For many, Halloween isn’t complete without jack-o’-lanterns. Although the tradition of carving pumpkins has been around for centuries, it wasn’t always pumpkins that were being carved.

The carving's origin lies in an Irish myth, where Stingy Jack deceived the Devil for financial gain. After Jack died, God wouldn’t let him into heaven and the Devil wouldn’t let him into hell, so he was condemned to wander the earth forever.

Britannica states, “In Ireland, people started to carve demonic faces out of turnips to frighten away Jack’s wandering soul. When Irish immigrants moved to the U.S., they began carving jack-o’-lanterns from pumpkins as these were native to the region.”

Jack-o'-lanterns are linked to Halloween through the Celtic festival of Samhain. This ancient celebration, observed

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