This Sunday is Easter, Resurrection Day for those of the Christian persuasion. At our house, this means spending much of the morning celebrating at church. For many households here in the U.S., however, it means baskets of candy and colored hard-boiled eggs. Colored eggs were also popular among young lads and ladies in nineteenth century England, although how they used those eggs might surprise you.
Then as now, the family would boil the eggs and color the shells by dunking them in concoctions. The most commonly used colors were red for the blood of Christ, blue for the water of baptism, and purple for royalty. On Easter Sunday, the eggs might be given as gifts to friends and family.
They might also be used to start a war.
Egg wars were a favorite among the lads (are you surprised?). You picked an Easter egg and your opponent picked an Easter egg and the two of you smacked them together. The least cracked egg was declared the winner, and the owner could receive a forfeit such as a small coin or piece of candy.
You could also roll your eggs. You picked a grassy hill, lined up at the top with each person holding an Easter egg, and pushed them off so that they rolled down to the bottom. You might also push them along with a spoon. Depending on your family tradition, the winner was the owner of the egg that reached the bottom first, lasted the longest among several rolls, or rolled between two goals.
Me? This Easter the only boiled eggs I’m dealing with will be those that are devilled and part of the menu. However, my mother gave me a lovely faux-nineteenth century porcelain egg. Reminds me a bit of Wedgwood, but it’s pink. What do you think?
Happy Easter, all!