September 2000, Our Visit to the Austin Zoo

The Story of the Jack-o'-Latern

The Celtics of old would build bonfires during the ancient Halloween festivities.  Later they would go door to door gathering embers.  The embers would be carried in a turnip or gourd.  Later, on the way home, they often carried embers from the bonfire back to their homes.

The name Jack-o'-Latern originates from an old fairy tale.  An Irish folk tale from the 18th century is where the legend of the Jack-o'-Latern originated.  According to the story a sly Irishman named Jack tricked the devil into climbing an apple tree.  Once in the tree, Jack carved a cross symbol in the tree trunk.  This trapped the devil in the tree.  Since Jack was so mean, he could not get into Heaven.  And the Devil wanted no part of Jack, so he was forced to walk the earth for eternity.