15 Fun Easter Facts

1. Chocolate bunnies - 90 million chocolate bunnies are produced each year in the US. Germans more than double that with about  200 million chocolate Easter bunnies being produced in Germany
2. The first Bunny - The Easter bunny is thought to have first been mentioned in print in Georg Franck von Frankenau's De ovis paschalibus (About Easter Eggs, "Weiser Antiquarian Books - Catalog") in 1682 referring to an Alsace (formerly in Germany, now in France) tradition of an Easter Hare bringing Easter Eggs.See this page for more about Easter Bunnies.
3. Peeps - More than 700 million marshmallow Peeps are sold each year; the majority sold for Easter? This makes Peeps second only to chocolate for Easter candies. Unfortunately the company that makes Peeps (Just Born) does not have factory tours. But, you can click here to view videos of How Peeps Are Made. By comparison, Cadbury's chocolate in Buirmingham , England makes about 1.5 million Cadbury Creme Eggs annually.
4. What do you eat first? A study by an ear, nose and throat doctor (Who else would do this?) says that 59 percent of Americans eat the ears of a chocolate Easter bunny first. About 5 percent go for the feet and 4 percent for the tail, while 33 percent no preference where they start
5. The most expensive Easter egg went for $12 million (a Fabergé  egg, not chocolate). The jeweler Carl Fabergé started making decorated eggs in 1902 for the Rothschild banking family. It was a mechanical rooster clock, shaped like an egg with diamonds. The rooster would stick its head out of the egg on the hour, flaps its wings, bends its head and crow. .The renowned Russian artist and jeweller Peter Carl Fabergé then went on to make exquisitely decorated precious metal and gemstone eggs for the Russian Court
6. Blue eggs - Some chickens, such as Javanese bantams, lay blue eggs.
7. Roll out the eggs, Mr. Trump - and continue the tradition of a White House Easter Egg Roll which was started by President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1878.
8. The largest easter egg hunt took place on April 1, 2007 in Florida when 9,753 children hunted for over 500,000 Easter eggs. See this page for more information about the history of Easter egg hunts and rolls
9. A painful delivery?  Speaking of large eggs, in China, legend tells how the god, Pan Gu hatched from a cosmic egg.
10. White or Brown? - The chickens know: Just like blue eyes usually go with blond hair in humans, a chicken with white ear flaps lays white eggs . If the ears are red or pink, the eggs are usually brown. See this page for How to make your own natural Easter egg dye.
11. Duck! - In Bulgaria, Easter eggs are traditionally thrown on church walls and at relatives rather than being hidden.
12. Don't eat floaters -  Fresh eggs sink in a cup of cold water.  Stale or old eggs float.  That is because the egg slowly dries up, increasing the air space inside the egg (while the volume due to the hard shell remains the same!) See this page for How to hard boil eggs.
13. Money from the Queen - In England, it is traditional for the current monarch (Queen Elizabeth) to hand out money on  Maundy Thursday (Thursday before Easter). This "Maundy money"  is given to the elderly (called "pensioners" in the UK).  The tradition started with King Henry IV, who gave the same number of gifts as his age. Since Queen Elizabeth is 92, she will give to 92 pensioners each two small leather string purses, one red and one white. The red purse contains ordinary coins, while the white one contains silver Maundy coins, amounting to the same number of pence (English copper pennies) as the years of the sovereign’s age.The pensioners chosen are selected because of the Christian service they have given to the Church and the community. The ceremony takes place in churches, cathedrals and abbeys. Here are some recent locations:
    2017 Leicester Cathedral
    2016 St George's Chapel Windsor
    2015 Sheffield Cathedral
    2014 Blackburn Cathedral
14. We are Number 2! After Halloween, Easter is the biggest candy-consuming holiday of the year.  Santa comes in at number 3.See this page for the History of Easter candies. And for for Easter spending facts, see this page .
15. When IS Easter this year??? The date of Easter varies each year because the date is determined by the lunar calendar: Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon that follows March 21st each year.  This means Easter can come as early as March 22nd or as late  as April 25th.
    
    
    
    

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