A History of Pumpkins

Podcast Transcript

Pumpkins are a staple of the autumn season, used in events like Halloween and Thanksgiving as symbols of the holidays, as well as in various culinary dishes.

Pumpkins, which are technically a fruit, not a vegetable, are one of the oldest domesticated plants in the world and have been used for centuries in various ways.

It also had a role in the creation of pumpkin spice, which today can be found in almost everything.

Learn about pumpkins and why the fruit has become such a symbol on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

It’s pumpkin season, so I think it’s finally time to cover the history of the pumpkin.

Pumpkins are part of the gourd family or the Cucurbitaceae family, along with squash, melons, cucumbers, and zucchini. A pumpkin is a type of winter squash. One thing to note is that all pumpkins are types of squash, but not all squash are pumpkins.

The pumpkins we usually associate with the term are classified as the species Cucurbita pepo. These pumpkins have thick shells that hold seeds and pulp.

The cucurbita pepo variants typically weigh between 6 and 18 pounds or 3 to 8 kilograms. The shells are often orange but can also be yellow, white, or green in color. The outer shell is smooth with slight ribs in the skin.

Contrary to popular belief, pumpkins are a fruit, not a vegetable. People typically assume the opposite because of how pumpkins are generally consumed and their appearance.

Pumpkins are also actually a type of berry known as a pepo. They are classified as berries because the fruit develops from one flower. The term pepo is used for the gourd family because of their hard rinds and large numbers of seeds.

Pumpkins are among the oldest known domesticated plants, with cucurbita domestication traced to between 7000 and 5500 BC. These plants were native to North America and had been cultivated by these tribes longer than crops like beans and corn.

The earliest evidence of pumpkin cultivation was found in the Guilá Naquitz Cave in Mexico. Inside the cave, they found pumpkin seeds; these seeds are from the same variety of pumpkin we use today.

These seeds were smaller, more bitter, and harder, but this was beneficial to the Native Americans in the area because the fruit was better equipped to survive the winter.

Pumpkins were considered to be part of the ‘Three Sisters”. This tradition involved planting three crops together in a shared place. The three sisters were maize, beans, and squash or pumpkin. When these plants are put together, they work to nourish and protect each other.

As part of the ‘Three Sisters’ tradition, pumpkins were one of the primary crops grown by Native Americans and were a staple food in Ancient American Civilizations, including the Maya and the Aztecs.

Native Americans used the different parts of the pumpkins in different ways. They would boil and roast the fruit for food, grind up the pumpkins to make different powders, or hollow the fruit out to use the shell as containers.

For the Native American tribes, pumpkins were not a seasonal food item like they are today. Instead, they were a year-round staple in their diets.

Pumpkins and squash were introduced to Europeans and the “Old World” by Christopher Columbus, who brought them back from his 1492 voyage.

Though Columbus was the first to bring pumpkins to Europe, it was actually the Portuguese who spread pumpkins worldwide. The Portuguese brought pumpkins to their colonies and trading settlements in China, Africa, and Japan.

When European colonists began settling in the New World, pumpkins further cemented their status as a culinary staple. A specific example of this is with the pilgrims.

“The First Thanksgiving” was a celebration by the Native Wampanoag people and the Pilgrims to mark a successful harvest. As part of the celebration, both groups brought food, including pumpkins. It is likely that the pilgrims already knew what pumpkins were when they were offered, and the fruit later became a staple in the diets of colonists.

Colonists made deserts by hollowing out pumpkins and filling them with spiced or sweetened milk. They then would boil the concoction and drink from the gourd.

Another colonial treat was made by scooping out the pumpkin seeds and filling the inside of the fruit with eggs, honey, cream, and spices. After the inside was filled, it was cooked and scooped out, along with the pumpkin’s flesh, to make pumpkin pie without the crust.

Pumpkin soup, or soup joumou, became a symbol of freedom in Haiti after independence in 1804. Under French rule, enslaved Haitians were forbidden to eat it because it was reserved for the slave owners. After gaining their freedom, Haitians made and shared the soup as a celebration of liberation and equality, a tradition still honored every January 1st on Haiti’s Independence Day.

Pumpkins wouldn’t assume a symbolic role in American culture until the 19th century. At this point, the fruit became synonymous with abundance and harvest. This was further cemented when Thanksgiving became a national holiday, making pumpkins a key part of the holiday tradition with desserts like pumpkin pie.

There are two theories on how we adopted the term “pumpkin.”

The first states that the word “pumpkin” comes from the Greek word pepon, meaning “large melon.” The term passed into Latin as pepo, then into Old French as pompon, and finally into English as pompion in the 16th century, which later became pumpkin.

Another explanation for the etymology of the word ‘pumpkin’ is that it originates from Native American terminology. This explanation states that the word “pumpkin” came from the Massachusett word pôhpukun, which means “grows forth round.”

This theory says that when the Wampanoag people, who spoke a dialect of Massachusett, introduced the Pilgrims to pumpkins, they used the term pôhpukun

Pumpkins are planted from late May to mid-July in the Northern Hemisphere. To grow, the soil needs to be at least 60 degrees Fahrenheit and have water.

