Why Do We Carvebr Pumpkins for Halloween?.br Modern Halloween is derived frombr the Irish festival, “Samhain,’ which marksbr the passage from summer into winter. .br During the traditional bonfires of the festival, br it was believed that evil spirits lurked in br the surrounding shadows. .br To ward off these evil spirits, rudimentarybr faces were carved into hollowed-out turnipsbr and placed in windows and alongside roads. .br They also used the turnipbr lanterns to light the way forbr travelers and good spirits. .br This Irish tradition was laterbr carried over to America bybr immigrants in the mid-1800s.br Pumpkins quickly became the br staple for carving, as they werebr abundantly available and thebr easiest fruit to work with. .br From there, pumpkins grew intobr a multi-million dollar industry, withbr John Howden developing the idealbr carving pumpkin in the 1960s. .br The Howden pumpkin is the most popular Halloween pumpkin, as its thin flesh and shallow ribs make it perfect for carving.