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Parent Busters
Watermelons on Halloween? Weird Pumpkin Traditions and History (Busting Back Episode)
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Ready for a deep-dive into the world of pumpkins and gourds? In this Parent Busters Busting Back Episode, we'll cover all the pumpkin facts and pumpkin lore you never knew you needed!
Pumpkins, a staple in American traditions, hold some fascinating and surprising secrets and we're going to unmask the mystery behind these seemingly simple fruits (yes, fruits!).
Listen along as we reveal the surprising history of the jack-o'-lantern, the culinary uses of pumpkins and gourds, the weird, ongoing pumpkin-squash debat, and other fun facts about pumpkins for kids and parents like:
- What is the story behind Jack O lantern?
- Why is the pumpkin a symbol of Halloween?
- What’s the deal with jack-o lantern faces?
- Why Do We Carve Pumpkins at Halloween?
- What SUPER UNUSUAL Halloween “treat” did Jackie get when she was a kid while trick-or-treating?
- What vegetable did they use before pumpkins? (What people used to carve for Halloween and why.)
- Who the heck is Pumpkin Jack?
- Is pumpkin a root vegetable?
- Pumpkin vs squash vs gourd
- Pumpkin types & MORE
We'll take a nostalgic journey down memory lane, comparing Halloween's past and present, and ponder over the disappearing tradition of handing out fruits and homemade goodies.
Expect to hear some laughter, some sighs, and a fair amount of pumpkin trivia.
Finally, we'll travel through time and across cultures, exploring the significant role these round, orange fruits have played. From the Greek etymology of the word 'pumpkin' to the Huron Indians' lore of the divine woman who gave birth to maize, beans, and pumpkin.
We'll even touch on some fascinating tribal rituals involving pumpkin flower dances.
And, if you've ever wondered just how many seeds there are in a pumpkin, we've got the answer!
Also, a special story from Jackie's weird childhood.
Remember the good old days of trick-or-treating?
There's a story of a Halloween night, a time when apples and popcorn balls were the norm, and a stranger who ran out of candies resorted to giving out a special treat instead. (Nope, not a pumpkin!)
Join us on this fun-filled and informative journey through the fascinating world of pumpkins and gourds that you never knew you needed.
You're welcome.
Grab your free Buster Deduction sheet for kids!
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*All resources and references used in researching this podcast episode are found on the corresponding episode post on ParentBusters.com.
Hey, welcome to Paramestor's, a fun podcast where parents and kids can learn together. I think that's what we're about.
Speaker 2Yes, yes, that is, and the one interrupting is Ella.
Speaker 1Today we are going to do since we're heading into fall, I thought we thought it would be fun to talk about pumpkins and jack-o'-lanterns, because pumpkins.
Speaker 2I know what's not fun about that they're funkins.
Speaker 1We're going to go big or go home. Fail.
Speaker 2No, that was as bad as funkins.
Speaker 1And talk about is pumpkin a fruit and a whole bunch of cool things that you may not have known about. Jack-o'-lanterns yeah. Or you may have known them, hey. If you know, just pretend like you don't. Okay, you're funny, listen to us. Let's do our two truths and a lie, okay. Please hold for a very important message. Number one pumpkin is a fruit, okay. Number two the word pumpkin was first documented in the Bible.
Speaker 2Oh, okay.
Speaker 1And number three the first jack-o'-lanterns were the first jack-o'-lanterns. The first jack-o'-lanterns were turnips.
Speaker 2Huh, oh.
Speaker 1Okay, okay, I think we should talk right away about is pumpkin a fruit or a vegetable? Yes, because it seems like it's a question that I think it is an important question.
Speaker 2It seems like a vegetable it does, but then again cucumbers seem like vegetables and they're not Tomatoes. Tomatoes Peppers.
Speaker 1Pumpkin. Oh, speaking of peppers, we should check our garden.
Speaker 2Wow, oh yeah, that's the only thing we have growing in our peppers. Yeah.
Speaker 1And they're loving life. Well, we have a huge cucumber vine still and I want to see what's going on with it. We're awful. This year it's just been. Life is hard, man Yay.
Speaker 2Pumpkins are fruits, are fruits.
Speaker 1And they're a type of Gourd. Squash.
Speaker 2Gourd. Huh, I'll fight you.
Speaker 1They actually fit into both Gourd. Yes, so any squashes are gourds. Ha, but guess what? What? Not all gourds are squashes.
Speaker 2Not again. Yes, this is like the toad frog, isn't it Are?
Speaker 1you crazy?
Speaker 2Yes, it is, I don't even remember. If you want to know what I'm talking about, go check out our frog episode. Yeah, what was it? Do frogs cause warts?
Speaker 1Yes, Was that it. It was a really good episode too. It was a really great episode.
Speaker 2Check it out, because then you'll know my trauma.
Speaker 1So, yes, pumpkin is a fruit. It's a type of squash which is a gourd in this case. But remember, many squashes are gourds, but not all gourds are squashes, why? And they're popularly seen here in North America- yeah. A pumpkin and a squash have almost the same properties.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1They both have a maturity period of like around 100 days, a little more, in some cases 129 days. Gourds and pumpkins belong to the same family. They don't really differ that much If around like fall or Halloween Thanksgiving. If your grocery stores are like ours, we have a lot of pumpkin patches around here. But if your grocery stores are like ours, you'll see like big bins of pumpkins and gourds and you can always tell the gourds. The gourds are the ones that are mostly ornamental.
Speaker 2Yeah, they look real strange. They're like twisty ones or like the, sometimes like the smooshed ones. Yeah.
