Originally they were created using potatoes and turnips. In England, large beets were sometimes used. The name jack o’lantern comes from the phenomenon of a strange light flickering over peat bogs, called a will-o'-the-wisp or jack-o'-lantern. The name is also tied to Irish folklore and Stingy Jack, a drunkard who bargained with Satan and is doomed to roam the Earth with only a hollowed turnip to light his way.
The Legend of Stingy Jack: Stingy Jack was a cunning and wicked man who tricked the Devil on several occasions. When he died, God would not allow him into heaven due to his sinful life, and the Devil, still bitter from being outsmarted, would not allow him into hell. The Devil sent Jack away with only a burning ember to light his way through eternal darkness. Jack placed the ember inside a hollowed-out turnip to create a lantern, and he has been roaming the earth with it ever since. This ghostly figure became known as "Jack of the Lantern," which was eventually shortened to "jack-o'-lantern."
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"turnip" not to scale
From Turnips to Pumpkins: As part of a tradition that developed from this legend, the Irish and Scottish began carving menacing faces into turnips, potatoes, or beets to ward off evil spirits like Stingy Jack. When Irish immigrants brought this custom to North America, they discovered that pumpkins were much larger and easier to carve than turnips, and the practice of carving pumpkins for Halloween became the tradition we know today.
The first carved turnips were quite different from the cheerful or goofy pumpkins we see today. They were carved to look terrifying and monstrous, often with grotesque faces, to frighten away evil spirits.
Turnips are much smaller and less uniform in shape than pumpkins, which limited the complexity of the carvings. The natural bumps, knots, and warty textures of the turnips were often incorporated into the design to enhance their ghoulish look.
