Easter Gifts

To start, eggs were painted and decorated and used as gifts. They were given as a romantic gift to admirers, as well as to children. People of Eastern Orthodox faiths made this tradition their own by dying their eggs red to symbolize Christ's blood, and on Easter day they would crack the eggs, to represent Christ breaking out of the tomb. Hollow eggs were also formed from sugar, and were decorated with sugar royal icings. Around this time chocolate easter eggs were created, and soon became a favorite holiday tradition. As an extension of the egg, the chick was also associated with Easter, and today children will often find marshmallow chicks as a gift that was linked to the original prominence of the egg in the Easter celebration.