April 26, 2022

For some reason this year, my brother and I reflected on past Easters. First of all there was Good Friday. Schools were closed and businesses were open from nine until noon. The highlight for us was going shopping for dressy shoes. My mother took us to Buster Brown Shoe store. She said our feet grew too fast to buy them before Good Friday. My sister-in-law chimed in the conversation adding that Buster Brown gave toys to all the kids. I had forgotten that part!

Next we talked about the Easter baskets. Those flimsy straw baskets wrapped in plastic with paper-grass filling the bottom of the basket making you think that you were getting lots of toys. It had a few small items and at the center was a chocolate Easter Bunny in its own box. We couldn’t wait to rip open the basket, play with the toys, and then eat the chocolate bunny. It was the nastiest chocolate you ever tasted! The bunny was hollow, so once we bit the ears, the rest of it caved in!

I remember the girls’ toys being a bat-in-ball paddle, a set of jacks, a small stuffed bunny, and maybe some jelly beans. The boys’ baskets contained a small football, crayons, possibly a comic book, and also jelly beans. The baskets lasted for less than a week. We had completely destroyed the flimsy basket by tossing it around and that stringy green paper-grass was everywhere!

Commercially, Easter was no match for Christmas, but it was fun. We colored boiled eggs…called dying Easter eggs, and gave most of them to neighbors. The few we kept lasted about as long as the baskets…they made a great snack while waiting for dinner.

I still cannot figure out why we reflected on Easter so deeply this year. Maybe because the chocolate Easter Bunnies were on the store shelves. I’m happy to report that you can buy them without purchasing the whole straw basket now. The quality has also improved. The nasty-tasting ones are still around, but Hershey, Reese’s, Lindt, and a few other chocolatiers have jumped in the game offering much tastier options.

There is nothing profound about this entry other than childhood reflections can be fun and Easter chocolate gets better with years!