By Pierre Ratte
Has anyone seen the new pumpkin patch along West Side Road east of the bridge under construction? Pretty cool-looking collection. The pumpkin patch is open Saturday and Sundays from 10am to 6pm.
Pumpkins have been associated with Halloween since the 1800s when vegetable-carving traditions accompanied Irish immigrants to America.
The phrase Jack-o’-lantern comes from the story of Stingy Jack. A man so poor and so cunning that he tricked the Devil into becoming a coin to buy him a beer. He was that stingy. Not having money, the Devil transformed himself into a coin. But ol’ Jack thought better of buying beer when he realized the Devil was trapped in a coin.
Despite getting the better of the Devil, God wasn’t too pleased with Jack given all the trickery ol’ Jack did throughout his life, so God prevented him from entering Heaven. And it turns out the Devil wasn’t at all interested in letting Jack into Hell. So, Jack was condemned to wander the earth as a spirit, continuing his mischief and trickery.
Fun Facts: Pumpkin carving on Halloween stems from Celtic traditions to ward off evil spirits with figure carvings on root vegetables. Halloween occurs one day before All Hallows’ Day, also known as All Saints’ Day, Nov. 1, honoring saints in Heaven, followed by All Souls’ Day, Nov. 2, honoring all souls in Heaven.
Hallows’ Eve, on Oct. 31, precedes All Hallows’ Day, and over time became Halloween, a day to ward off evil spirits per Celtic legends predating Christianity.
Santa Rosa cartoonist Charles Schulz had Linus Van Pelt, Lucy’s blanket-hugging younger brother, conceive of the Great Pumpkin. According to innocent Linus, the Great Pumpkin would come to whichever pumpkin patch the Great Pumpkin deemed “most sincere and lacking in hypocrisy.”
It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown was released in 1966 and was replayed annually by CBS until 2001, when it moved to ABC which replayed it annually until 2020, when rights were acquired by Apple TV+. A Charlie Brown Christmas was released by CBS in 1965. It was produced for less than $100,000; domestic video sales are estimated at $24 million.
Linus claimed Santa Claus was more popular than the Great Pumpkin because Santa had better publicity.
‘Snapshot’ is a weekly column featuring a photo and fun facts by Pierre Ratte, pj*****@ic****.com.
