7 EASTER FUN QUESTIONS

How Many Jelly Beans are made each year in the U.S. for Easter? Find out here!

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7 Easter fun questions have been provided to challenge you and your friends and family. How many can you answer and how many can your friends and family answer?  Do you know how many jelly beans are made each year in America?  Find out below…you’re guaranteed to be surprised!  I was!

Following the questions you can read the “History of Easter Celebrations”, learning how the traditional symbolism of the Easter bunny, eggs, chocolates and more originated.

Have fun and Happy Easter!

7 EASTER FUN QUESTIONS

  1.  Where did the Easter bunny come from?

Answer: German immigrants settling in Pennsylvania brought stories of an egg-laying hare known to them as “Osterhase” or Oschter Haws” which later became known as the modern day American “Easter bunny”.

2.  What does the Easter egg symbolize in Christianity?

Answer: Christians often focus on the Easter egg, using it as a symbolism of Jesus’ emerging from the tomb and resurrection. In this theory the egg represents the boulder pushed in front of the tomb where Jesus’ body was laid after he died upon the cross.

3.  Other than chocolate eggs and bunnies what is another long time top-selling candy associated with Easter?

Answer: Jelly Beans

4.  How many jelly beans are made in the U.S. each year for Easter?

Answer: Over 16 billion jelly beans are made each year for Easter. That is enough to fill a giant egg that is 89 ft. high and 60 ft. wide.

5.  What was the first Easter Egg hunt called?

Answer: Easter Egg Roll and it originated in 1878 when Rutherford B. Hayes was President of the United States. Children took decorated hard-boiled eggs to the lawn of the White House for a race where they rolled the eggs across the lawn on Monday, the day after Easter Sunday.

6.  What has been the top-selling non-chocolate Easter candy for the past decade?

Answer: The Marshmallow Peep

7.  How big do you think the largest Easter egg ever made was?

Answer: 25 ft. high and weighed over 8 thousand pounds! It was chocolate with a marshmallow center and supported by an internal steel frame.

Read below more about the history of Easter Celebrations!

Learn more about Easter and other historical holidays and events at www.history.com.

 


 


(c) Can Stock Photo / Palto

HISTORY OF EASTER CELEBRATIONS

The Easter bunny is just one prominent secular symbol of the Christian spring holiday. Where did these secular traditions of bunnies, chicks, egg hunts, decorating eggs and baskets delivered to good boys and girls by the Easter bunny originate?

The Easter Bunny

According to History.com, it’s speculated German immigrants in or around the 1700’s settling in Pennsylvania brought with them stories of an egg-laying hare known to German immigrants as “Osterhase” or “Oschter Haws” which later became known as the modern day American “Easter bunny”.

In Germany children made nests for the “egg laying hare” to lay its different colored eggs. Today eggs may still be found nestled amongst an array of candies and small gifts but the “nests” from the traditional story tradition have since been replaced by baskets left out the night before Easter. As children customarily leave cookies and milk for Santa Claus at Christmas, carrots are often found left for the Easter bunny since he could get hungry during his busiest night of the year!

Easter Eggs

The egg throughout ancient history has been a symbolic representation of fertility, new life, and theorized to be associated with spring pagan festivities and celebrations.

Christians often focus on the Easter egg, using it as a symbolism of Jesus emerging from the tomb and resurrection. In this theory the egg represents the stone pushed in front of the tomb where Jesus’ body was laid after he died upon the cross and the stone being pushed away upon His resurrection.  Empty plastic Easter eggs are often used to represent the empty tomb where Jesus’ body was no longer found because He had been resurrected.

Another theory of decorating eggs for Easter dates back to approximately the 13th century when eggs were decorated and eaten at the end of the Lenten season. During this time period, those recognizing the Season of Lent were forbidden to eat eggs; therefore, it was a type of celebration honoring the end of the Season of Lent.

The season of Lent is the 40 days prior to Easter, recognized in various Christian churches as a time period to “give up” something of importance or to commit to do a particular deed or habit for 40 days. This practice is symbolic of the time period Jesus spent praying and fasting for 40 days prior to being crucifixion.

Easter Egg Hunts

In 1878, Rutherford B. Hayes was President of the United States and the first official White House Egg Roll occurred while he was in office. Children were invited to bring their decorated Easter eggs to the lawn of the White House on Monday, the day after Easter Sunday, to have a race by pushing the eggs across the lawn.   Although the event is said to not have held any religious significance many say rolling the eggs was representative of the stone being rolled away from the tomb leading to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Tradition today consist of children hunting for eggs, racing to find the golden egg or to collect the most plastic candy filled eggs.

Easter Candy

Aside from Halloween, Easter is the second best marketable holiday for candy sales in American. Of course when you think of Easter you can’t help but think of chocolate bunnies and eggs which date back to the early 19th century in Europe.

Aside from chocolate bunnies, eggs and assorted chocolate candies the jelly bean is amongst the favorites of Easter candies. Jelly beans became associated with Easter in the 1930’s but the jelly bean’s origin dates back centuries to a celebration called a Turkish Delight.

Families will celebrate Easter in a variety of ways, dressing up to attend church services, family dinners, egg hunts and spending the day, as it seems has been done traditionally for centuries, enjoying the birth of a new spring season.

-The information herein was collected from History.com at http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/easter-symbols.  


(c) Can Stock Photo / VikaYatskina

Happy Easter from Cheatham News 

 

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