Check Out These Pumpkin Carvings in Maine

There is no better tradition for Halloween than carving pumpkins. Every year, we get to test our creativity while immersing our hands into the guts of a pumpkin. Check out how creative our fellow Mainers are below, and then afterward, learn about the history of carving pumpkins. If you have a carved pumpkin, submit your photo in the comments here to be added to the gallery.

Now That We Saw How Creative People of Maine Are, When Did Carving Pumpkins Begin?

The pumpkin is indigenous to North America dating back as far as 8,000BC in Mexico. So, when did we, as humans, begin carving into these often mistaken as vegetables, fruits, for Halloween? Here is what I found from historyhit.com.

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The history of pumpkin carving at Halloween is generally associated with a ghostly figure known as “Stingy Jack” or “Jack O’Lantern”. He is a lost soul resigned to wandering the earth and preying on unsuspecting travellers. In Ireland and Scotland, people placed vegetable carvings, typically using turnips, which depicted faces on their doorstep in order to frighten this spirit away.

According to this interpretation of the pumpkin carving tradition, immigrants to North America continued the custom of placing jack-o’-lanterns outside. However, instead of using small, tricky-to-carve vegetables, they used more visually appealing, much bigger and more readily available pumpkins. - historyhit.com

Who Was Stingy Jack and Why Does He Play a Role in Maine Pumpkin Carving Today?

According to Irish folklore, Stingy Jack, or 'Drunk Jack,' tricked the Devil into getting another drink. God refused Jack into Heaven, and the Devil, after being deceived, forbade him into Hell. This left Jack to roam the Earth, and this seems to be the story where Jack-o-lanterns originate from.

You can read more about the lore here, and if you have a 'Jack' that you carved this year, please share it here in the comments.