Fun Easter Facts

• The tallest Easter egg chocolate was made in Italy in 2011. It stood at 10.39 meters and weighed an astounding 7,200 kg.

• In the US, only 12 of the 50 states recognize Good Friday as a holiday.

• The art of painting eggs is called pysanka, which originated in Ukraine. It involves using wax and dyes to color the egg.

• The term Easter gets its name from Eastre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess who symbolizes the hare and the egg.

• The exchange or giving of Easter eggs actually dates back to before Easter and the giving of eggs is actually considered a symbol of rebirth in many cultures.

• There used to be a tradition churches observed that resembled the game of “hot potato.” Here, the priest would toss a hard boiled egg to one of the choir boys.

• The boys would toss the egg amongst themselves and when the clock struck 12, whomever had the egg was the winner and got to keep the egg.

• Peep peep… did you know Americans buy more than 700 million marshmallow Peeps during Easter? This makes Peeps the most popular non-chocolate Easter candy.

• Americans consume more than 16 million jelly beans during this holiday. That is enough jelly beans to circle the globe not once, not twice, but three times.

• Are you an ears, arms or tail person? Seventy-six percent of people eat the ears on the chocolate bunny first, 5 percent go for the feet and 4 percent for the tail.

• During the holiday, more than 90 million chocolate bunnies, 91.4 billion eggs and 700 million Peeps are produced each year in the United States alone.

• Next to Halloween, Easter is the biggest candy-consuming holiday of the year. Good thing they are almost six months apart, perfect for your yearly dentist check-ups!