Brief, but not comprehensive, answers to the questions. Feel free to add details and more fun facts.
HISTORY
1 – What does Easter represent?
Easter, also called Pascha (Greek, Latin) or Resurrection Sunday, is a festival and holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in the New Testament as having occurred on the third day after his burial following his crucifixion by the Romans at Calvary c. 30 AD. (Wikipedia)
2 – Easter always occurs between what dates?
Easter always occurs between March 22 and April 25.
3 – What determines the exact day Easter Sunday falls on?
Easter is a “movable feast” – one that is set according to the phases of the moon – so the dates are different each year. Technically on the first Sunday after the first full moon occurring on or after the vernal equinox.
4 – Who is Easter allegedly named after?
It is believed by some that Easter was named after the Anglo-Saxon goddess, Eastre, whose symbols were the egg and the hare (rabbit).
5 – Today’s Easter rabbit originally was what animal?
The idea of the Easter bunny, which originated in Germany in the 1700s, was not a rabbit but a hare.
EASTER EGGS
1 – What did the first colored Easter egg signify?
The first Easter eggs were colored red, in memory of the blood Jesus shed during his crucifixion.
2 – Where was the largest Easter egg made?
Officially the largest chocolate Easter Egg was created in Tosca (Italy). It weighed 15,873 lbs., 4.48 oz., and had a circumference of 64 ft., 3.65 in. at its widest point.
3 – Decorating Easter eggs started when?
The practice of dyeing eggs can be traced back to early Greek and Syrian Christians, who exchanged crimson eggs “to represent the blood of Christ,” write Priscilla Sawyer and Daniel J. Foley in Easter Garland.
4 – How much did the world’s most expensive egg sell for and who made it?
9.5 million U.S. dollars; the winter egg designed by Faberge in 1885 for Russian Tzar Alexander III.
5 – In other countries what animals bring Easter eggs?
In some European countries, other animals—in Switzerland the cuckoo, in Westphalia the fox—brought the Easter eggs.
CANDY
1 – When did the custom of giving candy and chocolate for Easter first appear?
Reportedly today’s deluge of Easter sweets dates back to the 1800’s, “While the other dishes that adorn the Easter table and filled Easter baskets—spring lamb, dyed eggs, and hot cross buns—all trace their origins to the pagan spring festivals of ancient times, candy is a newcomer, dating back just to the 1800s, when European candy-makers first started hand-crafting chocolate eggs for the holiday. Candy eggs were wildly popular, and by the late 1800s, fine candy makers in major U.S. cities were offering chocolate eggs both hollow and filled, jelly eggs, and exquisite panorama eggs of sugar, icing, and paper for the Easter holiday.”
2 – Easter trails what holiday in candy sales?
After Halloween, Easter is the top-selling candy holiday.
3 – During Easter what are the 5 best-selling candies in America?
Reese’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Eggs, Cadbury Creme Eggs, Cadbury Jelly beans, Chocolate bunnies, Marshmallow Peeps.
4 – Approximately how many chocolate Easter rabbits are made each year?
More than 90 million chocolate Easter bunnies are manufactured each year.
5 – How much does average household spend on Easter?
Households spend on average $131 on Easter each year, with $14.7 billion spent totally.
TRADITIONS
1 – What flower is associated with Easter?
The Easter Lily. Today’s version originated in Japan, “The Easter lily was officially discovered in 1777 by Swedish naturalist Carl Peter Thunberg in the Ryukyu Islands of Japan.” The Nymphaea alba variety of the water lily is more commonly found in Mediterranean regions.
2 – What colors are associated with Easter?
These colors all have symbolic significance about life and rebirth: white (purity and innocence), pink (joy), yellow (sunshine), red (blood), violet (penance and humility), green (eternal life)
3 – By centuries-old custom what meat is usually served on Easter?
Ham. Since hogs were slaughtered in the fall and left to cure over the winter, ham was plentiful for meals in the spring.
4 – What are two popular Easter games going back centuries?
Historians claim Easter egg hunt and egg rolling events began about the time of the Protestant reformation, “The custom of the Easter egg hunt, however, comes from Germany. Some suggest that its origins date back to the late 16th century, when the Protestant reformer Martin Luther organized egg hunts for his congregation. The men would hide the eggs for the women and children to find. This was a nod to the story of the resurrection, in which the empty tomb was discovered by women.”
5 – What superstition lead to the Easter Parade?
Old superstition held that if you wore new clothes on Easter, you would have good luck for the rest of the year.
WORLD
1 – Easter Island belongs to which South American country?
Chile. Easter Island is so named for its ‘discovery’ on Easter Sunday by Dutch explorers in 1722. It is known as Rapa Nui to its current inhabitants, as Isla de Pascua in Spanish, as L’île de Pâques in French. (Wikipedia)
2 – Where is the most famous Easter parade located?
The most famous Easter parade began in New York’s Fifth Ave in the 1880’s. Although in earlier times Roman Emperor Constantine I during the early part of the 4th century, “ordered his subjects to dress in their finest and parade in honor of Christ’s resurrection.”
3 – Which animal is used in Australia instead of a rabbit?
Bilby, with long ears and a mouse-like nose. In Australia rabbits are not a popular animal, because they damage crops.
4 – In Bermuda some residents celebrate the Good Friday prior to Easter by doing what?
A Sunday school teacher allegedly illustrated to his students how Jesus went to heaven by flying a kite into the sky. The demonstration went so well that Good Friday has Bermudians out flying kites on that special weekend.
5 – Why does Eastern Orthodox Church celebrate Easter on a different day?
Western churches use the Gregorian calendar, to figure out Easter Sunthe standard calendar for much of the world, and Orthodox churches use the older, Julian calendar.
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