Most people know that pumpkins weren't the first choice of items to carve faces/designs on, that honor would go mainly to root veggies like beets and turnips, but what about the name Jack O' Lantern? According to a centuries old Irish myth there was a character named Stingy Jack a phantom who roamed the countryside around harvest time. Stingy Jack was drinking with the devil but refused to pay his share of the tab when it came due and convinced the devil to turn himself into a coin which Jack trapped in his pocket. Jack finally agreed to release the devil with the promise that his soul would not end up in hell but the devil was one step ahead when he accepted Jack's terms. When Jack's life ended he didn't go to heaven or hell but was left to wander the earth with a piece of coal inside of a carved turnip thus the name "Jack of the Lantern". Happy Halloween!
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