Figure 1.--An important part of a family's Halloween became picking out a pumpkin. Here two brothers probably in the 1960s doze off after a drive into the country tpo get their pumpkin.
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Figure 1.--An important part of a family's Halloween became picking out a pumpkin. Here two brothers probably in the 1960s doze off after a drive into the country tpo get their pumpkin. |
Another Halloween favorite is the Jack-o-lantern which is an Irish custom. Susposedly a man of course named Jack was the village drunkard and noririous trickster. He managed the difficult feat of tricking Satan into climbing up a tree. Jack then proceeded to carve an image of a cross in the tree's trunk. This effectively trapped Saten in the tree. Finally Jack got SAtn to promise never to tempt him again and in return, Jack let him down. When Jack passed away, he was refused entance to Heaven because of his sinful life. He was also refused entance to Hell because he had tricked Satan.
Satan did give him an ember to light his way in the darkness. Jack while in Ireland carried the ember in a hollowed-out turnip. The Irish called them "Jack's lanterns". Turnips aren't much seen anymore. When Americans began celebrating Halloween they decided to use pumpkins. Some say they were more plentiful. That doesen't sound quite right to us. Pumkins were, however, were easier to carve and certainly made a better display because of the larger size and color of the pumpkin. An important part of a family's Halloween became picking out a pumpkin.
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