Irish legend

Irish legend has it that the jack-o’-lantern was named after a folktale and a man named “Stingy Jack.” Stingy Jack thought he had tricked the devil, but the devil had the last laugh, condemning Jack to an eternity of wandering the planet with only an ember of hellfire for light. The original jack-o'-lanterns were carved from turnips, potatoes or beets. Immigrants brought the jack-o’-lantern custom to North America, which is where pumpkins were first used to make the Halloween decorations, and eventually became the gourd of choice.