Speaker 1And they're beautiful. They're like the ones that they aren't. They the ones that you see, those really cool bird houses made out of to you. Oh, yes, I think those are the gourds. That is correct. They are also used as musical instruments.
Speaker 2Wow, really.
Speaker 1Yeah, they're used as instruments, as drums and string instruments, and drums and string instruments, string instruments. Do you think you can eat gourds, yes or nah? Pumpkin pie? Not pumpkins, but gourds, like the, the ornamental gourds I think that should have been in one of our tutors in the lie.
Speaker 2Dang it.
Speaker 1I know.
Speaker 2No, take two.
Speaker 1No, we're not on back. No, never go back, never look back people Huh.
Speaker 2Okay, so let's see. Yeah, gourds and squash are different. You can eat squash. Am I messing?
Speaker 1things up. No, I was just listening to you working out outside of your head yes, I want to say yes. Yes, you can eat them. I mean, technically you can eat them, but they're really tough. Gourds are the ones that have our tougher, their tougher skin.
Speaker 2Gourd beef jerky. They're harder to cook.
Speaker 1Air fryer gourd. They're harder to eat and they're harder to cook. Oh okay, Are we having a gourd time yet?
Speaker 2It took me like a solid five seconds to realize you meant good and not gourd, and I was like what is gourd time? It is gourd time. Yes, welcome to gourd time. Welcome to parent busters Gourd hour.
Speaker 1Yeah, I really caught you off gourd with that.
Speaker 2See, that was good, that was gourd.
Speaker 1No hey, let's talk about the history of jack-o-lanterns First of all. What's the difference between a pumpkin and a jack-o-lantern?
Speaker 2This is not a joke. No, I have things.
Speaker 1Oh.
Speaker 2You got so distracted by your puns that you forgot we formulated a plan.
Speaker 1We did and skipped over me. Vine, be that way.
Speaker 2Can you just leave it alone? Why so? I have another important question.
Speaker 1Before we get to the history of jack-o-lanterns yes, and gourd and question that was really bad.
Speaker 2Why are pumpkins orange, do you know? Because this is the kind of existential crises that I have.
Speaker 1I do not know. Does it have something to do with chlorophyll Chlorophyll in the plants.
Speaker 2It does have something to do with chlorophyll, but, alex Flane, I almost said chlorophyll, chlorine.
Speaker 1No, which is the thing that I know.
Speaker 2I was trying to make it lighter. This is.
Speaker 1Okay, go ahead. Ella, I wonder why pumpkins are orange.
Speaker 2Great question. Well, you might know this already Not all pumpkins are orange.
Speaker 1What Are you crazy True.
Speaker 2Can you act like surprise?
Speaker 1What? Not all pumpkins are orange.
Speaker 2I know it's shocking there are red, yellow, green, white, brown and there's even blue ones.
Speaker 1Blue? Yes, I don't know. I've seen the dark. I wonder if they mean that dark greenish.
Speaker 2It's like a grayish blue. It's kind of close to that greenish, I think.
Speaker 1It sounds really cool. One of them. The green ones are super cool.
Speaker 2Right.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2What is your favorite color of pumpkin? I have to ask.
Speaker 1I like a traditional orange pumpkin. Yeah, but those darker colors that we see when we go to the pumpkin patch I think are cool. Then they have spotted ones.
Speaker 2Yeah, I love the red, and then the blueish-gray ones are great, like the Jaredel pumpkin, which are popular in Australia. Oh, that's one of the types of blue pumpkins.
Speaker 1Oh, maybe we don't Do we have the blue ones here? I've seen them before. Oh, we saw them. I'm going to look at the pumpkin patch.
Speaker 2It might be the ones you're thinking of that are dark green.
Speaker 1If I see them, I'll take a picture and post it on our social media.
Speaker 2Yes, I'll point them out to you. So orange pumpkins have.
Speaker 1How do you know you're going to the pumpkin patch with me?
Speaker 2I will hide in the car, Okay go ahead.
Speaker 1So Our cat is in here and he those weird noises that you're hearing.
Speaker 2I'm pretty sure that was actually my chair. Huh, okay, I don't know what the noises are.
Speaker 1I don't know what's going on. We apologize.
Speaker 2Welcome to our hot mess. So orange pumpkins have a type of natural pigment called carti, cartinoid, cartinoid, there we go. Cartinoid, that gives some pumpkins an orange, red or yellow color, so it keeps in that like fire color range. Huh Huh, the color of pumpkin, like I kind of mentioned with the Jaredale pumpkin, can depend on the species, temperature, moisture and even the day length. Wow, I think that makes sense, right? So let's start with temperature. Okay, chilly nights and warm days can actually speed up the color change and bring them more into that warm color palette. Huh Huh, moisture, dry summers and soil can lead to a slowdown in color, leaving them in that green phase, hmm, okay, well, that also makes sense, because it's almost like they weren't allowed to mature.
Speaker 2Exactly. Most green pumpkins are like immature pumpkins.
Speaker 1You're so immature, you're so immature, wow Anyway. You just snapped it out For a pumpkin.
Speaker 2Yes and day length with Falls, Long Nights. The production of the green pigment, chlorophyll.
Speaker 1Not the same as chloroform Not the same.
Speaker 2Why did you bring it back?
Speaker 1Chlorophyll starts to come to a halt and be replaced by cartinoid, so do I get like some points for knowing that it had something to do with chlorophyll?
Speaker 2Yes, I give you.5 points.
