PUMPKIN SHORTAGE SPURS NEW HALLOWEEN TREND: TURNIP CARVING

PUMPKIN SHORTAGE SPURS NEW HALLOWEEN TREND: TURNIP CARVING

CLINTON, N.Y. (Wireless Flash) -- Halloween fans who are feeling crushed about the current pumpkin shortage should buck up and start carving turnips instead. It turns out the traditional jack-o-lanterns made by the Celtics who first celebrated Halloween were made out of turnips, not pumpkins. That's according to medieval historian Hans Broedel (BRAY-dell) of New York's Hamilton College. Broedel suggests that if you can't find a pumpkin to carve, just pick up a few turnips and hollow them out. The turnip jack- o-lanterns can even be used as a lanterns -- just hang them from a string or a stick. The professor says substituting turnips for pumpkins not only keeps kids from getting sad about the pumpkin shortage, it also teaches them something about history.