The origin of the toy, jack-in-the-box, comes from the 14th century English cleric, Sir John Schorne, who was believed to possess healing powers. He was said to have caught the devil, referred as a "jack" and held him captive in his boot. Illustrations were made of him holding a boot with the devil's head popping out of it.

Strange enough, in my everyday life I see a lot of "jacks" popping up around me. I try to capture them as well, when they haunt me somewhere between spookery and amusement.