Blog Post: Hallowe’en? Putting the Apostrophe Back

Grade Range: 8-12
Resource Type(s): Reference Materials
Date Posted: 7/11/2012

In this post, students will learn about the origins of the holiday known today as Halloween, and the history of its celebration in the United States, including trick-or-treating and costumes. All-Hallows-Even (that is, evening) is the night before All Hallows Day. The apostrophe in the earlier spelling of Hallowe’en denotes the missing “v” of “even.” You’ll find many “e’ens” in nineteenth-century and earlier poetry. Written by David Haberstich, Associate Curator in the Archives Center, this post is published on the Museum's "O Say Can You See?" blog.