Speaker 1That's because in seventh grade I wrote a poem about chlorophyll. You are joking? No, I am. You have to tell the story now. And then I had to read it out. No, the teacher read it out loud because she thought it was so good. You're welcome everyone. Welcome to the Joaquin the Science Nerd.
Speaker 2You're bragging about a poem.
Speaker 1Your face is so red with secondhand embarrassment for me right now.
Speaker 2I wasn't bragging, I was just stating facts, no, You're like the teacher read it out because she thought it was so good in front of the whole class.
Speaker 1She was probably like what?
Speaker 2did you write, and then they all stood up and clapped for me.
Speaker 1No, they were all like.
Speaker 2That's the face I made.
Speaker 1Yes, that's the face that everyone else was making too.
Speaker 2Okay, and ending off the color discussion, like I mentioned, green pumpkins are underdeveloped. They are kind of similar to green bananas. Yes, my favorite.
Speaker 1I would probably like green pumpkin.
Speaker 2Huh, she will only eat bananas when they're green. Okay, not you're wrong.
Speaker 1Not only, but not green, mid green, it has to be. Yeah, the like the. It still has to be. Like if you press on the banana, it has to be a little hard and it has to be more green. Not completely green, ok, but 82 percent green. What?
Speaker 2are you crazy? I appreciate that you know the statistics of it.
Speaker 1I mean, I've been eating bananas for a long time. Thank you for that, brad Hummer as soon as they start to turn. This is nothing to do with pumpkin, but as soon as they start, the bananas start to turn as soon as they're yellow, and I'm not even talking like brown yellow, I mean like a nice yellow.
Speaker 2I can't where people actually like it.
Speaker 1I can't eat them anymore.
Speaker 2Yeah, she's real weird. Anyway, ending that off, let's talk about the history of Jack O'Lantern.
Speaker 1Hey, yeah, want to. Yeah, what do you get when you drop a pumpkin squash?
Speaker 2I love when I can ruin your jokes.
Origins and Traditions of Jack O'Lanterns
Speaker 1Yeah, sometimes you have better punch lines than the real joke, thank you. So did you know that we can trace the origin of the history of Jack O'Lanterns all the way back centuries to old world traditions coming from England, ireland, scotland? It's? The term Jack O'Lantern has been used in American English to describe a lantern made out of a hollowed pumpkin since the 19th century, but that wasn't always the case. No well, first of all, it originated in 17th century Britain, so we just caught up a little. After, you know, we came here.
Speaker 2Yeah, we had. We had a lot of catching up to do.
Speaker 1But Jack O'Lantern was used to refer to a man with a lantern or a night watchman.
Speaker 2He was also called Jack of the Lantern. Wow, yes.
Speaker 1That's what the O means, by the way. Yes, well, let's tell them first why people use hollowed out pumpkins as lanterns. Back then Metal for the lantern was expensive so expensive.
Speaker 2So you had a garden right Just go out. And instead of a pumpkin, though, what did they?
Speaker 1use, I think, turnips and beets, I think, and potatoes.
Speaker 2Right and potatoes.
Speaker 1They use whatever root vegetables yeah.
Speaker 2Hollowed them out and put coals hot coals in them to make lanterns, and sometimes they would also make faces.
Speaker 1Yeah, and they did that because one of the reasons they did it was because it allowed the coals, or whatever they were using, to shine better. Yeah, so they started realizing that if we put faces on them, one of the reasons is it helps us use these lanterns better.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1Another one of the reasons they used faces is because there is a story.
Speaker 2That's right, people, it's story time. Yeah, okay, which one of us are telling?
Speaker 1it. You go for it, okay, and then I'll just add in whenever else I'll just doodle over here, okay, have?
Speaker 2fun. I'm going to draw a tiny pumpkin. She's so focused right now.
Speaker 1Okay, oh, sorry, were you talking to me. I was drawing. I think I drew an apple.
Speaker 2I don't know what that is. It looks like a fan.
Speaker 1Okay. So we learned in the last episode that in not maybe not the lab, but in the Queen Elizabeth episode that I couldn't sing, and now we're learning she can't draw. I really can't draw.
Speaker 2But she can write.
Speaker 1I can write like a mama.
Speaker 2You are a mama.
Speaker 1Exactly Okay. So back to the scary night watchman named Jack or also known as Stingy Jack, stingy Jack. Yes, that was my Irish accent because he was started. It was bad, don't do that.
Speaker 2We don't need to offend people. More people.
Speaker 1Top of the morning, stingy Jack. Are you trying to be Jack? Except the guy Like what's going on, because he started as an Irish legend right, yes, okay, so this starts.
Speaker 2I'm going to get very spooky, I'm not. I'm not going to turn down the lights. The lights are off.
Speaker 1I know it's already spooky.
Speaker 2I would turn off my little like lamp for my papers, but then I couldn't see, so you know. So this started. This tradition of calling these lanterns Backo lanterns started from an Irish tale about a man named Jack, sometimes called Stingy Jack, who was continuously tricked by the devil. And when Jack died, you know he wasn't the greatest guy, he was kind of a jerk.
Speaker 1Yeah, he was very mischievous.
Speaker 2He kept tricking the devil.
Speaker 1He drank all the time.
Speaker 2Yeah, he wasn't cool, so you know God didn't really want him in heaven.
Speaker 1Right, he was like. King gate is closed. Close sign yes, all of the locks, exactly.
Speaker 2Exactly and so, and then he tried to go to hell, and then I was like the devil didn't want him there either.
Speaker 1No, because he was bitter because Jack Stingy Jack kept tricking him.
