Jack o’ lanterns come from a blend of Irish, Scottish, and broader British folk traditions linked to Halloween and the Celtic festival Samhain. The practice originally used carved turnips, mangel-wurzels, or other vegetables, which Irish and British communities fashioned into lanterns to ward off wandering spirits or to represent spirits on Halloween. When Irish immigrants and others brought these customs to North America, pumpkins—larger, softer, and easier to carve—became the common canvas, and the modern pumpkin jack-o’-lanterns popular today largely developed in the United States.