According to the Data Group, grandparents spend an average of $82 per grandchild for a holiday gift, $42 for a birthday gift, $74 for a special occasion such as a graduation, and $19 for other occasions like Easter or Valentine's Day.

Approximately 165 million Easter cards are purchased each year in the U.S.

Heinz Vinegar commissioned a survey of Americans' Easter-egg habits, and found that blue was the favorite hue of 35 percent of the respondents when dyeing eggs. Purple (18 percent), pink (17 percent), green (7 percent), and yellow and red (each 6 percent) trailed. After the egg hunt is over, 64 percent of Americans said they eat them and 22 percent throw them away. Ten percent don't color eggs, and 2 percent said they let them rot.

In Bulgaria, bright red colored eggs are a symbol of Easter, which are cracked after the Easter midnight service. One egg is cracked on the wall of the church, and this is the first egg eaten after the Bulgarians' long Great Fast. The ritual of cracking the eggs takes place before the Easter lunch. Each person selects an egg, and each takes a turn tapping their egg against the eggs of others. The person who ends up with the last unbroken egg is believed to have a year of good luck.

The Chocolate Manufacturers Association of America says that 36 million boxes of chocolate will be sold for Valentine's Day. According to Hershey's Chocolate Company, Valentine's Day ranks fourth in sales behind Halloween, Christmas and Easter.

Valentine's Day means chocolate, and lots of it. According to U.S. candy manufacturers, Americans spend $1,105 million each Valentine's Day on candy, making it the fourth biggest holiday of the year for confectionery purchases. In order, the top three holidays for candy sales are Halloween, Christmas, and Easter.
 

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Pinhead

[This message has been edited by Pinhead (edited 04-22-2000).]

Easter is a Christian Festival that celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. On the third day after Good Friday, the day of his crucifixion, it's now called Easter Sunday, He rose from the dead. Mourners went to His tomb to collect His body. However, He was not there and they were greeted by an angel who said "He is Risen".

The cross is a symbol of His crucifixion and Resurrection. Hot cross buns, a cake or biscuit eaten by many during this season, are also symbols of these events.

The lamb is another symbol associated with Jesus. He is often referred to, in scriptures, as the 
'Lamb of God', who sacrificed his life
for all mankind's eternal life.

Lights, candles, and bonfires mark celebrations in many countries. Roman Catholics often put the candles in the church out on Good Friday and light them again with the Pascal Candle or Easter Candle, on Easter Day.

Eggs are a symbol of the new life that returns to nature at Easter Time. The custom of exchanging eggs began long before Easter was celebrated. It was a custom of the Egyptians and the Persians.
They exchanged eggs decorated in Spring colors. They believed Earth hatched from an egg which contributed to this custom. Early Christians used red colored eggs to symbolize the Resurrection. In England they began writing messages and dates on their eggs and exchanging them with friends and loved ones. In the 1800's, candied eggs were made. They were open on one end and a scene was put inside. They were used as table centerpieces.

Rabbits symbolized new life and rebirth in ancient Egypt. They considered it a symbol of the moon, as the moon determines the date of Easter.

The Easter Bunny's visit is based upon a German Legend. The legend goes that a poor woman decorated eggs for her children to find during a famine. At the moment they found them, they looked up to see a big bunny hopping away. Of course, the real Easter Bunny comes to visit many of you..

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Pinhead

[This message has been edited by Pinhead (edited 04-22-2000).]

Of all the symbols associated with Easter, the egg, the symbol of fertility and new life, is the most identifiable. The customs and traditions of using eggs have been associated with Easter for centuries.

Originally Easter eggs were painted with bright colors to represent the sunlight of spring and were used in Easter-egg rolling contests or given as gifts. After they were colored and etched with various designs the eggs were exchanged by lovers and romantic admirers, much the same as valentines. In medieval time eggs were traditionally given at Easter to the servants. In Germany eggs were given to children along with other Easter gifts.

Different cultures have developed their own ways of decorating Easter eggs. Crimson eggs, to honor the blood of Christ, are exchanged in Greece. In parts of Germany and Austria green eggs are used on Maundy Thursday (Holy Thursday). Slavic peoples decorate their eggs in special patterns of gold and silver

Austrian artists design patterns by fastening ferns and tiny plants around the eggs, which are then boiled. The plants are then removed revealing a striking white pattern. The Poles and Ukrainians decorate eggs with simple designs and colors. A number of eggs are made in the distinctive manner called pysanki (to design, to write)

Pysanki eggs are a masterpiece of skill and workmanship. Melted beeswax is applied to the fresh white egg. It is then dipped in successive baths of dye. After each dip wax is painted over the area where the preceding color is to remain. Eventually a complex pattern of lines and colors emerges into a work of art

In Germany and other countries eggs used for cooking where not broken, but the contents were removed by piercing the end of each egg with a needle and blowing the contents into a bowl. The hollow eggs were died and hung from shrubs and trees during the Easter Week. The Armenians would decorate hollow eggs with pictures of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and other religious designs

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Pinhead