Easter Fun Facts

Did you know the tradition of Easter eggs goes back thousands of years? The ancient Egyptians, Persians, Phoenicians, and Hindus all believed the world began with an enormous egg, thus the egg as a symbol of new life has been around for eons.

Easter falls in the spring, the yearly time of renewal, when the earth renews itself after a long, cold winter. The word Easter comes to us from the Anglo-Saxon Goddess of Spring, Eostre, who presided over the season of the growing sun and new birth. 

The Easter Bunny arose originally as a symbol of fertility, due to the rapid reproduction habits of the hare and rabbit. In the legend of Eostre, a rabbit was her companion and sacred animal.

Easter is the second best-selling candy holiday in America, after Halloween.

The jelly bean became associated with Easter in the 1930s (although the jelly bean’s origins reportedly date all the way back to a centuries-old concoction called a Turkish Delight).

The Easter Parade tradition dates back to the mid-1800s Manhatan, when the upper crust of New York society would attend Easter services at various Fifth Avenue churches then stroll outside afterward, showing off their new spring outfits and hats.

Since 1878, during the Rutherford B. Hayes administration, American presidents and their families have celebrated Easter Monday by hosting an egg roll. Held on the South Lawn, it is one of the oldest annual events in White House history.

The largest Easter egg ever made was just over 25 feet high, weighed around 8,968 lbs and was made of chocolate and marshmallow according to the Guinness Book of World Records.