Easter Fun Facts from Hershey's

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...Easter is the second sweetest holiday/season for candy sales, closely trailing Halloween.

...In 2000, Americans spent approximately $1.9 billion on candy treats for Easter.

...Hershey sells enough Cadbury's Crème Eggs to fill over 100 million baskets.

...The egg is the universal symbol of Easter celebrations throughout the world and has been dyed, painted, adorned, and embellished in the celebration of its special symbolism.

...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.

...Two traditional Easter egg games are the Easter Egg Hunt and the Easter Egg Roll.

...The rules of an Easter Egg Roll are to see who can roll an egg the greatest distance or can make the roll without breaking it, usually down a grassy hillside or slope.

...The Romans celebrated the Easter season by running races on an oval track and giving eggs as prizes.

...Reese's peanut butter eggs are the number one selling Easter candy in the US.

...The Easter Bunny is NOT a modern invention. The symbol originated with the pagan festival of Easter in the second century. The Anglo-Saxons worshipped the goddess, Easter, through her earthly symbol the rabbit.

...Early American settlers made "Easter baskets" with nests made from twigs and leaves which the Easter Bunny filled with colored, boiled eggs.

...The Easter bonnet got its start as a wreath of flowers, and, or leaves, the circle an expression of the roundness of the sun and its travel through the heavens which brought it back for the return of spring.

...Candy-filled Easter baskets did not become popular until the late 1800s, when candy became readily available from the growing number of small candy manufacturers.

...More than 60 million chocolate bunnies, in all shapes and sizes, will be made this holiday season along with 15 billion jellybeans.
15 billion jellybeans lined up end-to-end would circle the world three times.