The Stories behind Easter Eggs and the Easter Bunny

A few stories about the history behind the Easter egg and the Easter bunny to think about as you hunt for all those eggs and enjoy time with your family.

• The term Easter gets its name from Eastre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess who symbolizes the hare and the egg.
• The Easter egg is said to symbolize and represent joy, celebration and new life.
• The exchange or giving of Easter eggs actually dates back to before Easter and the giving of eggs is actually considered a symbol of rebirth in many cultures
• The idea of the Easter bunny giving candies and eggs is said to have originated in Germany during the middle ages.
• There used to be a tradition churches observed that resembled the game of “hot potato.” Here, the priest would toss a hardboiled egg to one of the choir boys. The boys would toss the egg amongst themselves and when the clock struck 12, whomever had the egg was the winner and got to keep the egg.
• The art of painting eggs is called pysanka, which originated in Ukraine. It involves using wax and dyes to color the egg.
• The tallest Easter egg chocolate was made in Italy in 2011. It stood at 10.39 meters and weighed an astounding 7,200 kg.
• Are you an ears, arms or tail person? Seventy-six percent of people eat the ears on the chocolate bunny first, 5 percent go for the feet and 4 percent for the tail.
• Next to Halloween, Easter is the biggest candy-consuming holiday of the year. Good thing they are almost six months apart, perfect for your yearly dentist check-ups!

Happy hunting!