It’s hard to believe, but another year has rolled by, and here we are, blessed enough to embark upon yet another Easter weekend filled with friends, family, fun and lots of chocolate. Easter traditions differ around the world – do you remember last year we wrote about how Swedish children get to dress up as witches and go house to house trading paintings and drawings for treats; or how in Bermuda they fly kites on Good Friday; or how, probably most quizzical of all, the Norwegians get to entertain their penchant for all things murder-mystery, from new crime novels to specially created detective series which all debut on Easter weekend.
Our tradition of curried fish, hot-cross buns and Sunday morning Easter egg hunts all seem quite mild by comparison, but if you fancy a few more interesting facts – although I don’t think much can top the Norwegians on this – here is a little more Easter trivia:
- The tallest Easter egg chocolate was made in Tosca, Italy in 2011. It stood 10.39 meters tall and weighed an amazing 7,200 kg.
- The world’s largest Easter egg tree was achieved in Pomerode, Brazil; where in March 2017 82,404 painted eggs were hung in a pecan tree.
- The term Easter gets its name from Ēostre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess who symbolizes the hare and the egg.
- 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.
- Americans eat more than 16 million jelly beans during Easter – that’s enough jelly beans to circle the globe three times.
- When it comes to munching on chocolate rabbits, a study (yes, they actually studied this) found that 59% of people prefer to eat the bunny ears first and then work their way down – only 4% prefer to start with the feet.
- The largest Easter egg hunt took place in the Cypress Gardens Adventure Park in Florida in 2007 – it took 9,753 children to find 501,000 eggs.
- The White House tradition of the Easter Egg Roll – a race where children push an egg through the grass with a long-handled spoon – started back in 1878 with President Rutherford B. Hayes.
- The UK’s most popular Easter egg is the Cadbury Crème Egg – more than 500 million are made every year and if they were stacked on top of each other, the pile would be ten times higher than Mount Everest.
- And if Lindt bunnies are your go-to Easter treat, you need to know that they’re now producing a giant Lindt 1kg Milk Chocolate Gold Bunny, tagged as ‘the ultimate Easter gift that is sure to impress anyone who receives it!’
Whatever your favourite Easter treat might be, and however you choose to spend the long weekend, from everyone here at N1 – your favourite JHB & Cape Town meat wholesalers – Happy Easter, travel safe and enjoy the special time with your loved ones!
Sources:
Elite Daily
Delicious
Guinness World Records
White House History
Cadbury
