While we Americans have raised pumpkin carving to a fine art, the Jack o'lantern originated in Ireland. The carving of a lantern is associated with the ancient Gaelic harvest festival of Samhain, where it served to ward away evil spirits. The craft was not associated Halloween until the mid-19th c. and was more easily practiced in the U.S., where the native pumpkins were much easier to carve up than the rutabagas (Swedish turnips) the Irish had used. "It took me about 2 hours to hollow out and carve the little turnip and I got a nasty blister on my finger due to the force that was needed to gouge out the flesh," writes a blogger who replicated the experience.
Have a Halloween holiday full of scares, treats, and laughs! Click here for a look at our family portrait this year~
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