Carved pumpkins are the signatures of a Halloween celebration. Lawns, gardens, and households get decorated with these creepily carved vegetable shells.
During the early days, it was believed that evil spirits lurked in the surroundings during the Halloween season. So people carved out rudimentary faces into hollowed-out turnips and placed them near the windows and doors.
These carved-out turnips were also placed alongside the roads. These turnip lanterns were used to light way for travelers and good spirits.
It was the Irish immigrants who bought Halloween to the US. And here pumpkins became the staple for carving. This was due to the ready availability and flexibility to work with the fruit.
It was in the 1960s that John Howden developed the ideal carving pumpkins. These became the popular Halloween pumpkin, as they had thin flesh and shallow ribs.