History-sode | The Legend Behind the Jack-O’-Lantern
Update: 2025-10-30
Description
You’ve carved your pumpkins ......now hear the eerie Irish legend that started it all!
In this short bonus History-Sode, Auntie Jo Jo retells the story of Stingy Jack, the clever trickster who outsmarted the Devil twice and became the wandering ghost behind the first Jack-O’-Lantern.
Learn how Irish immigrants brought this glowing tradition to America — and why a turnip once carried the world’s very first candlelight.
(Plus, a special announcement about Auntie Jo Jo’s brand-new podcast, Legacy Lore, now streaming everywhere!)
Sources:
- National Museum of Ireland: Folklore of Samhain and the Jack-O’-Lantern
- Irish Central, “The Legend of Stingy Jack: The True Story Behind Halloween’s Jack-O’-Lantern”
- Library of Congress, “Halloween: Folklore and Myth”
- History.com Editors, “History of the Jack-O’-Lantern”
- Smithsonian Magazine, “The Irish Legend That Gave Us the Jack-O’-Lantern”
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