Jack, a stingy, drunken Irishman, is the reason why jack o' lanterns have been associated with Halloween for centuries.

One popular version of an Irish legend tells of Jack drinking too much liquor at a local pub on All Hallow's Eve. The more drinks Jack consumed the more his life was slipping away. As the intoxicated Jack stumbled home, the Devil demanded that Jack come to Hell with him because of his evil ways. Jack, who was not too eager to die, convinced the Devil to climb a nearby tree to pluck him an apple. As the Devil climbed the tree, Jack carved a cross in the tree's trunk--preventing the Devil from coming back down. The angry and deceived Devil demanded that Jack release him. But first, the clever Jack wanted to make a pact with the Devil. Jack made the Devil promise that when he died the Devil would not claim his soul. The Devil agreed and Jack set him free.

On the following All Hallow's Eve Jack died from his excessive drinking. He was forbidden to enter the gates of Heaven because of his mean and evil habits. Desperate for a resting place, Jack tried entering Hell, but the Devil denied Jack access because of their previous promise. The Devil gave the rejected Jack a lighted coal to help him find his resting place. Jack, who was munching down on a turnip at the time, placed the coal inside the turnip to light his way through the dark night. Since then, Jack has been roaming the world with his jack o'lantern looking for a place to rest.

The use of Jack O'Lanterns as festive lights at Halloween is a legendary custom that descended from the Irish who used carved out potatoes, beets, or turnips as lanterns.

Pumpkins were not used until Irish immigrants came to America and realized that these big orange squashes were more abundant and cheaper than beets or turnips.

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