It's pumpkin time! - Halloween history and traditions

Every October before Halloween rolls around, millions of kids all across the country make jack-o-lanterns out of pumpkins. They carve happy faces and scary faces--and even happy scary faces, such as the one at right!

What's the story behind Halloween? And why do people carve pumpkins? Read on to find answers to these questions, plus more far-out pumpkin facts.

HALLOWEEN HISTORY

More than 1000 years ago, people in Europe celebrated All Saint's Day on November first. The harvest was over, and winter was about to blow in. It was the beginning of the season of cold and darkness.

People believed this time belonged to no season and that for a brief moment a curtain lifted between the living and the dead. Some people thought the souls of the dead wandered around on the night before All Saint's Day. That evening--October 31--was called All-Hallow's Eve. (To hallow means to honor as holy.) Later it became "Halloween."

On Halloween, families gathered around a fire in the middle of town. Some people wore costumes made of animal heads and skins (like the way kids dress up in costumes today). People kept warm by the fire as they told stories and ate apples and nuts.

This was a night for mischief--before the gloom of winter set in. Some people went from house to house asking for treats. That's how the custom of "trick-or-treating" got started!

THE FIRST JACK-O-LANTERNS

An old Irish legend says that a man named Jack tricked the devil. Later, when Jack died, he couldn't go to heaven or to hell. The devil threw a chunk of burning coal at him, and Jack stuck it in a turnip he was eating. The turnip-lantern lit Jack's way as he wandered through the night. And that's how jack-o-lanterns began!

People from Europe brought the custom of making jack-o-lanterns to America about 150 years ago. Here they found something much easier than turnips to carve. You got it--pumpkins! Now, many countries grow pumpkins. But the first ones came from America.

PUMPKIN BITS

Here are some more wild pumpkin facts to share with your friends and family: Every year, the World Pumpkin Confederation has a contest to see who can grow the biggest pumpkin. Last year, the champion weighed 1061 pounds (477 kg)! The growers worked hundreds of hours watering and caring for the big winner. During the peak of its growing spurt, one big pumpkin may gain 30 pounds (13.5 kg) a day! (It might take you three years to gain that much weight.) A single seed from a champion pumpkin may sell for $10. There can be 700 seeds in one of those pumpkins. Check the math--that's big bucks! The first pumpkin "pie" was made by Pilgrims in New England about 350 years ago. They baked a pumpkin in the ashes of a fire. Then they cut off the top and poured honey and maple syrup into the warm inside. Finally, they ate the insides up!

Want to make your own yummy pumpkin dessert? See page 13. Every year dozens of pumpkin festivals take place all across the country. One wild one is the Punkin Chunkin Festival in Lewes, Delaware. People make huge slingshots and other crazy contraptions. Then they use them to see who can hurl a pumpkin the farthest. Winners have launched pumpkins as far as half a mile (800 m) away!

Which face is scarier? The house-sized jack-o-lantern? Or the ragged-toothed one at right standing guard in front of a Halloween festival?

Many festivals have contests for the best carvings. At left, the two top photos show jack-o-lanterns from a contest in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. A photographer saw the bottom jack-o-lantern on a porch near his home.