All Hallows' Eve: Handmade Halloween Artifacts from the 1900s–1920s

All Hallows' Eve is on display at the Westport Historical Society through November 20, a look at how people in Kansas City and the Westport neighborhood celebrated Halloween from the 1900s through the 1920s. It's a window into the holiday before mass-produced decorations, costumes, and candy became the norm, when most of the party supplies were made by hand.

The exhibit is centered in the dining room of the Harris-Kearney House Museum at 4000 Baltimore Ave, with additional items placed throughout the rest of the house. On display are handmade Halloween decorations and party items from the era, shown alongside authentic period photographs. One of those is a 1904 photograph of a Halloween party held in a Shirtwaist-style home right here in Westport, which gives a concrete sense of what these celebrations actually looked like in the neighborhood over a century ago.

The artifacts are on loan from collectors Randy Doler and Juliet Rujevcan. Because the display is spread across the dining room and the rest of the house, you'll see the items in a domestic setting rather than behind glass cases in a gallery, which fits the subject matter.

The exhibit runs from October 1 through November 20, 2026. Tours are held Saturday and Sunday from 1 PM to 4 PM, or on weekdays by appointment. Admission is included in the Tour of the House fee, which you can pay at the door or purchase in advance.