Speaker 2So after not being able to go to H E double hockey sticks, I literally wrote that down. You had to write that down, yes. I did so, the devil, taking a little bit of pity on him, gave him a hot coal and Jack was forced to just wander the earth forever. Where's Jack now? Wandering the earth forever when Jack His hollowed out turnip with that single coal that's in there forever. Wow, wow.
Speaker 1Um sound like a the in scene In scene.
Speaker 2See, this is what you get first. See, this is what happens when I go to acting class. I do a good job, that's right.
Speaker 1Uh, one of the interesting things about that story to me. I mean this okay, it's a folk tale about Jack and his lantern, jack of the lantern, which turned into Jack O Lantern.
Speaker 2Because no one got time to say no nobody got time for Jack and the lantern. Although it's way cooler.
Speaker 1So he's supposed to be wandering in this place between heaven and hell, and it also. So there's something called Ignis Fadis or Ignis Fadius Um, keep stealing my thunder, it's. You just told the entire story. So in his fatty us is this natural phenomenon and it occurs in like marshlands and bogs, and it's like um flickering lights like these little floating flames yeah.
Speaker 1What it really is. It's the gases from combusting, like organic matter, yes, and so it produces like these little lights. It's also called fools fire, fairy lights, will of the wisp, and eventually became Jack O Lantern.
Speaker 2Yes.
Speaker 1And um, some people think that or still say that that's Jack Stingy, Jack wandering around in the middle of the night.
Speaker 2How, how scary is that. You're just randomly out in a bog in the middle of the night and they just see fire.
Speaker 1Yeah. And then you tell your kid we have to get you better. Be good, there's Stingy Jack, He'll get you.
Speaker 2Wow, are we coming into another episode of Jackie's traumatizing childhood Cause? That's what it feels like.
Speaker 1No, cause I didn't know about Stingy Jack. Yeah, no, I should probably tell this story. Oh, do you want to hear about my do we have a Jackie's traumatizing childhood?
Speaker 1Well, let me finish telling you about Stingy Jack and then I'll tell you about Stingy Jackie. Okay, yes, you're welcome for that. So anyway, when people saw these fire, little fires combusting we're not talking about huge, we're just talking about flickering fires. That's why people thought they were fairy lights over marshlands and bogs. They would say that that was Jack O'Lantern. Jack in his Soul that's still stuck here.
Speaker 2Poor guy I know well. So you get for being a jerk right, don't be a jerk.
Speaker 1This is look people, this is your warning right now lesson. This is the lesson don't be a jerk. So that that story still stuck around and people said that he was like the lost soul or the ghost and those little fires, the ignaz Fadius were him, but once electricity came around, so this kind of so the stingy jack story was super pop like. It was very well known and everyone.
Speaker 2Yeah, there are variations of it.
Speaker 1Yeah, as with anything, but that was the story that people told.
Speaker 2And but yeah, once electricity came in around the 1930s, people yeah, I have a little more history on the lanterns before we get into stingy jack people forgot about stingy jack, though, because the electricity was here. They couldn't see the light. There was too much. Well, I think I it wasn't as scary.
Speaker 1No, because imagine I mean okay, like when we go to the family farm.
Speaker 2That is at night. It's away from a city.
Speaker 1That's where stingy jack is it's yes, Did you jack and very possibly live there in the cellar. We can check. We can check next time. Oh no, what? What did you have to say about?
Speaker 2so, besides Just using root veggies as lanterns, because it was expensive, after this stingy jack tail came about, irish people would carve their own potatoes, turnips and such into lanterns, spooky lanterns. Then they would put them in their windows to scare jack off, to keep them away. Because, yeah, and even Thousands of years before we carved pumpkins and such carved rounds, fruits and veggies were used to depict. You want to take a guess?
Speaker 1No.
Speaker 2Yes, no, they were used to depict the severed heads of your enemy.
Speaker 1Oh, and some I might be covered some of those up tonight. What are you? It's been a rough week.
Speaker 2Oh, Don't mess with her please. But they were used to pick the pick severed heads by some European Celtic cultures.
Speaker 1Yeah, I am, there was a Celtic festival there. There is a Celtic festival called saw one in saw one Eve, which is October 31st.
Speaker 2What?
Speaker 1inspired, a lot of how yeah that's what a lot of our Halloween traditions came thought from the During saw, when the spirit of the dead are thought to be Mealing with the living. So to ward off those restless souls, they would, people would put on costumes and they also carved scary faces into those root vegetables, and that's what you were talking about. So they would carve root vegetables like beets, potatoes, turnips, and they were so plentiful because that it harvest just happened.
Speaker 1Yeah, just happened and then eat all of yours, yet and then they would put them in the windows to scare off those restless souls. During saw one how cool.
Speaker 2so, yeah, when this, all this tradition came to America, they're like a yo pumpkin. That's here, that's great. That's easier than having to hollow this tiny thing out. Let's do that, yeah, they didn't? They were introduced to pumpkins when they came here and one thing that really skyrocketed Jack O'Lantern as the Halloween thing. What in America was the 1820 story of sleepy hollow?
Speaker 1Yes, that is terrifying, I have to tell you. I still remember that. I mean, I've clearly read it in seen movies as a if you when I got older if you don't know what it is.
Speaker 2Yeah, it's this tail where it's main antagonist is this guy Riding on a horse with a flaming pumpkin head. It's terrifying, and originally I don't think it was flaming, but but now it's, why not? Evolved and and just during this podcast, just yes, exactly, but that skyrocketed its popularity. Now talk about your trauma.
