Jack-o'-Lantern: History, Meaning & How to Carve One
A jack-o'-lantern is a carved lantern, traditionally hollowed from a root vegetable and lit from within, that has become the glowing face of Halloween. The name comes from an old Irish folktale about a trickster called Stingy Jack, and the custom travelled from the turnip fields of Ireland and Britain to the pumpkin patches of America before circling back to us today. Here is the full story of where the jack-o'-lantern comes from, what it means, and how to carve a brilliant one of your own.
The jack-o'-lantern takes its name from an 18th century Irish tale about a cunning blacksmith known as Stingy Jack. In the most common version, Jack invites the Devil for a drink but refuses to pay, tricking him into turning into a coin. Jack pockets the coin beside a silver cross so the Devil cannot change back, and only frees him on the promise that the Devil will never claim his soul.
Years later Jack dies. Heaven turns him away for a life of meanness and trickery, and the Devil, true to his word, will not take him into Hell. Jack is left to wander the world in the dark forever. The Devil tosses him a single burning ember, and Jack carves out a turnip to carry it as a lantern. From that night he became known as "Jack of the Lantern," soon shortened to Jack O'Lantern.
The folktale is the famous version, but the name is older and stranger than that. For centuries "jack-o'-lantern" was also the country name for the eerie flickering lights that hover over peat bogs and marshes. Known as will-o'-the-wisp or by the Latin ignis fatuus ("foolish fire"), these lights are caused by gases from decaying plants igniting in boggy ground. Travellers who followed them risked wandering into a sinkhole, and many believed the glow was poor Jack, still roaming with his ember.
There is a down-to-earth origin too. In 17th century Britain, "Jack" was the everyday name for a man whose name you did not know, much like "John Doe" today. A nameless night watchman doing his rounds with a lantern was simply a "Jack of the lantern." So the word carried three meanings at once: a ghostly bog light, a man with a lamp, and the carved vegetable we know now.
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Long before Stingy Jack, people across the Celtic regions of Ireland, Scotland and Wales carved faces into turnips, mangelwurzels and beets. The custom is tied to Samhain, the ancient festival marking the end of the harvest and the start of winter, when it was believed the veil between the living and the dead grew thin. Carved root vegetables with grotesque faces and a glowing coal inside served two purposes: they warded off restless spirits, and they were a cheap way to carry light, since metal lanterns were costly. Holes cut as eyes and a mouth let the light shine through without putting the ember out.
When Christianity spread, Samhain blended with All Hallows' Eve, the night before All Saints' Day on 1 November, which is where the word "Halloween" comes from. The carved lanterns lingered, and the wandering soul of Stingy Jack fitted the new tradition perfectly.
From turnips to pumpkins
So how did we end up carving pumpkins? During the Great Famine of the 1840s, millions of Irish people emigrated to North America, taking their Halloween customs with them. There they found the pumpkin, a large, soft, hollow squash native to the New World that was far easier to carve than a stubborn turnip. The pumpkin quickly took over, and by the turn of the 20th century the glowing pumpkin face had become the symbol of Halloween. You can read the fuller history of that journey at Wikipedia and the HISTORY account of its Irish origins.
How to make a jack-o'-lantern
Carving your own is wonderfully simple, and it is the centrepiece of any Halloween night in. Here is the classic method:
1. Choose a large, firm pumpkin with a flat-ish base so it sits steady. 2. Cut a lid around the stalk at an angle, so it does not fall inside when you pop it back on. 3. Scoop out the seeds and stringy flesh with a sturdy spoon until the walls are about 2 to 3 cm thick. 4. Draw your face on with a marker first, then carve the outline with a small serrated knife, pushing gently and sawing rather than forcing. 5. Pop in a tealight or, more safely with little ones about, a battery LED. A smear of vaseline on the cut edges helps it last longer, and a few extra air holes near the top stop a real candle from charring the lid.
Keep the scooped flesh for soup and roast the seeds with a little salt for a proper, waste-nothing autumn treat.
The cosiest part of carving night
Pumpkin carving is best done in something warm and comfy, because it gets messy and the evenings are cold. A soft teddy bear onesie turns scooping seeds at the kitchen table into the snuggest night of the season, and the whole family can match. Browse the full range in our Halloween collection, and pair it with picks from our onesies for the rest of autumn.
However you carve it, the jack-o'-lantern carries centuries of story in its glow, from a stingy blacksmith and bog ghosts to Samhain bonfires and an immigrant's clever swap of turnip for pumpkin. Light one on your doorstep this Halloween and you are keeping a very old tradition alive.
Did you know?
The first jack-o'-lanterns were carved from turnips, beets and mangelwurzels, not pumpkins.
In 17th century Britain, 'Jack' meant any man whose name you did not know, so a night watchman with a lamp was a 'Jack of the lantern.'
'Jack-o'-lantern' was also the country name for ghostly bog lights, known as will-o'-the-wisp or ignis fatuus.
The Irish brought pumpkin carving to America during the Great Famine emigration of the 1840s.
The custom traces back to the Celtic festival of Samhain, the root of modern Halloween and All Hallows' Eve.
Frequently asked questions about Jack-o'-Lantern: History, Meaning & How to Carve One
The name comes from an 18th century Irish folktale about Stingy Jack, a trickster who fooled the Devil and was barred from both Heaven and Hell. Left to wander the earth in the dark, he carved a turnip to carry a burning ember the Devil gave him, becoming 'Jack of the Lantern.'
It has several meanings rolled into one: the lantern of the wandering soul Stingy Jack, the eerie marsh lights once blamed on him, a charm to ward off evil spirits at Samhain, and, after Christianity, a soul caught between worlds. Today it mostly represents a warm Halloween welcome.
A pumpkin is the squash itself. It becomes a jack-o'-lantern only once the top is cut off, the inside is scooped out and a face is carved into the rind so light can shine through the hollow interior.
The original lanterns were carved from turnips and other root vegetables in Ireland and Britain. When Irish emigrants reached North America in the 1840s they found pumpkins, which are larger, softer and far easier to carve, and the pumpkin soon took over.
Cut a lid around the stalk, scoop out the seeds and flesh, draw a face on, carve the outline with a small serrated knife, then light it with a tealight or a battery LED. A little vaseline on the cut edges helps it last longer.
