While Googling to find out where, exactly, the apostrophe in All Hallows’ Eve went, I stumbled across the picture above, on the Wikipedia page for Halloween. There, it’s described as a “traditional Irish halloween Jack-o’-lantern from the early 20th century on display in the Museum of Country Life, Ireland.”
It’s flipping creepy!!
To me, it looks more like a turnip — or possibly a rutabaga — than any kind of gourd I’ve ever carved. But from reading the Wikipedia page, I think a turnip is more traditional than a pumpkin. I wonder how well the colour has been preserved over the last century?
On the website for the Museum of Country Life, I can’t find any reference to this particular item, but it does seem to be precisely the type of thing that they collect and exhibit.
Grant Hamilton
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