Pumpkins: the face of Halloween

In America, pumpkins have become an essential part of the Halloween tradition. But the pumpkin wasn’t always used for holiday decorations.

Irish and Scottish immigrants would make jack-o-lanterns by engraving scary faces into turnips and potatoes to scare away Stingy Jack, a demonic spirit. When they came over to America, they discovered pumpkins would be the best way to keep the evil spirits away.

Now pumpkins are a Halloween tradition.

Rachel Zawadzki, a UNC sophomore majoring in comparative literature, said she used to enjoy carving pumpkins with her dad and brother as a little girl.

“Carving pumpkins is always something my family has done,” she said. “My brother, dad and I would start carving the pumpkins while my mom would bake the pumpkin seeds. After we finished the designs my dad would fix it up and we would place it outside.”

One time her mother made a pumpkin into an owl.

“She took sunflower seeds and glued them to toothpicks,” she said. “It was really cute. It was such a happy little pumpkin.”

For some students here at UNC, no matter how far away they are from home, Halloween traditions never stop.

Natalie Scott, a UNC senior global studies major, loves decorating during the holidays so much that during her first year she decided to bring the Halloween spirit to campus by decorating her own pumpkin.

After a bit, she noticed the pumpkin had disappeared.

“I was really sad about it,” she said. “So my roommate suggested I make a missing pumpkin sign.”

After putting the sign in the lobby of Craige North, the next day someone brought it back to her all taped up. It was then that she discovered the mystery behind her missing pumpkin.

“Someone supposedly got intoxicated, took my pumpkin and threw it off the sixth floor of Craige,” she said.

Fortunately the person who had originally thrown the pumpkin away took it out of the trash can, restored it back to its original state and brought it back to her.

Even though Halloween is associated with many frightening traditions, the pumpkin is what brings Halloween’s satanic past to the present celebration with family and friends.

“Growing up around pumpkins during this time of year is a staple for fall. It’s nostalgia, almost,” Caleb Fulmore, senior, said.

“The older we get, the busier we are to celebrate the holidays. Now when I see pumpkins it takes me back to old times.”

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