Where did jack-o'-lanterns originate and what where they first made of?

Jack-o'-lanterns first originated in Ireland. The Irish began making jack-o'-lanterns - based on the Irish folk tale of a man named Stingy Jack. The folk tale tells how Stingy Jack tricked the Devil into not claiming his soul when he died, so instead the Devil forced him to walk through Hell with a lantern made of a stick and a turnip that was lighted by a piece of coal. The Irish began making their own versions of Jack's lantern using a large turnip or potato as a canvas. When Irish immigrants brought this tradition to America - home of the Great Pumpkin - it became a Halloween tradition.