Halloween Pumpkin as Halloween decoration | Horror-Shop.com (2024)

FAQs

What is the pumpkin rule for Halloween? ›

Only knock at houses with decorations

At the very least, you should only go to a house with a pumpkin at the front door or at the window. If the house doesn't have decorations up, chances are they are not interested in trick-or-treaters coming to their door.

When Irish immigrants brought this folklore to America, they discovered that pumpkins, abundant in the New World, were ideal for carving. Thus, the tradition of carving faces into pumpkins was born, which symbolized the souls trapped between worlds, like Stingy Jack.

Because Halloween is a candy-centered holiday, the teal pumpkins are meant to indicate a food allergy: dairy, gluten, or nuts. So, a teal pumpkin sitting on the porch of a house means that the house has food-allergen-friendly options for trick-or-treaters.

In America, the Irish immigrants discovered a new vegetable, the pumpkin, which is harvested in the fall, and began using it to scare the evil spirits. It was also probably easier to carve a face on a pumpkin than on a turnip! With time, it became one of the most important symbol of Halloween.

Unbeknownst to the ancient Celts, their fall tradition of Samhain and of keeping evil spirits at bay would evolve throughout the centuries. Samhain morphed into Halloween, and the myth of Stingy Jack and the use of jack-o'-lanterns to scare off his evil spirit arose.

Basically, to help trick-or-treaters who might have serious food allergies, those who placed a teal pumpkin outside their door offered non-food treat items instead.

Pumpkins with ghoulish faces illuminated by candles are a sure sign of the Halloween season. The practice of carving ghoulish faces on vegetables may have roots in Ireland, where large turnips served as early canvasses. In fact, the name, jack-o'-lantern, comes from an Irish folktale about a man named Stingy Jack.

In Ireland, people started to carve demonic faces out of turnips to frighten away Jack's wandering soul. When Irish immigrants moved to the U.S., they began carving jack-o'-lanterns from pumpkins, as these were native to the region.

It is believed that the custom of making jack-o'-lanterns at Halloween time began in Ireland and Britain. In the 19th century, "turnips or mangel wurzels, hollowed out to act as lanterns and often carved with grotesque faces," were used on Halloween in parts of Ireland, Wales and the Scottish Highlands.

The pumpkin is a symbol of abundance, prosperity and good fortune, and it is associated with the harvest season. The pumpkin's ability to produce so much food from a single seed is a testament to its importance as a food source of abundance. In the Bible, the blood of Jesus washes away our sins.

What was the original purpose of the pumpkin? ›

History of the Pumpkin

For centuries the pumpkin was consumed and used in many ways by Native Americans. They would cook the flesh of the pumpkin by roasting, baking, boiling and drying it. They also ate the seeds of the pumpkin and sometimes used them as medicine.

The origins of Halloween customs are typically linked to the Gaelic festival Samhain. Samhain is one of the quarter days in the medieval Gaelic calendar and has been celebrated on 31 October – 1 November in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man.

If you're truly nervous, try turning off your lights after 9:00 PM—that should deter Halloween visitors of any age.

"Carve no more than three days before Halloween," Evan recommends. If you plan to celebrate on the weekend before or after Halloween, pick a pumpkin carving date a few days before the celebration. Carve too early, and your pumpkin will scare off trick-or-treaters with its rotten teeth!

Sometimes pumpkin farms use the unsold inventory as compost to increase nutrients in the soil and act as fertilizer, which is one of the most environmentally conscious ways to use them. The seeds from the pumpkin carcasses can also wind up essentially planting themselves, sprouting fresh inventory the following season.