Friday, October 19, 2001

Pumpkin pickin’
Jack-o’-lanterns are important Halloween tradition
By Bethany McCormack
Opinion Editor

Freshman Lindsay Holmes is excited about Halloween. She’s already bought two pumpkins and plans to carve them soon.

“As a child, every year I’d carve pumpkins with my sister or my family. It’s tradition and it’s something I like doing,” she said.

Bethany McCormack/Skiff Staff

This year, for her first Halloween in college, Holmes plans to carry on the tradition, but this time she will be carving a jack-o’-lantern with a friend instead of her family.

To understand why we carve jack-o’-lanterns, first consider the history of Halloween.

According to (www.pumpkin-carving.com) Halloween began as a celebration of the end of the Celtic year and was a good time to honor the dead.

Jack-o’-lanterns were carved from turnips or gourds, and they were set out to welcome dead loved ones and protect against evil spirits. Pumpkins were not used for jack-o’-lanterns until European settlers came to America and adapted the tradition.

With Halloween less than two weeks away, now is the perfect time to decorate your own pumpkin. First, the perfect pumpkin must be obtained. Most grocery stores offer a reasonable selection, or you can visit a pumpkin patch.

Double Oak Ranch at 5100 Cross Timbers Road in Flower Mound provides a fun fall atmosphere for picking pumpkins. Hayrides and face painting are offered free on the weekends, and hundreds of pumpkins are available to choose from starting at $1 and up. The ranch is open daily from 9 a.m. to dusk.

A little closer to home, Ridglea Church of God at 6566 Greenway Road offers a selection of pumpkins ranging in price from 50 cents to $20. The pumpkin patch is open from 10 a.m. to dusk during the week and on Fridays and Saturdays until 8 p.m.

Also in Fort Worth, Marshall Grain Co., 2224 E. Lancaster St., offers a selection of pumpkins along with Indian corn, gourds, squash and straw bales. It is open from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

To find a good pumpkin, Marshall Grain Co. employee Pete Chavez said he recommends thumping it the same way you would a watermelon.

“If it sounds hollow then it’s probably mushy inside. That’s a sign of rotting, and it might tend to cave in,” Chavez said.

If you are picking a pumpkin to carve, (www.pumpkin-carving.com) recommends deciding the design, then finding a pumpkin large enough for your design with no bruises or nicks.

If you plan to carve using a stencil, the Web site suggests selecting a pumpkin close in size and shape to the stencil with no gouges or dents.

After selecting the perfect pumpkin, it’s time to begin carving. For traditional carving, several tools are needed including a boning knife that will be used to cut the top hole and any large pieces. A paring knife is needed for detail work and an ice cream scoop will also be helpful in scooping out the inside of the pumpkin.

The life span of a jack-o-lantern can range from a day to a week. To extend the life of a jack-o-lantern, coat all surfaces of the pumpkin with petroleum jelly after carving it.

This helps seal in moisture and prevents dehydration.

If your jack-o-lantern does shrivel up, soak it in water overnight to restore its original appearance.

If you decide to use a pattern rather than traditional carving, patterns and kits are available at most grocery stores. Some patterns can be downloaded off the Internet.

As an alternative to carving, many Internet sites feature ideas for decorating your pumpkin. The Web site (www.family.com) suggests painting your pumpkin, using standard tempera paint, or decorating a face on the pumpkin using fall items such as a pine cone for a nose and leaves for hair.

The possibilities are endless, so be creative and have fun with your pumpkin!

Bethany McCormack
b.s.mccormack@student.tcu.edu