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I carved turnips when I was younger, maybe only 30 (previously said 40) years ago. Pumpkins were expensive back then and the tradition, for my parents when they
by celticninja 5y ago
I carved turnips when I was younger, maybe only 30 (previously said 40) years ago. Pumpkins were expensive back then and the tradition, for my parents when they were younger, back in Ireland was to carve a turnip. You would do it much the same except you would add a handle and be able to carry it around with you at night. It was a lot more work to carve but it was great for trick or treating, especially when cheap torches were not so easily available.
- andrewgleave 5y agoSame in the Isle of Man. Pumpkins only became more popular in the 90s. Turnip/Swede (moots) all the way. One event this year has swede ice cream!
- kingcharles 5y agoWhoah. Isle of Man representing on HN. I've reached the end of the Internet. Also: turnip boy here. Don't think I even saw a pumpkin until I was in my late teens.
- andrewgleave 5y agoSince 2009 :)
- atdrummond 5y agoWe should have a Manx HN meet up sometime!
- jaymzcampbell 5y agoAnother (Northern) Irishman here - I too remember vividly carving out rather small turnips as a kid in the late 80s and 90s. The small size and difficulty in carving it for me always ended up making for a rather creepy but oddly friendly looking grin.
- noir_lord 5y agoNorth of England up as a small child in the 80's as well. Pumpkins weren't really a thing here until much later.
- entropyie 5y agoSame here, turnip was the tradition in Ireland in the 80s/90s, pumpkins were an American import. Like others have said, it was hard work :)
- raesene9 5y agoSame for me, in Scotland. When I was young (~ 40 years ago) it was Turnips lanterns we had.
- fiftyacorn 5y agoYeah pumpkins only became popular when kids started trick or treating up here. Before it was turnips and guising