The Surprising History of Pumpkins

ah september there is a slight sadness to this month in the northern hemisphere as the month progresses the air cools the skies darken and the first patches of fiery-colored leaves are seen on the trees by the middle of the month it is clear that summer is coming to an end this sadness however is quickly alleviated when we think of the happiness beauty and celebration that awaits us in autumn and the end of the year resting quite prominently among all things to appreciate in this time is the pumpkin this vibrant orange gourd used as both a food and a decoration is a symbol of not only the fall season but the hopefully bountiful harvest that takes place within it but where when and why did this all begin and for that matter where did the pumpkin even come from in the first place ladies and gentlemen hello and welcome to fire of learning's food history series a series in which we explore the surprisingly amazing origins of the food we eat every day thank you for joining us in today's episode as we look at the origins of the pumpkin before we begin i'd like to thank justin lee miller matt brennan sasha matthew and alexander for being our most recent supporters on patreon they join these supporters listed here who helped to make these videos possible now then let's get to it where exactly did the pumpkin come from in the first place the earliest archaeobotanical evidence for domesticated squash comes from modern-day oaxaca in southern mexico in the form of seeds dated to 7500 bc which is in fact around the time of the dawn of agriculture this makes them one of the oldest known crops the squash of this time were naturally closer to their wild relatives than the vibrant variety we have today small bitter tough and dull colored they were not very appetizing by today's standards in fact they were likely more favored for their seeds it would take time before they more closely resembled their modern forms the pumpkin is a type of squash in modern terminology it is a winter squash the difference between summer squash such as zucchini or yellow squash and winter squash like pumpkins or butternut squash is apart from the time of year it's harvested usually the texture of the skin winter squash tend to have harder more durable skin which is usually not eaten but allows it to be preserved for a longer period as is the case for pumpkins this ability to store well into periods in which food was difficult to come by would make it very important to the indigenous cultures throughout much of the americas as the years passed indigenous americans bred squash into many different forms including pumpkins pumpkins would then spread out across the americas being eaten by native groups from modern day argentina to the aztecs of central mexico to the iroquois of new york native americans would figure out how to grow squash with their two other staples corn and beans in a form of companion planting known as the three sisters these peoples had uses for the ancestors of pumpkins for purposes besides food as well pumpkin was believed to have certain medicinal effects they were also used to make containers and dried strips of it were woven to make mats because of this popularity the pumpkin was quickly encountered by europeans when they arrived in the americas in the late 15th century columbus encountered them on cuba during his first voyage to the americas immediately recognizing them as a native relative of what we now call the cucurbita ki of the old world which includes things like watermelon columbus and numerous others after him brought pumpkin seeds back to europe the spanish in particular would play a major role in spreading pumpkins and other squash around the world to places such as india where they remain popular to this day this picture here from the grandeur of anne of brittany dated to 1508 is the earliest known european depiction of squash the more that europeans explore the americas the more exposed to pumpkins they were the french explorer jacques cartier discovered them being grown in canada in the 1530s when he saw them he recalled the greek name for melons which as you may remember from my watermelon video is papone in the middle french of his day not modern french mind you this was pom-pom this later became pompeon shakespeare for example refers to the pumpkin in the merry wives of windsor in later colonial american english however the word pompeon morphed into pumpkin pumpkins were not an immediate hit in europe itself however pumpkin requires a long warm growing season mass production in northern europe would have therefore been less successful as european summers are not as warm as america's european gardeners would eventually begin to experiment and grow pumpkins out of curiosity on a small scale however in the 16 and 1700s it gained a reputation among europeans as a poor man's food not very appetizing and frankly best used as animal fodder the european colonists of america however could not have disagreed more pumpkins would be particularly popular among the english settlers in new england not only is it likely that these settlers had pumpkin at the first thanksgiving but according to historian cindy ott it's likely that they had it all the time this contrast occurred not only between english settlers and english europeans but with other nations as well such as the dutch pumpkins were very popular with the settlers of new amsterdam but were not immediately welcomed in the netherlands itself for pottage in puddings and custard and pies our pumpkins and parsnips are common supplies we have pumpkins at morning and pumpkins at noon if it were not for pumpkins we should be on dune this poem dates back to early 17th century america as it suggests pumpkins were a very important staple for colonists in this time especially those in the north this was largely for the same reasons that native americans depended upon them pumpkins kept well in the harsh new england winters for early american colonists the words pumpkin and squash were used interchangeably this is understandable why what is the difference between pumpkins and squash and for that matter while we're at it gourds it's a bit complicated but here's a hopefully simple explanation pumpkins as i said are a type of squash they are also gourds there are technically five species of squash in the genus cucurbita which belongs to the family curcumin ki that produce what we call pumpkins with a focus on three in particular take cucurbita pepo for example this