SCHS: Etymology Of ‘Hallowe’en’ | Halloween Postcards, Early 1900s | ‘Trick-or-Treat’ Event 10.24th

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Photo of the Week

FROM THE SCHS LIBRARY & ARCHIVE

“How shall we know it is us without our past?”
– John Steinbeck

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Halloween Postcards, Early 1900s. (Image collage created from the Holiday Postcard Collection
of the Suffolk County Historical Society Library Archives.)

All of our Halloween postcards from the penny-postcard era spell the holiday name as “Hallowe’en” (with an apostrophe between the two vowels). The word’s etymology probably originates with an older name for the holiday, “All Hallows’ Even,” in which “Even” meant “Evening.” The “All” and “s” were dropped, “Hallows’ ” and “Even” became a closed compound, and the apostrophe took the place of the “v,” giving us “Hallowe’en.” Other spellings before “Halloween” included “Hallow-e’en,” “Alhollon Eue,” and “Halhalon evyn.”

Whatever you call the spooky and fun-filled trick-or-treat holiday that falls on October 31, we hope you stay safe while enjoying Halloween this year!

Don’t miss our holiday-inspired event this Saturday!

Trick-or-Treat at the Haunted Museum

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TRICK OR TREAT AT THE HAUNTED MUSEUM

Saturday, October 24, 2026 — 2pm-4pm
$2 admission per person
Family Fun for All Ages

Bring your tiniest tots to your tallest teens for a comical and fun Haunted Museum Halloween Event! Trick or Treat from museum gallery to museum gallery, and enjoy our “Haunted Hunt” scavenger hunt, as you encounter our ghosts and ghouls living in our haunted hallways! You might even hear a ghost story or two! Enjoyable (not TOO scary) fun for even the youngest of witches and goblins!

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