History and Folklore

Mt. Rushmore, carved from pumpkins ---->

Pumpkin is truly a native American food. The pumpkin was a staple of the American Indians and was eaten roasted, boiled and stewed. At the first Thanksgiving feast, in 1621, pumpkin was on the menu along with the turkey, corn and other American dishes. Pumpkins, thought to have been named for the medieval European squash "pompion", were used along with persimmons in a fermented brew which was flavored with maple sugar by the innovative Yankees. One legend has it that one Connecticut colony delayed Thanksgiving because the molasses used to make the pumpkin pie of the day was not readily available.

Several American writers have referred lovingly to the pumpkin. "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving refers to a pumpkin jack-o'-lantern. Thoreau and James Whitcomb Riley both made reference to pumpkins in their writings.

The term "pumpkin head" is said to be derived from a law which required men to have haircuts which conformed to the contours of a cap placed over the head. Pumpkin shells were sometimes substituted for scarce caps.

Mother Goose even refers to pumpkins in "Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater. And everyone has heard of Cinderella's pumpkin coach!