species produces the connecticut field pumpkin also called a howden pumpkin which is your classic jack-o-lantern pumpkin zucchini for example is also cucurbita pepo something like cinderella pumpkins meanwhile are a separate species of pumpkin cucurbita maxima so yes connecticut field pumpkins are more closely related to zucchini than they are to cinderella pumpkins zucchini various types of zucchini and connecticut field pumpkins are separate cultivars of the same species a bit like dog breeds so what separates a pumpkin from other squash then there isn't really any specific botanical criteria generally anything that is around winter squash can be a pumpkin what we call butternut squash in anglo-america and britain are called butternut pumpkins in australia and new zealand so what's the difference between a gourd and a squash in common terminology most of the time but not always within the genus cucurbita gourds are used for decoration squash is eaten you do both with pumpkins so they qualify as both we find the origins of pumpkin pie in the late 1700s and early 1800s though the ancestor was quite different from the modern form this early recipe involved hollowing out pumpkins filling the shells with milk spices and honey and then roasting them by the fire this would be especially popular at harvest celebrations and thanksgivings and such which helped to establish an association between pumpkins and the end of the year holidays in the 1860s during the american civil war pumpkins became a symbol of the northern farmer it was certainly not absent from the south both presidents washington and jefferson grew pumpkins in virginia for example but it was not as common nor as important to southerners this association was likely only made stronger when president abraham lincoln made the autumn feast of thanksgiving an official american holiday which the south rejected for some time because of its association with lincoln from the middle of the 19th century onwards it becomes impossible to separate the history of pumpkins from the history of halloween and thanksgiving i won't go too much into the origins of these holidays because i've already done a whole documentary on the history of the holidays along with a documentary on halloween itself however given that more pumpkins are now grown in the u.s for use as a decoration instead of eating we must discuss jack-o'-lanterns halloween is a holiday with complex origins it began to take its modern form in 19th century america and canada however some of its influences go back thousands of years these influences mostly fit into four categories firstly very ancient indo-european beliefs and traditions specifically those of celtic mythology more specifically those of the irish secondly much more significantly than is often realized christian beliefs and traditions specifically those pertaining to the all hallow tide thirdly secular harvest parties and autumnal celebrations and fourthly folklore pop culture and things of that nature likewise the jack-o'-lantern was influenced by each of these things as well in celtic mythology the souls of the dead were said to be active on the night of october 31st into november 1st it's not clear but the celts seem to have hollowed out and carved faces into things like turnips and lit them with coals to ward off malicious spirits on this night in medieval christian belief it was sometimes believed that souls in purgatory were released on this date and that candles should be left out for them to light their path to heaven it was also believed that candles would deter the agents of satan the story which gave the name to jack of the lantern however comes from early modern irish folklore and the tale of stingy jack stingy jack was a nerdwell who managed to trick and humiliate the devil when he came for his soul forcing him to agree to never take him to hell when jack died however he found himself forbidden from entering heaven on account of his sinful life and as per agreement barred from entering hell the devil gave him a turnip with a face carved into it and a piece of coal that would burn eternally for him to use to light his way as his soul wandered aimlessly for eternity he became known as jack of the lantern using carved hollowed turnips as lanterns was actually common for the lower classes prior to the widespread use of electricity as metal lanterns were expensive the jack-o'-lantern's function specifically may have been to ward off evil spirits like stingy jack it may have been to represent christian souls in purgatory it may be more complicated than this regardless when irish immigrants came to america in large numbers they found the pumpkin was better suited for their jack-o-lantern tradition and ditched the turnip kids in particular may have led the way carving faces into pumpkins for fun and to scare each other at night eventually this practice which was at first actually popular at thanksgiving became associated with halloween as of 2012 china leads the way in pumpkin production producing around 6 million metric tons a year following closely behind is india at over 4 million tons the pumpkin is more popular than ever with new cultural traditions involving it still springing up one example is pumpkin chucking this involves using slingshots cannons trebuchets etc to turn pumpkins into projectiles definitely worth seeing the record for the largest pumpkin ever grown belongs to a belgian man named matias villamines which weighed in at 2324.6 pounds and so there we have it the pumpkin from simple decoration to sustaining societies the pumpkin has a magnificent history and doubtlessly an equally promising future i hope you enjoyed this video if so i invite you to come check out the rest of fire of learning and to subscribe to see more videos like this in the future there will be a new edition of the food history series every friday at 1pm est until october 29th so stay tuned for that and be sure to join us next week for the history of cinnamon to help with the cost of producing these videos in a nation on patreon would be a big help a special thanks to our current patrons once again listed here fire of learning is also on instagram and i have a science channel much like this called lusinox so come check that out too thank you for watching [Music]

Channel: Fire of Learning

Views: 202,036

Rating: 4.9493904 out of 5

Keywords: Halloween, Jack o Lantern, Kurbis

Id: Ovsun_5U8bI

Length: 14min 12sec (852 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 24 2021