I was carving pumpkins with my kids and my son, who happens to be named Jack, wanted to know why we call them jack-o-lanterns. Good Question! Did you know that the original Jack O Lanterns were originally made out of turnips? It’s true.
No one is quite sure why the jack-o-lantern is called jack. But according to an ancient Irish legend, the devil once wanted to steal the soul of a man named Jack. Jack outwitted the devil on several occasions and kept his life. But Jack was kind of mean, so when he died neither heaven nor hell would take him. Jack was condemned to an afterlife in limbo. He asked the devil for a piece of coal to provide light for his never-ending life. Jack stuck the coal into a turnip and is said to be walking through eternity with his light until either heaven or hell open the gates for him.
Jack-o-lanterns continued to be made from turnips until the custom came to America where they it was found that pumpkins were much easier to carve. I am very glad because I cannot imagine eating a “turnip” pie at Thanksgiving.
Halloween always held a special place in my childhood. I remember it was a huge day at Birch Grove Elementary School. We would go to the store and pick out a costume in a box with one of those plastic masks. (Thekind with eye holes and little nose holes for breathing.) It didn’t matter that the inside of the mask got all sweaty and you could hardly see where you were going. I loved stepping into the costume itself with the little tie at the neck. At school it was easy to wear the costume over your everyday school clothes but at night wearing it over your winter coat it was much harder. God help you if you had to go to the bathroom.
We would all put on our costumes at school and line the gym walls as the teachers walked around and judged who was the best dressed. (If you forgot your costume the teacher would quickly make you one by cutting arm and neck holes in a brown paper bag, then coloring the front to make you a scarecrow…truly embarrassing.) How they chose a winner was a mystery to me as we basically all wore the favorite cartoon character of the day like Bugs Bunny or Daffy Duck.
Then we each taped together a little orange box so we could “Trick or Treat for UNICEF.” Collect coins not candy, yeah sure….
In eighth grade, my friends and I decided to trick or treat in town one year. I borrowed Jeff Sajdak’s football gear and painted black smudges under my eyes. I was a very convincing 5’ 2 inch Viking. My friend Kelly went as a cheerleader. We were a cute couple. “C! C! H! S! …Go CCHS!”
I think that was my last year collecting candy in a pillowcase. After that I had to enjoy handing out my mom’s famous popcorn balls and my dad’s Tootsie Pop ghosts. In case you’re scratching your head I did Google for information on how to make turnipo lanterns … big hint, buy a melon baller!
Eat, drink and be scary.
Author Unknown
Tastes Like Home columnist
Sandy (Anderson) Holthaus
lives on an alpaca farm in
South Haven, MN with her husband,
Michael, and their children
Zoe, Jack and Ben. Her
heart remains on the North
Shore where she grew up with
her parents, Art and LaVonne
Anderson of Schroeder. She
enjoys writing about her childhood
and mixes memories with
delicious helpings of homestyle
recipes.
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