Pop culture carved a niche into the Jack O Lantern tradition, now we can choose from a variety of designs and patterns, ranging from Captain Jack Sparrow, to the profile of Jack Kerouac.

According to Wikipedia, the carved pumpkin was a symbol of the harvest in North America before becoming an emblem for Halloween.

The poet John Greenleaf Whittier, who was born in 1807, wrote in “The Pumpkin” (1850):

Oh!—fruit loved of boyhood!—the old days recalling,
When wood-grapes were purpling and brown nuts were falling!
When wild, ugly faces we carved in its skin,
Glaring out through the dark with a candle within!

I’d love to check out this year’s The Great Jack O’ Lantern Blaze in New York. The blaze of 4,000 carved pumpkins is a glowing art walk in the historic Hudson Valley.

If you’d like to create interesting pumpkin art check out:

www.masterpiecepumpkins.com

www.jamminpumpkins.com 

www.pumpkingutter.com.