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Jack o’lantern etiquette
By Leah Herburger-Special to the Herald
The day after Halloween traditionally is considered the jump-starter for Thanksgiving, and the day following Thanksgiving is the marker for the Christmas spirit. But no one can really pinpoint the day that everyone starts to get in gear for Halloween.
As the weather cools, doorsteps decorated in orange grow in abundance. Pumpkin patches provide the fruit for the grinning orange goblins known as jack o’lanterns.
The hunt for the perfect pumpkin to light the doorstep on All Hallows Eve is half the fun of the “trick-or-treat” event. We concentrate on carving out the guts – an appropriate start to Halloween shenanigans – and making spooky faces to glow brightly.
But why pumpkins?
According to an old Irish tale, pumpkins weren’t always the candle-lit faces that greet trick-or-treaters today.
As the tale says, a drunk named Jack tricked Satan into entrapping himself in a tree when Jack slyly asked Satan to enter the tree and throw down some fruit.
In frustration, Satan struck a deal with Jack, promising to leave the man’s soul alone if Jack would release him from the tree.
Jack agreed. But in the end, the deal backfired, because Heaven turned Jack away for making deals with the Devil. Lost and alone, Jack angrily turned to the Devil and Satan sarcastically gave him a burning ember carried in a hollowed out turnip to light his way through eternal darkness on earth.
Later, Irish immigrants brought their folk tales to America and found that pumpkins proved much easier to carve than turnips. In turn came the start of what we know as the typical jack o’lantern.
Pumpkin patches are a fun way for families to choose their pumpkins for carving jack o’lanterns, but a few tips on choosing that “perfect pumpkin” may come in handy.
First, choose a reasonably sized pumpkin that has no bruises, cuts or kinks in the rind. These flaws can shorten the lifespan of your jack o’lantern or cause it to droop as it decays.
If small children are carving, be sure to place plenty of newspaper down before carving. This allows for easy cleanup. Also, consider purchasing a carving knife for the job because the edges of this type of knife are dull and cause less harm than a regular knife.
Make sure the hole on top is cut large enough to scoop out the seeds. Use a ladle spoon for cleaner insides.
Finally, choose the side that’s best for the face. Draw the design on the pumpkin before carving. Stick to simple, bold features; carving becomes difficult when the design is more intricate. Punch out the shapes for the light to shine through.
If you plan for the jack o’lantern to be incorporated in your Halloween night activities, don’t light candles in it more than two nights before Halloween; otherwise, it will wilt.
As the weather cools, doorsteps decorated in orange grow in abundance. Pumpkin patches provide the fruit for the grinning orange goblins known as jack o’lanterns.
The hunt for the perfect pumpkin to light the doorstep on All Hallows Eve is half the fun of the “trick-or-treat” event. We concentrate on carving out the guts – an appropriate start to Halloween shenanigans – and making spooky faces to glow brightly.
But why pumpkins?
According to an old Irish tale, pumpkins weren’t always the candle-lit faces that greet trick-or-treaters today.
As the tale says, a drunk named Jack tricked Satan into entrapping himself in a tree when Jack slyly asked Satan to enter the tree and throw down some fruit.
In frustration, Satan struck a deal with Jack, promising to leave the man’s soul alone if Jack would release him from the tree.
Jack agreed. But in the end, the deal backfired, because Heaven turned Jack away for making deals with the Devil. Lost and alone, Jack angrily turned to the Devil and Satan sarcastically gave him a burning ember carried in a hollowed out turnip to light his way through eternal darkness on earth.
Later, Irish immigrants brought their folk tales to America and found that pumpkins proved much easier to carve than turnips. In turn came the start of what we know as the typical jack o’lantern.
Pumpkin patches are a fun way for families to choose their pumpkins for carving jack o’lanterns, but a few tips on choosing that “perfect pumpkin” may come in handy.
First, choose a reasonably sized pumpkin that has no bruises, cuts or kinks in the rind. These flaws can shorten the lifespan of your jack o’lantern or cause it to droop as it decays.
If small children are carving, be sure to place plenty of newspaper down before carving. This allows for easy cleanup. Also, consider purchasing a carving knife for the job because the edges of this type of knife are dull and cause less harm than a regular knife.
Make sure the hole on top is cut large enough to scoop out the seeds. Use a ladle spoon for cleaner insides.
Finally, choose the side that’s best for the face. Draw the design on the pumpkin before carving. Stick to simple, bold features; carving becomes difficult when the design is more intricate. Punch out the shapes for the light to shine through.
If you plan for the jack o’lantern to be incorporated in your Halloween night activities, don’t light candles in it more than two nights before Halloween; otherwise, it will wilt.
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