Pumpkins

Traditionally turnips and gourds were used however pumpkins were found to be a better size.

Legend tells the story of an Irishman, Jack who got so intoxicated on a Halloween that his soul began to leave his body.

The Devil saw an opportunity to claim a victim and promptly came to earth. Jack was desperate to avoid his fate so he begged the Devil to allow him one last drink. The Devil consented but stated that Jack would have to pay for his drink because the Devil carried no money. Jack claimed to only have a sixpence left and asked that the Devil assume the shape of a sixpence to pay for the drink. Then, tab paid, the Devil could change back to himself. The Devil considered the request reasonable and changed himself into a sixpence. Jack immediately grabbed the coin and put it in his wallet, which had a cross-shaped catch. The Devil was unable to get out and began ranting and cursing. They then made a deal that the Devil would be released if he agreed to let Jack alone for one year. The Devil agreed and Jack set forth to reform is behavior over the next year.

However it wasn't long before Jack slipped back into his drunken ways and the next year the Devil appeared to Jack again and demanded his soul. Once again, Jack was desperate to save himself. He suggested to the Devil that he may want one of the apples hanging in a tree nearby. He offered to allow the Devil to climb on his shoulders to reach the apples. Once the Devil was in the tree, Jack pulled out a pocket knife and carved a cross in the tree trunk. The Devil could not get out of the tree. Furious and desperate, the Devil offered Jack ten years of peace in exchange for freeing him. Jack insisted that The Devil never bother him again and he would be freed. The Devil resentfully agreed.

Jack then returned to his old ways but before the next Halloween, his body gave out and he passed. He was turned away at the gates of Heaven because of the meanness in his life. The Devil refused him at the gates of hell, stating that he would never bother him again . The Devil threw him a burning lump of coal from hell. Jack put the ember inside of a turnip and it has been Jack's light on his eternal wanderings ever since.

Jack-O-Laterns were placed on porches and windows on Halloween in the hope that if Jack passed by he would take the light and not bother anybody ever again