Curfew
2 of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Curfew. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a Norman French term meaning to cover the fire. It belongs to a time before the invention of matches, when fires were covered up with ashes to keep live coals over night. In the reign of William the Conqueror a bell, called the curfew bell, was rung at night, as a signal to cover up the fires and retire to rest. School readers formerly taught that the curfew was an oppressive measure intended to prevent the English people from sitting up and plotting treason; but it is now believed that it was introduced in London, at least, as a measure of protection against fire. The ringing of the curfew bell is an excellent custom still adhered to in many parts of rural England. The usual hour is nine o'clock. During the past quarter of a century many cities and towns of the United States have passed what are known as curfew ordinances, requiring young people to leave the streets and retire to their homes at eight or nine in the evening, according to the season. When a town bell is not available, a few sharp strokes are given on the fire gong. The curfew ordinance meets with wide approval among those who believe that boys and girls should be at home after nightfall. It is believed that the universal adoption of this measure would do much to reduce juvenile vice, and to empty our reform schools. See William The Conqueror
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a bell rung every evening as a signal to the people to extinguish all fires and retire to rest. It was introduced into England by William the Conqueror, most probably as a safeguard against fire, but it was regarded by the English as a badge of servitude. The original time for ringing it was 8 o'clock P. M. In a few places in England the custom is still kept up of ringing a bell at 9 o'clock P. M., and the old name is retained.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Both accounts treat the curfew as an antiquarian survival — a bell to bank the fire, brought in by William the Conqueror and still tolled at nine in a few English parishes, as it is in some to this day. What has changed is the word's meaning: through the twentieth century "curfew" came to mean an order confining people indoors, imposed under wartime blackout, martial law and after civil disorder, and in 2020 governments from France to India used pandemic curfews that kept hundreds of millions at home at night. Aiton's confident hope in 1910 that juvenile curfew ordinances would "reduce juvenile vice, and empty our reform schools" did not come true; such ordinances remain common in American cities but have been repeatedly challenged in court on constitutional grounds, and evaluations have generally found little effect on youth crime. Historians are also less sure than Collier's that the Conqueror introduced the practice, since covering-fire bells were rung across medieval Europe.
Written for this edition, 2026.