Speaker 1Why is the jack o'lantern afraid? Why, it had no guts. Wow, I will tell you about Stingy Jackie. Stingy Jackie, well, it's something. It shouldn't be called Stingy Jackie, it should be called Traumatized Jackie. I want to tell, I do want to tell you, before I tell you, the Stingy Jackie story, as it will be known, moving forward.
Speaker 2Yes.
Speaker 1I don't know what I was gonna. Oh, I didn't know what it's gonna. There is something. There are other names for Jack O'lantern.
Speaker 2Oh Jack, pumpkin scary face.
Speaker 1Willow the wisp will. Oh, willow the wisp, yeah the wisp, the Ignis Fodious which I told you yeah. That is medieval Latin. For would you care to got guess what Igneous Fodious means?
Speaker 2Fire.
Stingy Jackie's Traumatizing Watermelon Halloween
Speaker 1Foolish fire. Oh, you're so close. And Jack O'lanterns are also called Friars Lanterns. Huh, huh, I kind of want to call them Willow the Wisp. Do you want to hear? I'm trying to decide? Oh, because we're gonna do a couple of Halloween related episodes.
Speaker 2I mean you, you've kind of already built up Traumatized Jackie Stingy, jackie Stingy. Jackie, okay, when I was kid and welcome back to another episode of Jackie's Traumatizing Childhood back in my day. Today we won't be talking about the story.
Speaker 1After that build up, what if the story really sucks? I hope it does oh, make it funny.
Speaker 2Oh, I also. I don't want to suck. Let's hear.
Speaker 1Oh, no, oh, no pressure.
Speaker 1So, I when I was a kid in the 70s Wow, back in my day we lived in a neighborhood and there are a million kids and we all knew each other. It was a time period when neighbors kind of looked out for all the kids and like, if the neighbor told you to go home, you didn't like back talk, you just were like yes, ma'am, and you went home Like you. Just everyone listened to the neighbors and you know like everyone knew each other. So on Halloween, parents would just unleash the kids. Yeah, it wasn't like today when you know every parent takes the kids around and it wasn't like that.
Speaker 1You just got together with a group of your neighborhood friends and then you went trick-or-treating with them. So I will never forget I was with Arlene and Kathy. Hey, girls, hey. And we. I don't know, I don't know if kids, kids, still do this, but Back then we used our pillowcases for trick-or-treat bags.
Speaker 2Yeah, I know people who've done that.
Speaker 1So we had gone one direction and then came back to my house, dumped out our goods we people used to give out a lot of kids and then we were going the other direction, like over one street over, so you didn't. So it got to be where you didn't know as many people. You knew the people on your street, yeah. So we were going to one street over and we go to a house that we didn't know the person at all and I, as a matter of fact, I think this person just moved in so we, like we really didn't know them and it was a dude and he gives, like Arlene, a handful of candy and an apple. I think back then you get people gave apples, they gave out hand homemade popcorn balls, so you weren't afraid. Yeah, like I mean you knew this. Oh, this came from Mrs Jones, yeah, you know where.
Speaker 2So who was and wasn't going to murder you? Wow, maybe.
Speaker 1Oh, okay. So he gave Arlene like a handful of candy and apple. He gave Kathy like, turned his bowl over, dumped the rat you know what was, there was only a little left dumped it into her bag.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1Gave her an apple. And then it got to me and I was like, and I was the youngest one and I was just like, oh no. And he looked at me and he showed me the bowl and he was like I'm so sorry I ran out and I was just, I remember, feeling like oh, so sad. Yes, it's true, I'm sad. Okay, now you feel bad about Stingy Jackie, don't you? So that was the office. That's why I said we shouldn't, probably shouldn't, call this Stingy Jackie. Uh. So he says hold on just for first. He says, okay, come in a second. And we were like, even in the 70s, we're like, nah, we'll stay right here on the porch. And he was like, okay, I'll be right back. And we just like looked at each other and we were like what's happening?
Speaker 1And when he came back, yes, what he had for me Puppy. Nope, it wasn't a puppy, it was a watermelon. What are you crazy? This is, this is a true story. If I have to have Arlene and Kathy on, I wonder if they remember. I should ask them.
Speaker 2Where did you also? Where did you get a watermelon during?
Speaker 1fall. I don't know, I didn't, he didn't, so I don't know. I was like nine, I don't know. So it wasn't huge, it was like, you know, like small into medium, a little bigger than a cantaloupe, okay so, but it was like an oblong one, not like a round one. Yeah. So he hands me a watermelon, oh my, and he says happy Halloween. And he shuts the door and turns off his lights because that's the I don't know if it is around your parts, but that's the international sign of I've run out of candy.
Speaker 2They'll come to this house anymore.
Speaker 1Or please don't come up to my house, don't come to our house at all, yeah, so we looked at each other and we were like what? And they were like you just got a watermelon for Halloween. We ran, I ran carrying this watermelon. We ran all the way back to my house, which was like so like all the way down and around the corner and back around the corner we ran back to our house.
Speaker 1My mom was like what is going on here? And I was like I got a watermelon. And she's like I feel like there's the scene in this movie You've never seen the movie but there's a scene in a movie called Dirty Dancing that parents will probably know and the whole line that's become like a classic line is he's like Patrick Slazy is like what's she doing here? And she has a watermelon and her line is I carry the watermelon. So I feel like Jennifer Gray in like nobody puts Stingy Jackie in a corner.
