Pumpkin painting most likely originated with a mother who did not have the time or energy to carve a jack o’lantern, and told her children, “Just paint a face on it, it’s more fun that way.” And so evolved the carved pumpkin into the painted pumpkin.
Following their recent Mother’s Club meeting, the ladies apparently did find it more fun to paint then to carve the guts out of the gourd. The members produced some interesting pumpkins which will undoubtedly find their place in doorways and windows, and hopefully frighten off ghastly entities that might come to local homes.
This was the purpose of the original jack o’ lanterns which were made to scare off creatures like Ireland’s “Stingy Jack”. Legend has it that the poverty stricken Jack used his wits to cheat the devil out of money, and earned the scorn of heaven for engaging in such unsavory business; the devil was none to pleased either. When Jack died, he became a spirit wanted neither in heaven nor hell. Forced to walk the earth with nothing but a burning ember to light his way, the slightly clever man carved out a turnip to hold the hot coal; that was the first jack o’ lantern.
The pumpkins that grew in the New World were perfect for this tradition which had followed the earliest immigrants across the sea, and the American jack o’ lantern is now the most recognizable symbol for the Halloween celebration. Some of the art displayed on the pumpkins from the Mother’s Club included Snoopy, Jets and Giants Insignia, Scary and funny faces, bats and even a prominent local politician.