A jack-o'-lantern is a carved lantern, most commonly made from a pumpkin, or formerly a root vegetable such as a mangelwurzel, rutabaga or turnip. Jack-o'-lanterns are associated with the Halloween holiday. Its name comes from the phenomenon of strange lights flickering over peat bogs, called jack-o'-lanterns. It is suggested that the name also has ties to the Irish legend of Stingy Jack, a drunkard who bargains with Satan and is doomed to roam the Earth with only a hollowed turnip to light his way.
A traditional American jack-o'-lantern, made from a pumpkin, lit from within by a candle
A picture carved onto a jack-o'-lantern for Halloween
An assortment of carved pumpkins.
A plaster cast of a traditional Irish Jack-o'-Lantern in the Museum of Country Life, Ireland. Rutabaga or turnip were often used.
A pumpkin is a cultivated winter squash in the genus Cucurbita. The term is most commonly applied to round, orange-colored squash varieties, though it does not possess a scientific definition and may be used in reference to many different squashes of varied appearance.
A pile of pumpkins at the French Market in New Orleans, Louisiana
A variety of pumpkin cultivars
A field of giant pumpkins
Cross section of a Cucurbita maxima pumpkin
