How Long Have We Been Carving Pumpkins? The Newspapers Tell a Different Story

Every Halloween, millions of people carve pumpkins without giving much thought to where the tradition came from. We scoop out the insides, cut a face into the shell, drop a candle inside, and place it on the porch. It’s one of the most recognizable symbols of Halloween. But while digging through old newspaper archives recently, I started wondering just how far back this tradition really goes.

Most modern articles will tell you that jack-o’-lanterns originated from Irish folklore and the legend of Stingy Jack. According to the story, Jack tricked the Devil and was doomed to wander the earth carrying a lantern carved from a turnip. When Irish immigrants came to America, pumpkins became the preferred choice because they were larger and easier to carve. That explanation makes sense, but I wanted to see what the newspapers themselves had to say.

One of the oldest references I found appeared in an 1874 issue of The Pall Mall Gazette in England. What makes this clipping so interesting is that it wasn’t even about Halloween. It was a book review. While describing a scene, the writer casually mentioned hollowing out a pumpkin, carving it into a hideous face, and placing a candle inside. There was no explanation given because apparently readers were already expected to understand exactly what he meant. That tells us something important. By 1874, the idea of a carved pumpkin lantern was already familiar enough to be used as a common reference.

Then I stumbled across a fascinating advertisement from 1902. A department store proudly announced, “Jack O’ Lantern Time Is Here!” The ad featured carved pumpkins and invited families to visit a special Halloween display. What caught my attention was how modern it felt. The store wasn’t treating Halloween as some obscure folk custom. They were using it to bring people downtown, attract families, and create excitement. Sound familiar? Businesses are still doing the same thing today.

The advertisement also referred to “Jack O’ Lantern and his friends,” almost like Jack himself had become a Halloween mascot. That’s interesting because it shows that by 1902, the jack-o’-lantern wasn’t just a decoration. It had become a recognizable Halloween character. In a way, it was already part of the marketing and celebration side of the holiday that we know today.

The next clue came from a 1905 newspaper that mentioned a pumpkin carving contest. Once again, there was no explanation of what pumpkin carving was. The article simply discussed the contest as though everyone already knew the activity. That might not sound like much, but it suggests pumpkin carving had become a widespread community tradition. You don’t hold contests for something people have never heard of.

When you put these pieces together, an interesting timeline begins to emerge. By 1874, carved pumpkin lanterns were familiar enough to appear in casual writing. By 1902, businesses were promoting Halloween displays centered around jack-o’-lanterns. By 1905, communities were holding pumpkin carving contests. The tradition was already deeply rooted in everyday life long before modern Halloween decorations, television specials, or plastic trick-or-treat buckets ever existed.

What I find most interesting is how little the tradition has actually changed. More than a century ago, families were gathering together, carving faces into pumpkins, and displaying them during the Halloween season. The tools may have changed and the designs may be more elaborate today, but the basic idea remains exactly the same.

Looking through these old newspapers reminds me that Halloween isn’t just a collection of spooky stories and decorations. It’s a chain of traditions stretching across generations. Every carved pumpkin sitting on a front porch today has a direct connection to those carved pumpkins appearing in newspaper advertisements and community events over a hundred years ago.

Sometimes the most interesting Halloween discoveries aren’t ghosts, monsters, or haunted houses. Sometimes they’re the little pieces of everyday history hiding in old newspapers, waiting for someone to notice them.