Easter is a religious holy day for some, a fun occasion and an excuse to eat a lot of chocolates and candy for others. Whether you’re a Christian rejoicing in the resurrection of Jesus Christ or you’re celebrating the arrival of Spring and the Easter Bunny, here are some facts about this annual holiday you may not know:

• Easter baskets originally derived from Catholics taking Lenten food with them to Mass. But in the 19th century, European chocolatiers began crafting beautiful chocolate Easter eggs and elaborate sugar eggs to give as gifts. By the early 20th century, the idea of an Easter basket filled with sweet goodies caught on like wildfire. Today in the US, Easter is the second most popular candy giving holiday.
• It’s customary for Polish Catholics and descendants of Polish immigrants in the US, Canada and elsewhere  to bring a basket filled with symbolic Easter food, such as butter shaped like a lamb, colored hard boiled eggs, meats like lamb and ham, horseradish, bread and sweet baked goods to the church to be blessed by the priest−a practice called Święconka that has been going on since the 7th century.
• The Easter bunny hasn’t always delivered the Easter egg goods. Before the bunny hippity-hoppity’d his way to the top—thanks to German immigrants to the US, the holiday egg-bringer was a rooster (the Belgian Walloons), the crane (Westphalia), the stork (Thuringia), the fox or hare (Germany) or a cuckoo (Switzerland).
• In Finland, the Easter celebration is a lot like Halloween—children dress as witches or trolls and go door to door. The girls carry pussy-willow twigs decorated with feathers and demand treats. Here it’s not the Easter Bunny but the Easter chicken who brings colored eggs.
• Long ago in European countries, Easter eggs formed part of the tithe (rent) paid to one’s landlord and were given to important villagers like the priest, schoolmaster and village grave digger!

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