50 Times People Took Halloween Pumpkin Carving To A Whole New Level And Created These Masterpieces (New Pics)

The origins of the carved pumpkin (or jack-o’-lantern) are nearly as spooky as Halloween itself. The lights, if certain tales are to be believed, represent or were inspired by the will-o'-wisp, a creature out of European folklore. This creature or spirit, depending on which interpretation one goes by, can be “found” at night, trying to lure people off of paths. 

After leading a person into a marsh or other remote, wild area, it disappears, leaving them lost. As per usual in European folklore, spirits, and creatures of the night are seldom around to help us humans. While the jack-o’-lantern isn’t exactly the same thing, its lights are supposed to represent these spirits. 

While the pumpkin is currently the undisputed king of carved vegetables, in the past it was common to also use turnips and even rutabaga to make faces. These faces and “lanterns” were used to ward off evil spirits at the spooky time of year, although in some cases they would also represent said spirits, so it seems that different people had different relationships with the spirits. 

While the tradition originated in the British Isles, the actual pumpkin is a vegetable from the Americas. So it’s not surprising that the first mentions of a carved pumpkin in North America go all the way back to 1837. However, at the time, it was more a celebration of the harvest than anything to do with Halloween or spirits, evil and benign. 

It would only be a few decades later when Americans would start to associate the carved and candle’d pumpkin with Halloween. Given that Halloween and the harvest aren’t that far apart, the connection seems pretty easy to make. After all, you can't have an abundance of pumpkins to carve without a harvest. 

Since the 1860s, the craft of carving pumpkins has only expanded, as well as the actual size of canvas. Just recently, the record for the world’s heaviest pumpkin was broken again by Travis Gienger, with a 1,226 kg (2,702 lb) pumpkin named “Michal Jordan.” One can imagine a skilled pumpkin carver looking at this massive “canvas” and being overwhelmed by the possibilities. 

Certain North American towns take their pumpkin carving very, very seriously. For example, the inhabitants of Keene in New Hampshire worked together to carve, light up, and display a staggering 30,581 pumpkins in 2013, setting a new world record. While the individual quality of the pumpkins is questionable, there is no denying that quantity has a quality of its own.