History Of Easter Gifts

Gifts For New Year

Easter gifts have a long and fascinating history. Gifting is tied to theholiday known as Easter, and ancient Pagan rituals focused at this time of yearupon the renewal of the earth, the upcoming green new growth that the emergingsunlight and warmer weather encouraged, and the idea of birth and rebirth. Theegg is a symbol of all of these ideas, and was adopted by and still is used inChristian Easter celebrations to this day.

To start, eggs were painted and decorated and used as gifts. They were givenas a romantic gift to admirers, as well as to servants and children. People ofEastern Orthodox faiths made this tradition their own by dying their eggs red tosymbolize Christ´s blood, and on Easter day they would crack the eggs, torepresent Christ breaking out of the tomb. As technology improved, there werehollow eggs crafted from cardboard that were filled with smaller gifts,typically food items. Hollow eggs were also formed from sugar, and weredecorated with sugar royal icings. Perhaps the ultimate gift egg was the Fabergéegg, which was studded with real jewels and was given originally as a gift forthe Czar of Russia. Around this time chocolate easter eggs were created, andsoon became a favorite holiday tradition. As an extension of the egg, the chickwas also associated with Easter, and today children will often find marshmallowchicks as a gift that was linked to the original prominence of the egg in theEaster celebration.

Another type of gift you will likely find in modern Easter baskets arerabbits, usually in the form of a toy stuffed rabbit or rabbit-shaped candiesand chocolates. This tradition also traces back to early Pagan traditions.Rabbits are known for their ability to reproduce, and this idea of birth,especially in early spring when rabbits tend to give birth to their young,helped to tie them as yet another symbol of this holiday season.

Clothing was sometimes associated as an Easter gift. In the early Catholictradition, if the faithful were baptized the night before Easter Sunday, theywore white robes for Easter week. If they were baptized before this night, thenthey got to wear new clothes. Everyone wearing their robes or new clothes couldthen take part in an Easter parade, which was a walk after mass on EasterDay.

Because of the association with a new growth cycle, gifts from the garden arealso connected to Easter. Easter lilies are often given as gifts because theybloom around the time Easter is celebrated.

Easter baskets in early times contained gifts to the goddess Oestre in thehopes that she would grant a good harvest. Eggs were often collected in basketsas well. German legend of an Easter hare, later changed to rabbit, which wouldbring a basket filled with sweets and colored eggs to children on Eastermorning, was brought to America by early German settlers, and the practicecontinues to this day.

Anne Harvester is a homemaker extraordinaire with years of experiencecreating spectacular events and gifts. See her favorite Gift baskets, Eastergift baskets, ChildrensEaster gifts.