Speaker 1Okay, I know that I do say it near daily, and so we give the watermelon Watermelon wean is what I called it and I wrote. I think it might still be up. I used to write for Huffington Post, so it might still be up there and I called it watermelon wean. Anyway, if I can find the post, I'll link to it If it's still up. They've changed a bunch of things since I wrote for them. I got a watermelon. We took it back. My mom, however, was not she's like where did you get this? Cause. Like if I had said we got it from Mrs Jones, she probably would have been like oh, okay, but I was like I don't know this guy and this has. She was like which house? And I was like the brown one two doors down from the corner, and she was like we don't know those people at all. Like, as a matter of fact take watermelons from strangers.
Speaker 1Apparently you can take watermelon from neighbors that you do know. So anyway, we left, I took the watermelon. I remember this like it was yesterday. I took the watermelon in, I put it in the laundry room and on the washer and off we went again to continue our little Halloween hall and when I came back it was gone. Talk to your grandmother about this.
Speaker 2I feel like I need to ask her now.
Speaker 1I wonder if she remembers. Yes, the next time we're together, the next time we're doing each shop eat. You ask her about it because I'm curious to see if she remembers.
Speaker 2Eat shop. Eat is our process when we go out where we eat food they go shopping.
Speaker 1We have a girls day.
Speaker 2Eat again. That's what we call our girls day. Yes, just to clarify.
Speaker 1Between my mom, ella, and I, yes, so we have a girls day and turn always turns into each shop eat.
Speaker 2Now I have a very important question.
Speaker 1Well, so it was gone, yeah.
Speaker 2Okay, oh, and then my mom was like.
Speaker 1I was like where's the watermelon? And she was like I don't know, I don't know what happened to that watermelon. Well, she took it and threw it away because we didn't know the guy, yeah, and then we weren't sure if he put razor blades in it, which was a big thing. That was the thing that was the thing back in.
Speaker 1That was the thing back when I was a kid, like don't eat your apple because you don't want to bite into it. Somebody might have put razor blades in it. Say what? Okay, maybe we should do a pair of busters about weird Halloween candy. Yeah, I might even tell the Stingy Jackie watermelon wean story again.
Speaker 2I would appreciate that.
Speaker 1Anyway, I never got to eat that watermelon, in case you were wondering, and in fact I don't even know what happened to it. I don't know if she took it out and threw it into the garden, because we had a huge garden in the back.
Speaker 2Yeah, I don't know what happened to it. I don't know why there are watermelons growing.
Speaker 1Why do we have all these watermelon?
Speaker 2No reason, but I have a very important question. Okay, what was your costume? Oh gosh. Well, it wasn't one of the creepy mask ones.
Speaker 1No, that was only when I was young, so she's talking about, if you don't know, look up creepy 70s kids costumes. Kids costumes, I had the one. I had the one that was Cinderella. If I can find it, when I find a picture of it, I will link to it from our post and I will put this is the creepy Cinderella costume. No, back in my day you kind of made it wasn't like today when people get really you. Okay, am I boring you?
Speaker 2I just had the on.
Speaker 1Wow.
Speaker 2I thought this dingy Jackie story was really good.
Speaker 1It's very interesting.
Speaker 2It's dark in here and makes me sleepy, okay.
Speaker 1We didn't. This is way off pumpkin topic, but we didn't go all out like back then. Everybody made their costumes. So whatever you, but a lot of times you were like a scarecrow and you just like stuffed big jeans which you were ghost class, yeah, ghost the eye hole yeah for real, like the Charlie Brown I was going to say who was it?
Speaker 2that was it Charlie Brown who cut a bunch.
Speaker 1It was Charlie Brown. I thought it was Pigpen for a second Then it wasn't because he was just normal, but he had dirt so I feel like I was like a scarecrow or something like that. That's like I had my dad's jeans on and we like about, but I had stuff like straw and I feel like it was something like that.
Speaker 2Where did you get straw?
Speaker 1Huh, we live in the country. Okay, so that's not that hard you could have snuck next to one, right, exactly Okay.
Speaker 2Anyway, what were we talking about? What is some sort of episode about fruit?
Speaker 1What do surfers say on Halloween? Gord vibes, only dude Fail. That was like not good. Anyway, let's move on.
Speaker 2Do you?
Speaker 1want to move on to some fun facts about pumpkins. Well, first I have you keep a. Do you have a Stingy Ella story.
Speaker 2It's not. Do I have a good hold on? I might have to think about this. Do I have a good Halloween?
Speaker 1Yeah, well, you can think about it, because we're going to do a couple of Halloween episodes, so that is true. Let's move on to pumpkins. I'm so sorry that I derailed this, but I think the Stingy Jackie story, which is what it will forever be known as- yes, Now. Stingy Jackie. I think the Stingy Jackie story was worth it, because Un Stingy Jackie, un Stingy Jackie, yes.
Cultural Significance of Pumpkins and Gourds
Speaker 2You're right. Also, I like how you apologize that this went off the rails, when literally every episode I think we've ever done has gone off the rails. Those are the best stories, I think. Okay, so I have. I have some things to talk about cultural significance, pumpkins and gourds.
Speaker 1That seems a little anticlimactic after Stingy Jackie watermelon, but go ahead.
Speaker 2Nothing can top top watermelon Wean. It's such a strange sounding thing. I love it. Let's hear about culture.
Speaker 1Let's hear about something that means something. Yes, so I have a melon wean with something to me.
Speaker 2Wow, okay, wow, let's see now. Haha, wow, okay, pumpkins have come a long way to be called pumpkins. Uh huh. Strangely enough, it started out as the Greek word peepin what Are you crazy? Which means large melon, no, no, no, no, moving on. Large melon, okay, peepin, okay. And then it then became popon in France, pepe, pepe, um, I'm so sorry, everyone, um. And then it became Pumpian in England, and then finally it became Pumpkin. Huh, and American colonies, ta-da.
