San Francisco Pumpkin Field Visits: Origin Of Jack-O’-Lanterns

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — If you’re planning to turn your best find at a San Francisco area pumpkin patch into a jack-o’-lantern, you may be wondering about the origins of the fall tradition.

First, here’s a list of pumpkin patches and fields around San Francisco.

1. Livermore's Iconic Corn Maze & Pumpkin Patch, G&M Farms, Announces 2021 Dates
2. Joan's Farm & Pumpkin Patch -Livermore
3. Smith Family Farms - Brentwood
4. Three Nunns Farm - Brentwood
5. Speer Family Farms - Alameda Point
6. ABC Farms Pumpkin Patches:

• Fremont: 4020 Fremont Hub (corner of Fremont Blvd at Mowry Ave.), 94538
• San Leandro: 15555 East 14th Street at the Bay Fair Center Mall (in front of Kohl's), 94578
• Richmond: 2200 Hilltop Mall Rd. (between Walmart and JCPenney), 94806
• Concord: WE'VE MOVED to 1765 Galindo Street, 94520
• Antioch: 4650 Delta Fair Blvd. @ Century Blvd., 94509

Hollowed-out pumpkins, with carved faces and lighted from the inside, can be seen throughout San Francisco and across the country during the Halloween season. But the time-honored tradition actually originated in Ireland, with people carving turnips and potatoes rather than pumpkins.

In fact, the name “jack-o’-lantern” comes from an Irish folktale about a man named Stingy Jack, who was said to be a mean-spirited blacksmith who, after tricking the devil, was doomed to spend eternity roaming the earth with a burning coal for light.

“In Ireland and Scotland, people began making their own versions of Jack’s lanterns by carving scary faces into turnips or potatoes and placing them into windows or near doors to frighten away Stingy Jack and other wandering evil spirits,” History.com wrote.

Irish immigrants brought the tale — and their carving tradition — to America. When they arrived in the 19th and early 20th centuries, they quickly realized that pumpkins were much easier to carve than the vegetables they had been using.

The tradition stuck, and now people in San Francisco and throughout the country look forward to carving pumpkins each year. Some stick with the classic jack-o-lantern, while others carve witches, owls and vampires into their pumpkins.

“The carved gourds have come to serve as much more than mere decoration,” National Geographic wrote. “Despite their often fearsome look, jack-o’-lanterns now symbolize a welcoming sense of community.”