Easter

Chicks and bunnies, eggs and chocolate... we'll include Easter eggs and gift box each order fro this collection right up until Easter.

What is Easter about?

Easter is a Christian festival that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  The Bible says Christ died on the cross on Good Friday and came back to life three days later.  Easter is on different dates each year, between 21 March and 25 April, depending on when there's a full moon in spring.  

And Easter eggs?  

A lot of us may chomp on chocolate eggs at Easter, but originally eating eggs was not allowed by the church during the week leading up to Easter (known as Holy Week).

So any eggs laid that week were saved and decorated to make them "Holy Week eggs", then given to children as gifts.  Victorians adapted the tradition with satin-covered cardboard eggs filled with Easter gifts.

The first chocolate eggs appeared in France and Germany in the 19th Century but were bitter and hard.  As chocolate-making techniques improved, hollow eggs like the ones we have today were developed.

OK so what about the Easter bunny?

The story of the Easter Bunny is thought to have become common in the 19th Century.  Rabbits usually give birth to a big litter of babies (called kittens), so they became a symbol of new life.  Legend has it that the Easter Bunny lays, decorates and hides eggs as they are also a symbol of new life.  It doesn't do all the work alone though. In Switzerland, Easter eggs are delivered by a cuckoo, and by a fox in parts of Germany.

I just cant get my head around the cuckoo.