Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff,
Speaker 1: Lauren voc obam here. Traditions have always played a big
Speaker 1: part in what defines any holiday, but Halloween's traditions are
Speaker 1: some of my favorites. The costumes, the trigger treaters, the
Speaker 1: horror flicks of the maccab decor, including Jack o' lanterns
Speaker 1: grinning and glowing next to front doors all across America.
Speaker 1: Like most folklore, the history of the Jack o lantern
Speaker 1: varies a bit depending on who's telling the story, but
Speaker 1: all stories involve a clever drunkard who pulls one over
Speaker 1: on the devil. Legend has it in seventeenth or eighteenth
Speaker 1: century Ireland, a foul moutain disreputable miser named Stingy Jack
Speaker 1: asked the devil to go have a drink with him.
Speaker 1: Jack was the generic name for the common man at
Speaker 1: the time, hence Jack of all trades, every man, Jack, Jack,
Speaker 1: the ripper, et cetera. But back to Stingy Jack and
Speaker 1: his request for a drink. The devil obliged, and when
Speaker 1: the bill came there was that awkward moment that we're
Speaker 1: also familiar with. Jack expected the devil to take care
Speaker 1: of things and the devil thought Jack should pony up.
Speaker 1: Seeing as how Jack had no money anyway, he convinced
Speaker 1: the devil to turn himself into a sixpence coin to
Speaker 1: pay the bill. The devil fell for it, and Jack
Speaker 1: skipped on the bill, but slipped the coin into his pocket,
Speaker 1: where he had a secret weapon, a silver cross. The
Speaker 1: devil was stuck in Jack's pocket, trapped by the cross,
Speaker 1: but Jack struck a deal. Had let the devil go,
Speaker 1: provided the devil wouldn't come after Jack for a period
Speaker 1: of one year or ten years, depending on who you ask.
Speaker 1: The devil had no choice but to agree. Jack took
Speaker 1: out the coin and the devil returned to his normal
Speaker 1: form and went on his not so merry way. At
Speaker 1: the end of the agreed upon time frame, the devil
Speaker 1: found Jack for a little payback, but somehow Jack convinced
Speaker 1: him to climb a tree in search of an apple
Speaker 1: for Jack before they set off for Hell. The horned
Speaker 1: one once again obliged, only to see Jack carve a
Speaker 1: cross into the tree trunk, leaving the beast stranded again.
Speaker 1: Jack had his sights on a higher prize. This time,
Speaker 1: he said had let the devil down only if he
Speaker 1: promised to never claim Jack's soul for Hell. Devil had
Speaker 1: nothing to do but agree. When Jack died, St. Peter
Speaker 1: rejected him at the Pearly Gates because of his suspect credentials.
Speaker 1: The Devil wouldn't and couldn't let Jack into Hell for
Speaker 1: their agreement at the tree. In the end, the devil
Speaker 1: gave Jack a lump of burning coal to light his
Speaker 1: way through purgatory. Jack carried the coal inside of a
Speaker 1: hollowed out turnip. Irish families told the tale and began
Speaker 1: to put carved out turnips in their windows to prevent
Speaker 1: Stingy Jack and other ghouls from entering the home. Some
Speaker 1: had scary faces carved into them to frighten such ghosts away.
Speaker 1: The tail spread to Scotland and England, where folks might
Speaker 1: use potatoes or beats. When those families immigrated to America,
Speaker 1: they realized that the pumpkin native to the area was
Speaker 1: more ideal for carving, and that is why you see
Speaker 1: jack o' lanterns on porches around Halloween. Today's episode was
Speaker 1: written by Emily Sanna Bogan and produced by Tyler playing
Speaker 1: her More and This and lots of other glowing topics
Speaker 1: visit our home planet, how stuff Works dot com