Fun Facts About Easter

Whether you are religious or not, Easter is celebrated around the world. These days Easter is all about egg hunts, chocolate bunnies and candy. As you stock up on chocolate, candy and plastic eggs, you might wonder where these traditions originated. Herewith a few fun facts behind Easter’s most common symbols and customs.

Good Friday

Good Friday is considered a major holiday for all Catholics but only 12 out of the 50 states consider the Friday before Easter an actual federal holiday.

Holy Week

Christians consider this the week before Easter that leads up to Jesus Christ’s resurrection. Important days included in the Holy Week are Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday.

Decorating Eggs

Decorating eggs is an ancient art with a long history. Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches dyed the eggs red to represent the blood of Jesus. Decorating eggs today are just a fun and creative way to celebrate the easter.

Egg Giving

The giving of eggs in your basket is symbolic of new life, fertility and rebirth. The rounded shape has also been used as a symbol of the earth and our connection with nature.

Jelly Beans

More than 16 million jelly beans will be consumed by the Americans over Easter. It is enough jelly beans to circle the globe three times or fill a plastic egg the size of a nine-story building.

Pretzels

Pretzels don’t instantly pop into your mind when you think of Easter but they right there along with eggs. Surprisingly, pretzels are thought of as good luck. So, why not try a pretzel for Easter this year.

Easter Bunny

The Osterhase or Oschter Haws was introduced when the Germans settled in Pennsylvania in the 1700s, a tradition of the bunny that lays eggs came to the states. Children made nests in which this creature could lay its coloured eggs. The custom eventually spread across the U.S. and the fabled rabbit’s Easter morning deliveries expanded to include chocolate, other types of candy and gifts, decorated baskets replaced nests.

New Easter Outfit

Buying or wearing a new outfit, stems from a superstition. Around the mid-1800s New Yorkers believed that buying new clothes for Easter would bring them good luck. Lucky for us, the custom continues today.

Largest Easter Egg

Everyone would love to get the biggest egg in the basket, Italy did just that. In April 2011 Italy made the largest chocolate egg in the world. It measured an impressive 7,200 kg, 10.39 metres in height, and has a circumference of 19.6 metres.

Decorating Eggs

A Ukrainian tradition, the ornate eggs were called pysankas, made by using wax and dyes. It wasn’t until Ukrainian immigrants came to the U.S. that the colourful custom caught on.

Easter Egg Roll

President Rutherford B Hayes introduced the first White House Easter Egg Roll in 1878. President Nixon included the fist bunny in the festivities.

Bunny Ears

The chocolate Bunny, 76% of Americans start to eat the ears first, followed by 5% who eat the feet first, and 4% who eat the tail first.

Writings about Easter can be found dating back to the 2nd century and is considered among the oldest Christian holidays.

As you know, Easter is celebrated on a different date every year depending on which Church you belong to. The Orthodox Easter now falls anywhere between April 4 and May 8 and the Catholic Easter falls anywhere between March 22 and April 25. The different date for Orthodox Easter comes from following the Julian calendar that differs from the Gregorian calendar which is used by most western countries and Christian denominations.

May your basket be full, your chocolates be sweet, and your blessings many. The Mattress Company wishes you all a Happy Easter!