Photo of the Week

FROM THE SCHS LIBRARY ARCHIVES

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

A THRILLING HALLOWE’EN POSTCARD, C. 1910

by Wendy Polhemus-Annibell, Head Librarian

“A Thrilling Halloween” Postcard, c. 1910. (From the 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 exhibit Haunted Hallway:

A Collection of Creepy Curiosities,on display through November 7.

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To View 2014 Photo of the Week pages click here.

To View 2015 Photo of the Week pages click here.

To View 2016 Photo of the Week pages click here. 

To View 2017 Photo of the Week pages click here.

To View 2018 Photo of the Week pages click here.

To View 2019 Photo of the Week pages click here. 

To View 2020 Photo of the Week pages click here.

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AAQ / Resource: Otis Ford, Since 1946, Quogue

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