History of jack o lantern

The history of the jack-o’-lantern is an Irish one, and can be traced back to the legend of Stingy Jack. According to the story, Stingy Jack was a miserly man who tricked the devil on several occasions. He even managed to trap the devil in a tree, making him promise not to take his soul when he died. True to his word, the devil didn’t take Jack’s soul when he died, but did bar him from heaven. Jack was then forced to wander the earth with only a coal from the fires of hell to light his way. He placed the coal in a carved-out turnip, and thus the jack-o’-lantern was born. Irish immigrants brought the jack-o’-lantern to America in the 1800s. At first, they used potatoes, but later switched to pumpkins, which are easier to carve. The jack-o’-lantern is now a popular Halloween tradition in America.