Don't Be Out of Your Gourd

Stick with me on this one. It isn't really about gardening.
Gourds have been around throughout human history because of their many uses. Besides being used as containers, they make good drinking vessels, lanterns, baskets, and even musical instruments. They originate in Africa, but it is believed that gourds were intentionally brought to America via the Asian migration. In Peru, gourds were found with inscriptions that were inscribed with significant events.
Many gourds are edible, even some of the bitter tasting ones, but one with the nickname 'pot of death' causes violent diarrhea and abortion. I wonder if that's how Peter, Peter, Pumpkin eater dealt with the wife he couldn't keep.
A timeless, popular use of gourds is carving and decorating. Much like Halloween Jack o' lanterns, they can be used to protect candle flames from night breezes. Which brings me to the real point of this blog.
For the last decade an improbable myth that Jack o' lanterns originated with carved turnips was published throughout the internet. I knew the minute I heard that silly statement that turnips aren't big enough to put candles in even if you wanted to cook the mushy root vegetable from the inside out. But I was alone in that conviction. The rumor of carved turnips spread like a virus through the internet and out into the world of print. The basis for this silly supposition was that pumpkins weren't known in Europe before the Italians sailed to the New World.
Jack o' lanterns are direct descendents of African gourd carving. But if you want to check my sources, don't bother with Wikipedia because I already edited its content, so of course it says the same thing I just said. If you want to trace the origins of gourd-lantern carving, check gourd carving and botanical sites.
And next time- be more skeptical!
Nancy Sherer