Origin, History & How to Carve One
A jack-o'-lantern is a carved lantern, traditionally cut from a pumpkin (and originally from a turnip), with a glowing face that has become the single most recognizable symbol of Halloween. Light a candle inside, set it on the porch, and you are taking part in a custom that stretches back hundreds of years, from the bogs of rural Ireland to the front steps of America. Here is where the jack-o'-lantern really comes from, why we carve pumpkins instead of turnips, and exactly how to make one of your own.
The name jack-o'-lantern traces back to an old Irish folktale about a clever, mean-spirited man known as Stingy Jack. As the most popular version goes, Jack tricked the Devil more than once, first convincing him to turn into a coin, then trapping him up a tree by carving a cross into the bark. In exchange for setting the Devil free, Jack made him promise never to claim his soul.
When Jack finally died, Heaven would not take such a sinful man, and the Devil, bound by his promise, would not take him either. Instead the Devil tossed Jack a single burning ember from the fires of Hell. Jack hollowed out a turnip, placed the ember inside to light his way, and has wandered the earth in darkness ever since. People called the ghostly figure "Jack of the Lantern," which over time was shortened to Jack O'Lantern.
Dress to match your jack-o'-lantern
1Kids' Skeleton Onesie – a bony, glow-friendly look that pairs perfectly with a porch full of pumpkins.
2Women's Devil Onesie – a nod to the very devil who tricked Stingy Jack into the dark.
4Men's Prisoner Onesie – an easy last-minute costume when you would rather carve than shop.
Will-o'-the-wisp and the night watchman
The story did more than name a decoration. For centuries, travelers across the marshes of Ireland and Britain reported a pale, flickering light that drifted ahead of them and led the unwary into the bog. We now know this glow as a real phenomenon called ignis fatuus, or will-o'-the-wisp, caused by gases from decaying plants igniting over wetlands. People who saw it believed they were watching Stingy Jack himself, lantern in hand, still searching for a resting place.
There is a second, more down-to-earth root, too. In 17th century England, "Jack" was a stand-in name for any man whose name you did not know, much like "John Doe" today. A night watchman doing his rounds with a lantern was sometimes simply called a "Jack of the lantern." Both the eerie marsh light and the ordinary watchman fed into the name long before a single pumpkin was ever carved.
Costume night essential
Men's Pink Teddy Bear Onesie
From porch-light duty to the neighborhood parade, Men's Pink Teddy Bear Onesie keeps the haunt going strong.
The custom of carving faces into vegetables is older than the folktale. In Celtic regions such as Ireland, Scotland and Wales, people hollowed out turnips, mangelwurzels, beets and potatoes around the autumn festival of Samhain, the night when the boundary between the living and the dead was thought to be thinnest. They lit these crude lanterns with embers or candles and carved grim faces into them to ward off Stingy Jack and other restless spirits.
Everything changed when the Great Famine of the 1840s drove millions of Irish immigrants to North America. They brought the tradition with them and discovered a native New World crop that was far bigger, rounder and easier to carve than any turnip back home: the pumpkin. Within a few decades the pumpkin jack-o'-lantern had become the face of Halloween across the continent. The first clearly Halloween pumpkin reference appeared in a Canadian newspaper in 1886, and the word itself shows up even earlier in Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1835 writing. Once meant to frighten spirits away, the glowing pumpkin now does the opposite, welcoming trick-or-treaters to the door.
How to make a jack-o'-lantern
Carving one is easier than it looks. Pick a large pumpkin with a flat side and a sturdy stem, then work through these steps:
Cut the lid. Slice a circle around the stem at an angle so the lid does not fall through, then lift it off.
Scoop it out. Use a large spoon or ice cream scoop to remove the seeds and stringy pulp until the walls are about one inch thick.
Draw the face. Sketch your design on with a marker first. Simple triangle eyes and a toothy grin are the classic look, but any pattern works.
Carve carefully. Cut along your lines with a small serrated knife or a pumpkin carving tool, pushing the pieces out from the inside.
Light it up. Drop in a tea light or, more safely, a flameless LED candle, pop the lid back on, and let it glow.
One thing worth knowing: a carving pumpkin and a cooking pumpkin are not the same thing. The big field pumpkins sold for jack-o'-lanterns are stringy and watery, bred to look good rather than taste good. If you want to bake, choose a smaller "pie" or "sugar" pumpkin instead, and treat your carved one as decoration only, as food-safety experts recommend (see Michigan State University Extension).
Keeping your pumpkin fresh
A carved pumpkin starts to wilt within a few days because the cut flesh dries out and invites mold. To slow it down, rinse the inside with a little diluted bleach solution and let it dry, rub petroleum jelly or vegetable oil onto the cut edges to seal in moisture, and keep the finished jack-o'-lantern somewhere cool and out of direct sun. Switching from a real flame to an LED tea light helps as well, since heat speeds up the rotting. With a bit of care, your pumpkin can stay grinning right through Halloween night.
However you carve it, the jack-o'-lantern carries a long, strange history in every flicker, part folktale, part marsh light, part immigrant ingenuity. For more spooky-season inspiration, browse our full Halloween collection and matching Halloween costumes for the whole family.
Did you know?
The first jack-o'-lanterns were carved from turnips, beets and potatoes, not pumpkins.
The name traces to the Irish folktale of Stingy Jack, who trapped the Devil and was left to roam with a single ember.
In 1600s England, 'Jack of the lantern' simply meant a night watchman carrying a lantern.
The pumpkin jack-o'-lantern took hold after Irish immigrants fled the Great Famine of the 1840s.
The first clearly Halloween pumpkin jack-o'-lantern reference appeared in a Canadian newspaper in 1886.
Frequently asked questions about Jack-o'-Lantern: Origin, History & How to Carve One
The name comes from an Irish folktale about Stingy Jack, who tricked the Devil and was doomed to wander the earth with only a burning ember inside a hollowed-out turnip. People called the wandering light 'Jack of the Lantern,' later shortened to jack-o'-lantern. In 17th century England the term also referred to a night watchman carrying a lantern.
Originally they were meant to scare away Stingy Jack and other wandering spirits during the Celtic festival of Samhain, the forerunner of Halloween. Some Christian tradition reinterpreted the glowing faces as souls caught in purgatory. Today a lit jack-o'-lantern simply welcomes trick-or-treaters and marks a home celebrating Halloween.
A pumpkin is the gourd itself. It becomes a jack-o'-lantern once the top is cut off, the inside is scooped out, and a face or design is carved into the rind so light can shine through from a candle placed inside.
In Ireland, Scotland and other Celtic regions, pumpkins did not exist, so people carved turnips, beets, potatoes and mangelwurzels instead. When Irish immigrants reached North America during the Great Famine, they found pumpkins were larger and far easier to carve, and the pumpkin jack-o'-lantern was born.
It is not recommended. Carving pumpkins are bred to be large and good-looking, so their flesh is stringy and watery rather than tasty. For cooking, choose a smaller pie or sugar pumpkin, and treat a carved jack-o'-lantern as decoration only.