Speaker 1Because everyone was just like look, we're not going to continue to say Pumpian.
Speaker 2We're not continuing to sing peepin. It sounds weird. It sounds like you're peeping in somewhere. It sounds like your peeping in somewhere.
Speaker 1We're not going to say peepin. What else can we say? People, let's brainstorm this. We need to slot it out, huh.
Speaker 2Um, so most pumpkins are thought to be native to North America. Yep, and so the earliest evidence of pumpkins gourds is from 5,500 BCE in Mexico.
Speaker 1What did they find? By the way, I just read an article today that they found Egyptian cheese. What, yeah, talk about a D-Rail. Look it up.
Speaker 2Uh, I believe they found dried pumpkin seeds somewhere. I don't know if it was in a tomb or that's interesting.
Speaker 2In a site, but I remember that's what I heard and gourds were actually very popular in Western and Eastern mythology, surprisingly enough, as a symbol of resurrection, longevity and magic. Wow, when you think about Cinderella, it kind of makes sense, right? Oh yeah, and some American Indian tribes, like the Iroquois, consider squash, maize and beans to be the three sisters of agriculture, and because they're able to share, like the same plot of land and feed each other.
Speaker 1And you can plant them together.
Speaker 2Wow, yeah, same plot of land. You plant them together. Oh yeah, I said that. I think I blacked out for a second after my, I need to start saying weird things to see if you're listening.
Speaker 1No, I was thinking about something I wanted to tell you about pumpkins.
Speaker 2so and there is a myth about the three sisters.
Speaker 1Oh no, oh no.
Speaker 2It's not that bad. Okay, it's really interesting.
Speaker 1so you should check it out.
Speaker 2I have the link for it.
Speaker 1I'll be the judge of that.
Speaker 2I shorned it down a lot.
Speaker 1Okay, let's hear it, because it was way longer.
Speaker 2Longer than this podcast no never Any myth from the Huron Indians. During the creation of Earth, a divine woman died.
Speaker 1This was in their lore.
Speaker 2Yeah, in their mythology stories that they told. And on her grave sprouted all the plants needed for life. Where her head was buried, sprouted pumpkin. Ew, gross, not from like on top of the soil. Pumpkin head. That's a really scary movie. It's all coming back. Okay, you go cry in the corner.
Speaker 2Okay, I'm going to continue. So from where her head was buried, sprouted pumpkin vine, from where her chest was buried, sprouted maize, and from where her legs were buried, sprouted pole beans, and that kind of started out. The three sisters and all plants needed for life on Earth. Wow, and then also a little bit more. Some play-blow tribes have a pumpkin flower dance and I wasn't able to find anything else on this.
Speaker 1That would be cool to study.
Speaker 2Right, I tried to find something on YouTube. I couldn't find anything. So if anyone out there finds anything or knows anything or has something about it, Please send it to us.
Speaker 1Yeah, tag us in it. We'd love to see it.
Speaker 2Yeah, okay, that's what I have about that Okay.
Speaker 1Let's do pumpkin facts. Do you want to do pumpkin facts? Yes, how many seeds do you think each pumpkin contains?
Speaker 2278. Wrong 279. Yes, oh yeah, no.
Speaker 1Each pumpkin contains about 500 seeds.
Speaker 2Whoa, that's more than 200 seeds.
Speaker 1Can we sidebar for a second?
Speaker 2We always do. That's the entire episode that we've been sidebarring, but yes.
Speaker 1And talk about how you guys hate roasted pumpkin seeds and I love them, yes. How can that be? How is it possible?
Speaker 2They're I don't know Like they're okay, but it's just, it's a very good. You love you love pepitas? Yes, it's a very woody flavor, so are pepitas.
Speaker 1They're outside of the shell. I don't know.
Speaker 2I don't know why I don't like them.
Speaker 1Did you like it when we made them as dill pickle?
Speaker 2I think that was a little better, but it's almost in the same realm as unshelled sunflower seeds.
Speaker 1Or sunflower seeds in the shell, in the shell, yeah.
Speaker 2Like sunflower seeds in the shell and pumpkin seeds are in the same realm for me that they taste very woody and stringy, but what about when we made them?
Speaker 1cinnamon sugar.
Speaker 2I remember the dill pickle. I don't wear the cinnamon sugar.
Speaker 1I was just trying to see if it was when we made them savory versus when we made them sweet.
Speaker 2The dill pickle was pretty good.
Speaker 1But I can put a link to the recipe for it. I love them. I know it's what I. I don't do the pumpkins with you guys because it's not really my thing.
Speaker 2And also I take like two hours to make one pumpkin.
Speaker 1Well, you guys really enjoy it and you guys are both very artistic, so you're both really good at it. So I don't that's not my thing, but I do have you save Pumpkin cards, pumpkin guts and seeds so that I can yeah, or even just throw them out for the animals right or try to grow random pumpkins.
Speaker 2Did you know?
Speaker 1that pumpkins are made up of 90% water. I was shocked by that. That does kind of, maybe because they're hollow, like you think even a big pumpkin. It's hollow except for the guts and the seeds of the inside. The flesh really isn't that thick. Wow, it isn't yeah that once they sprout, how long do you think they take to reach maturity? Did I say this already? Oh, I think I did 90 to 120 days you did say this.
Speaker 2This isn't pumpkins but is stingy jack related. It was common to call an unknown man Jack in 1600s Britain. Do you think it was?
Speaker 1because of stingy Jack.
Speaker 2I think that's why he's called Jack. You're just like hey, jack. It's like Jane and John Doe.
Speaker 1So basically my parents named me.