After planting, pumpkins tend to grow plentifully, regardless of whether the vine or leaves are broken or removed. This is because the plant will quickly regrow vines to replace any issues.

Pumpkins typically take 90 to 120 days to grow, meaning they are ready for harvest in October. At this time, the pumpkins are usually a bright orange color.

Pumpkins are a valuable crop for farmers to grow. They thrive in most climates, don’t require large amounts of water, and help improve soil for other crops, which can be grown with them.

Pumpkins are growing today on every continent except Antarctica. Different types of pumpkins are grown to meet each country’s specific demands. The top country for pumpkin production is actually China, which produces nearly 7.5 billion pumpkins annually. Other countries that produce large quantities of pumpkin include India, Ukraine, Russia, and the United States.

The largest pumpkin ever grown is a giant pumpkin weighing 2,819.3 pounds or 1,278.8 kg, grown by twin brothers Ian and Stuart Paton in the UK. This record-breaking pumpkin, nicknamed “Muggle,” also has a circumference of over 21 feet or 6.4 meters and was officially weighed on October 6, 2025.

In modern times, Pumpkins are most recognizable for their association with the autumn season and Halloween.

The practice of carving pumpkins for Halloween originates from the Irish myth about a man named ‘Stingy Jack.’ This myth was first printed in the 19th century.

The tale of Stingy Jack revolved around a man named, you guessed it, Jack. In the story, he invites the Devil to have a drink with him. Not wanting to pay for the drinks, Stingy Jack stays true to his name and convinces the Devil to turn into a coin.

The Devil does so, but instead of paying for the drinks with the coin, Jack pockets the coin and places it next to a silver cross, making it impossible for the Devil to change back to his normal form.

Jack eventually frees the Devil under the condition that he would not be bothered by the Devil for a year and that when Jack died, the Devil would not claim his soul.

The following year, the Devil returns, and Jack once again tricks him. This time, Jack has the Devil climb the tree to pick fruit. Once in the tree, Jack carved a cross on it, so that the Devil could not come down the tree without agreeing not to bother Jack for ten more years.

Later, when Jack dies, the legend states that God did not allow him into heaven due to his unsavory actions. Additionally, the Devil kept his promise and wouldn’t allow Jack into hell.

Jack was sent into the night with nothing but a piece of burning coal for light. Jack carved out a turnip and placed the coal within it, roaming the Earth with his turnip ever since. This earned Jack the name, ‘Jack of the Lantern’ and later ‘Jack-o’-Lantern.’

In both Ireland and Scotland, people began making their own Jack’s Lanterns by carving scary faces into turnips and placing them in their windows or by their doors. The tradition was also done in England, but they mostly used beets. They believed that doing so would scare away wandering or evil spirits like Stingy Jack.

People who immigrated from these countries brought the tradition with them. Specifically, in the United States, they adopted native pumpkins for carving, changing the previous tradition of pumpkin carving from being associated generally with autumn to one uniquely associated with Halloween.

Pumpkins are a popular food today, with trends around the fruit continuing to evolve. One notable recent development is in drinks with flavors like “pumpkin spice.”

We cannot talk about pumpkin spice without mentioning the pumpkin spice craze.

This began in 2003, when Starbucks commercialized pumpkin spice flavoring. Before 2003, pumpkin spice simply referred to a spice blend used in pumpkin pie. This blend consisted of cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg, and cloves. This combination had been used for centuries in American baking by this point.

It wasn’t until the 1930s that companies began manufacturing “pumpkin pie spice.” The new product was revolutionary, as consumers could buy blended spice mixtures instead of buying them individually. Though the product was intended for pumpkin pie, the spices were used elsewhere.

Starbucks, likely, did not originate pumpkin spice lattes, but they did market them and make it the popular autumn staple we see today. Using seasonal nostalgia, they associated the drink with feelings of fall and comfort. This feeling, along with the drink’s limited availability and targeted social media ads, helped create the pumpkin spice craze.

Beyond being a symbol for autumn holidays, pumpkins have developed cultural significance in places beyond the United States.

In Mexico, pumpkin seeds are a key ingredient in many dishes and are also used in culturally significant celebrations, such as the Day of the Dead. During this celebration, pumpkins are often used in festive dishes to offer to deceased loved ones.

In China, pumpkins are used for medicinal purposes and in cuisine. In traditional Chinese medicine, pumpkins are believed to warm the body, boost immunity, and help with digestive issues. In cooking, they have become popular in dishes served during the fall and winter.

In Europe, as in the Americas, pumpkins are associated with the autumn harvest and are used to make food. In Eastern European countries, pumpkins are still used in rituals to ward off spirits and placed in front of homes to bring good luck.

Pumpkins have developed enormous utility. Not only are they used a food all around the world, but they also have a symbolism and cultural importance that most foods to not.

All of our Jack-o-Lanterns and pumpkin pies can all be traced back to ancient Native Americans who figured out how to domesticate the pumpkin over 7000 years ago.