EGG TRADITIONS
DECORATING EGGS
Egg
decorating is a tradition for many people who celebrate Easter. In
Slavic countries like Croatia egg decoration is important
tradition. Decorated eggs in Croatia are called "pisanice". This
makes more sense if you know that "pisati" means "to write "in
Croatian language. Other Slavic countries have same type of
the name. In Russia and Poland they are called pysanke.
According to Wikipedia, this tradition existed way before
Christianity. This made church first not like the tradition -
they banned it during Easter because they thought it will cast a
bad spell. But, eventually the tradition of decorating eggs
returned to Easter time. Even more, it became an Easter tradition.
In Croatia eggs are decorated and sometimes used to decorate a
traditional Easter bread. In coastal parts of Croatia this bread is
called "sirnica". It is made with lots of eggs and sugar . They
also add rosewater, so it smells good. In addition, sometimes they
put orange peel. This sweet bread is traditional Easter food, and
often people dip the bread into a sweet wine called "prosec"
to make it taste better.
 In the United States Easter for kids
involves decorating eggs as well. In addition, there is a tradition
of the Egg Hunt. Decorated eggs are hidden around the yard
before the little kids wake up. In addition to real eggs, sometimes
plastic eggs with money inside them are hidden. Early in the
morning the kids get their Easter baskets and hunt for the eggs
addition to the egg hunt, there is also an egg roll. This is
also a traditional Easter game. It is played every Easter on the
White House lawn. This game is actually a race. You set up the
distance and select teams. Than you give each team a spoon and an
egg. The racers use the spoon to push and roll the egg to the
finish line.
While the above traditions are family
based and for everyone, owning a jeweled egg such as Faberge egg is
not possible for all. Everyone has heard of the Faberge eggs, but
do you know what it is? They are named after the famous
Russian jeweler named Peter Carl Faberge. He came up with the idea
of taking pysanke a bit further. So, in 1885 he started to
design gold and gems eggs usually for Russian royal family.
As a matter of fact, the first Faberge egg was a Easter gift
for the Russian Empress. From then on, Faberge made an Easter egg
for the Russian royal family every year! The Faberge eggs had gem
and gold design outside, and when you opened them there was a
surprise inside. All together, Faberge made only 57 eggs. In
1917 there was the Russian Revolution. The Royal Family was killed
and Russia went through many decades of changes. Many of the eggs
disappeared. Today some of the eggs are on display in museums and
some are owned by collectors. But eight of the precious eggs are
still missing! After the Faberge eggs became popular, many other
companies started to create jeweled and decorated
eggs.
 TO SEE PICTURES OF ALL OF THE FABERGE
EGGS
CLICK ON THE EGG
 THIS IS AN EXTERNAL LINK!
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