Nearly every American has unique memories about Easter, often as I remember mine, they are filled with thoughts of frilly Easter Dresses and Hats. I remember my little sister dresses in white fluffs of lace, with an occasional yellow bow to go with her bright blonde hair.
We felt so beautiful that Spring not really understanding what Easter celebrations were. Many Christians observed Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter, when Jesus returned to Jerusalem surrounded by his followers, riding on a young Ass, over a carpet of Palm leaves.
The Thursday before Easter marked when Jesus and his Disciples partook of The Last Supper, then Good Friday (although I fail to understand how the day of Jesus Christ's Crucifixion could ever be called good)
Finally, Easter Sunday, we would dress in white to testify that He was Risen! This special tradition was reflected in our songs and movies, a looked for expression that marked new life and rebirth.
Slowly but surely the desire to express our feelings of gratitude to The Lord for His Grace and such Love that He would pay for our sins, to become a holiday of plastic eggs hidden under leaves and bushes.
At 16, I remember one Easter Sunday putting together an Easter Egg Hunt for the little kids in our trailer park, because I thought it was sad that we were deprived of even that joy, simply because we were the poorest people on the planet.
Down at the Umatilla River we had a grand time, first hiding eggs then watching little ones running around looking under fallen trees and leaves, as we kept guard that they didn't venture near the river that was running fast with spring melt-off.
Did you know that in Ireland children played a game called egg striking, or Pillie-Winkie? That the egg was a symbol of the rebirth of spring, egg picking, or egg tapping, was a game in English folklore. This game was called many things, the egg fight, egg knocking, egg pacqueing, egg boxing, or egg jarping, was a common game where the contestants would each pick out a boiled egg and they would tap the eggs together at the pointed end to see who was the winner.
in the 1500s there was a springtime dance called the egg dance. the goal was to dance on a floor where eggs had been set out in a pattern, without damaging any of course, which came from the wedding of Margaret of Austria and Philibert of Savoy. This dance became a betrothal dance where a hundred eggs were scattered over a level space and covered with sand. If a couple could dance through the space without breaking an egg they were betrothed, and not even their parents could oppose the marriage. *The American Magazine vol. 39, 1895, p. 390
Arranged marriages were the norm where parents would choose mates for their children from families who shared their same ethnic or religious values, lifestyles, and where the excellent character of the chosen spouse was known. *http://www.vishnusvirtues.com/arranged-marriage/
As you research your family lines you might consider adding these bits of information in your comments to allow your children and others to have a broader understanding of what the lives in other lands were like.
Easter Sunday, Easter Monday and Good Friday were, & still are public holidays in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. 800,000 of our early Americans were from these countries because of the lack of land and employment in their homelands. Much of their immigration was in the form of a chain, where established American members of a family would send travel money and instructions to their siblings and cousins in Sweden, and arrange for jobs and land as needed.
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_emigration_to_the_United_States
Traditions of all kinds, were a part and parcel of life before immigration, and are still important for the foundational strength of families today. Do you know your ancestors traditions? What are the most important ones you practice today?
