Department of Health and Social Services Library

Why do so many Americans drive for miles each autumn to buy a vegetable that they are unlikely to eat? While most people around the world eat pumpkin throughout the year, North Americans reserve it for holiday pies and other desserts that celebrate the harvest season and the rural past. They decorate their houses with pumpkins every autumn and welcome Halloween trick-or-treaters with elaborately carved jack-o'-lanterns. Towns hold annual pumpkin festivals featuring giant pumpkins and carving contests, even though few have any historic ties to the crop. In this fascinating cultural and natural history, Cindy Ott tells the story of the pumpkin. Beginning with the myth of the first Thanksgiving, she shows how Americans have used the pumpkin to fulfull their desire to maintain connections to nature and to the family farm of lore, and, ironically, how small farms and rural communities have been revitalized in the process. And while the pumpkin has inspired American myths and traditions, the pumpkin itself has changed because of the ways people have perceived, valued, and used it. Pumpkin is a smart and lively study of the deep meanings hidden in common things and their power to make profound changes in the world around us.

 

 

As warm and frothy as a spiced pumpkin latte on a crisp autumn day, this trio of magically romantic tales set in the charmingly festive small town of Moonbright, Maine is the perfect Halloween indulgence from National Bestselling Authors Marina Adair, Kate Angell and Stacy Finz! In Moonbright, Maine, there's a pumpkin on every porch, fresh brewed apple cider in every cup-and the sweetest sorcery in the air... Before, after, and even during the excitement of the annual Halloween parade, gathering at the Corner Cafe is a beloved Moonbright tradition. Costumed revelers of all kinds come for the famous whoopie pies, the heartfelt hospitality, and the chance to hear the town's spookiest stories and local legends whispered to the younger generation... The most magically romantic legend of all promises that a Moonbright woman will marry the man she sees reflected in a mirror on Halloween. For three such singles, the crunch of fall leaves and the fragrance of fresh-baked pie sets the perfect stage for this most tantalizing trick-and most delightful treat-the genuine enchantment of true love.