LEILA FADEL, HOST:
It's the time of year when Halloween decorations are out in full force, and, of course, that includes jack-o'-lanterns. We wanted to know more about the origins of this holiday tradition, so we carved out a little time. See what I did there? To learn more about our glowing orange friend...
(LAUGHTER)
FADEL: ...We've got Cindy Ott to help. She's an associate professor of history at the University of Delaware and author of "Pumpkin: The Curious History Of An American Icon." Good morning, Cindy. Thank you for being here.
CINDY OTT: Good morning. Happy to be here. It's a good story.
FADEL: Yes. Well, let's get to the history. Where did this idea to carve faces into pumpkins come from?
OTT: Well, Halloween is an old Celtic tradition. It's celebrates the night of Sauin, where spirits walk the night of spirits that - of people and animals that died the year before, and you put out a fire to keep them away or set out treats to placate them. And also, jack-o'-lantern was this trickster character who fooled the devil. But actually, there's a much older, different tradition of associating the pumpkin with wild nature that way predates it becoming a jack-o'lantern because of the nature of the crop. You know, it was big, headlike shape, grew like a weed. A lot of the folk tales, a pumpkin was, like, a little critter and - instead of a vegetable. And then there's, like, the will-o'-wisp, which is that little light in the night that's kind of creepy when you're walking in a swamp or the forest. So actually, Washington Irving, "The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow," with the famous scene where Ichabod Crane has a pumpkin thrown at him from the Headless Horseman, that wasn't even a jack-o'-lantern yet. That was just the pumpkin because of these associations.
FADEL: So it's kind of a combination of the Celtic tradition and the crop that was growing here on the continent?
OTT: That's exactly right. So in the 19th century is when they came together. So a lot of Irish people migrated sadly because the potato famine. They came here in the mid-19th century. And then Halloween became this parlor game. So people would celebrate wild nature, but in kind of a fun way. You know, like going on these new trails of the new national parks. So celebrating wild nature but having fun and celebrating rustic, rural life and the harvest. And then the pumpkin then became a star attraction because again it has this headlike shape, great for carving your pumpkins. Before they used a turnip in Europe and - because of its harvest time and then because of these old ideas of associating it with wild nature.
FADEL: So when did jack-o'-lanterns become the more modern, even cutesy, Halloween decorations that we know today?
OTT: Yeah. First, it really was this kind of - had legs. It would run. It was kind of a mean, little creepy character, and kids were actually afraid of it at first. But post-World War II with the baby boom is when Halloween turned into this suburban neighborhood celebration associated with kids, and so then you start to have this more kind of childlike, goofy, happy face of the jack-o'-lantern. And also, kids started to be associated with pumpkins too. So, you know, you could call a kid a pumpkin because both had this sense of natural goodness. Libby's, the canned pumpkin that most people eat at Thanksgiving, they had an ad one time of two rosy-cheeked kids inside a giant pumpkin to saying that, you know, their crop is as nice and sweet and happy as these natural little babies.
FADEL: And really quickly, what does it symbolize to you now, the jack-o'-lantern?
OTT: Well, the important thing about it is actually this popularity of the jack-o'-lantern and pumpkin pie is hoping to rejuvenate the very thing it represents - this rustic farm life. So buying pumpkins, the - all the meanings and people invest in it, it's helping to rejuvenate these small family farms so they can stay in farming and have to - instead of having to do something else.
FADEL: Oh.
OTT: So going out, "The Great Pumpkin" is a good story.
FADEL: That's awesome. Cindy Ott teaches history at the University of Delaware. Thank you.
OTT: Thank you so much.
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