Easter was one of my favorite holidays when I was little. There was no waiting for the adults to wake up before opening gifts like Christmas. When we came downstairs on Easter morning, our baskets were fair game. I loved the plastic grass that hid jelly beans and little treats my mom hid in between chocolate bunnies and Peeps. Later that day at my grandmother’s, there was always a porcelain Easter egg with a lift off lid that had a few dollar bills in it, and all the Russell Stover chocolate eggs we could eat, filled with marshmallow, strawberry cream, coconut and more. Then, we’d entertain ourselves for hours hiding and finding Easter eggs.
Nowadays, my own children still enjoy a good egg hunt, and one is old enough to try placing orders for her preferred Easter basket treats. But even though they enjoy their baskets, I think one of their favorite parts of Easter is helping hide eggs for younger cousins and one another.
As I started thinking about writing this week, I wondered what interesting tidbits I don’t know about this holiday season. I love a good research topic, so I was excited to start this hunt for my own flavor of hidden Easter treasures.
Some questions I started with: Where did the name of Easter come from? What other religious holidays are celebrated during this time of year? Does every country celebrate Easter? How are those celebrations different than what I grew up with?
In 2025 the Christian celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus and the Jewish observance of Passover overlap as Passover ends on Easter day. Occasionally, Ramadan also overlaps with Easter, though not this year, as well as some lesser known Baha’i festivals and Zoroastrian celebrations.
The name “Easter” is thought to be derived from one of two places. The first contender is the Anglo-Saxon goddess of fertility, Eostre. Eostre’s name is linguistically linked to “East”, and she is seen as the embodiment of a new dawn, new beginnings, and thus new life. In fact, the hormone estrogen is also named after this fabled goddess. Another possible origin of “Easter” is the Germanic goddess of spring, Ostara, which is also the name of celebrations of the Spring Equinox.
Easter as a holiday is only celebrated in countries where Christianity is the dominant religion; however, celebrations of the changing seasons and the new beginnings Spring brings are celebrated all over the globe.
The Easter Bunny, much like the Santa Claus we recognize today, originated in Germany. A symbol of fertility, the Easter bunny would put out a nest of colorful eggs for children who had been good.
Easter baskets, however, are a tradition from Switzerland, where they are delivered to children by an Easter Cuckoo instead of a bunny. This was a completely new piece of info for me that I cannot wait to share with my kids.
The price of eggs this year has put a damper on my enthusiasm for one of my favorite Easter activities: egg dyeing. Colorful Easter eggs may be an old German tradition, but the activity of painting Easter eggs is a Ukrainian tradition that involves drawing designs with wax, then painting over the egg–much like the little egg dye kits you can buy anywhere now, complete with a clear wax crayon and dye tablets. This is one of my favorite things to do with my children, and I think this year I may have to try it with some of my favorite homemade tea dyes.
This brings us to one of the best parts of Easter: the candy. Chocolate eggs are a ubiquitous Easter treat — and they originated in France. The first recorded chocolate eggs were in King Louis XIV’s court. Since then, many countries have put their own spin on the chocolate egg: Belgians love a hazelnut praline egg, Italians also love the hazelnut chocolate combo and indulge in chocolate covered gianduja (a paste made from the nuts) eggs. In the United States, Reece’s peanut butter eggs reign supreme, while in Sweden the chocolate is skipped in favor of paper mache eggs filled with small gummies, licorice candies and sour treats. Speaking of candy treats, Marshmallow Peeps are an American invention from Pennsylvania, but the inventor himself was Russian immigrant Sam Born.
I am so glad that we have such a variety of cultures and traditions that have led to many of the celebrations, sweets and traditions I have enjoyed since childhood.
Tabitha Bozeman teaches English at Gadsden State Community College, where she is the editor-in-chief of the Cardinal Arts Journal. The opinions expressed are her own. She may be reached at tabithabozeman@gmail.com.
