It was the Irish who brought the tradition of the Jack O'Lantern to America. The practice of carving Jack-o'-lanterns goes back to the Irish legend of Jack, a lazy but shrewd farmer who tricked the Devil into a tree, then refused to let the Devil down unless the Devil agreed to never let Jack into Hell . The story goes that the Devil agreed, but when Jack died, he was too sinful to be allowed into Heaven, and the Devil wouldn't let him into Hell. So, Jack carved out one of his turnips, put a candle inside it, and began endlessly wandering the Earth for a resting place. He was known as Jack of the Lantern, or Jack-O'-Lantern. - See more at: http://www.learnenglish.de/culture/halloween.html#sthash.ckHC2lz7.dpuf