Speaker 2I'm known E boring name.
Speaker 1Okay, moving on from that childhood trauma, in 2020, farmers in the top six pumpkin producing states Harvested more than how many pounds of pumpkins combined. So this is the six top pumpkin producing states which I'll tell you about, and this was 2020. How many pounds do you have pumpkins? Do you think that they harvested?
Speaker 2469 thousand one billion. Wow, okay, I was gonna guess like two million, and then I was like who do you think?
Speaker 1what state do you think grows the most pounds of pumpkin per acre?
Speaker 2It gives me almost, for some reason, like Tennessee Illinois.
Speaker 1Grows 40,000 pounds per acre and they're mostly Pie pumpkins. They're different sugar pumpkins. Yeah, the pie pumpkins are different from the your jack-o-lantern pumpkins usually. Yeah, they make them to produce things like pumpkin puree. California and Texas each grow about 30,000 pounds of pumpkins per acre, and Indiana, michigan and Virginia. Oh, I was close each grow 20,000 pounds per acre, the largest pumpkin ever recorded. How many pounds? 1086. One thousand one hundred pounds.
Speaker 1You basically got it the largest pumpkin ever recorded was 1100 pounds. Wow, that's up there, pumpkin. Hey, would you like to tell them where the word pumpkin first showed up? It wasn't in the Bible. The first time the written was written down was in a fairy tale. Oh, we just talked about it before we started recording. So I'll tell you the word pumpkin didn't show up for the first time in the Bible, which was on our two trees on the line. So stay tuned for that. Ah, it showed up for the first time in the fairy tale Cinderella.
Speaker 2That was the first time it was written in a story I forgot we talked about that before the episode and how I'd come like randomly just told her that when I was little and I was like oh, I didn't yeah, you were like six or seven and you were like, hey, I was so smart then yeah, what other fun facts do you have? Um, gord's were some of the earliest domesticated plant species because you didn't have the one about Cinderella.
Speaker 2I didn't Let me repeat that because you were being bitter. Gord's were some of the earliest semester Jackie, I'm gonna try this a third time. Wow, okay, you good, good. Gord's were some of the earliest domestic domesticated plant species being grown around 100,000 years ago.
Speaker 1Wow, I've never heard that before.
Speaker 2Um, so you know those little white decorative pumpkins that you always get to draw ghosts.
Speaker 1I love those.
Speaker 2You know what they're called. They're called. They're called baby boo.
Speaker 1Yes, baby boo, I do love them speaking of Cinderella, though.
Speaker 2Oh, why would we be talking about that? No reason, because I clearly have no idea about it. No do you know what kind of pumpkin Cinderella's carrot is? Cinderella's pumpkin carriage is made of a Rouge vif de umps. What, yes, rouge vif de umps? Of red, flat French pumpkin, also known as a cheese pumpkin, kind of being similar to like a cheese wheel in shape, or is called a Cinderella pumpkin. Huh, yes, pumpkins are grown on every continent except Antarctica.
Speaker 1That's always the answer whenever we have that it is Like something happens on every continent except a good guess is all. Remember that when you're on like Jeopardy or Wheel of Fortune or yeah, like just in game a guessing game with your friends.
Speaker 2And then finally the pumpkin. So anything pumpkin you think of big, brown, orange pumpkin, right. So when you hear that usually are thinking of a Connecticut field pumpkin, wow oh, to just close us out. Okay.
Speaker 1There's something called Amphilot Lotus eludins. It is a that sounds like a magic spell.
Speaker 1I'm philotus eludins, is known as the pumpkin mushroom or the eastern jack-o-lantern mushroom, and the reason I wrote this down, even though it doesn't have anything to do with I mean, it's not a pumpkin, but it's a mushroom. I'm gonna include a link. You have to look them up. I'm philotus eludins, or pumpkin mushroom, or eastern jack-o-lantern mushrooms. It's a large orange mushroom and they it's often found in clumps, like on Decaying wood or stumps like in the woods, the clumps are called a pumpkin patch.
Speaker 2Please tell me we can call them that. They're called the pumpkin that day from this day forward cannon.
Speaker 1Hey, let's do, uh, do, a two-truth in life. Yeah, I'll say them. You tell me if it's a truth or a lie.
Speaker 2Pumpkin is a fruit.
Speaker 1That is true. The word pumpkin was first documented in the Bible. It's incorrect. No hello. Where was it first document? The first jack-o-lanterns were turnips. That is correct. True, root vegetables, turnips, potatoes.
Speaker 2Beats all the root vegetables, all right. Anything else? I don't think so. Thank you for listening. Have a pump Pumpkinny day and make sure to get some watermelons while your trick-or-treating.
Promoting Podcast and Learning Resources
Speaker 1Yeah, hey, thanks for listening. If you like what we're doing here, we'd love your five-star review to help us reach more families and also to let Ella know that her homeschool research isn't going to waste.
Speaker 2Seriously, it takes forever. But hey, if you want to check out more of our stuff, we're gonna have a new episode every Tuesday, and if you want to see some the older episodes, they'll always be there. You'll just have to scroll down a little bit.
Speaker 1Also, you might not know this, but we have a free buster deduction sheet over on our website, parentbusterscom, and actually it's an entire downloadable fun pack and it's all free and you can download it and the on the buster deduction sheet you can follow along with every episode, write down your facts and there's a place to do two truths and a lie on it. And we also have a companion learning post called learning after listening for every single podcast episode we do. You can Continue your learning over on parentbesturchcom.
Speaker 2Yes, just head over there and check it out, okay, bye, thanks.
