During the past month, stores have been lining their aisles with festive candies to commemorate the Easter season. The commercialization of Easter, and any major holiday, is something that many of us have accepted as reality. It’s hard for us to think of Easter without the Easter baskets, chocolate bunnies, marshmallow Peeps, eggs, and the like. However, many of these treats haven’t been around for at least two centuries, even though Easter has been celebrated over nearly a millennium. Ever wonder how popular Easter sweets originated?
1. Chocolate Bunnies
These classic symbols of Easter originated in Germany during the nineteenth century. They were created to celebrate springtime and hidden for children to find. A few companies and chocolatiers, such as Whitman’s Chocolates and American Robert Strohecker, made and sold chocolate bunnies in the nineteenth century, but mass production and consumption of chocolate bunnies didn’t occur until the twentieth century. Up to the 1940’s, all bunnies were solid chocolate. During WWII, American chocolate and candy companies started making the bunnies hollow in order to conserve resources and ration food, as was required of all American citizens during wartime.
2. Peeps
Peeps are manfactured by the Just Born Company. In 1910, Sam Born immigrated to America from Russia. A skilled confectioner, he was able to create edible innovations, such as chocolate sprinkles, chocolate coating for ice cream bars, and a machine to insert sticks into lollipops. He opened a candy store in Brooklyn in 1923, which moved to Bethlehem, PA in 1932. Peeps were created by the Rodda Candy Company by hand-squeezing the marshmallow into chick shapes. In 1953, the Just Born Company bought the Rodda Candy Company and began manufacturing them mechanically, allowing mass production of the iconic sweets.
3. Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs
Reese’s products are manufactured by the Hershey Company, whose factory is located in Lancaster, PA and was founded by Milton Hershey in 1905. Reese’s Eggs were created and tested by the Lancaster community in 1966. They were very successful, so in 1967, Reese’s Eggs went nationwide. Now, you can find original, white chocolate, and even “Reester Bunnies”!
4. Cadbury Crème Eggs
Chocolate eggs themselves originated in nineteenth century Europe, made primary in France, and Germany, and like chocolate bunnies, also started out completely solid. The Cadbury Brothers were able to make hollow eggs easily with the invention of the Dutch press in 1828 (separation of cocoa from cocoa butter) and their own pure cocoa blend developed in 1866. The first Cadbury Easter Eggs were made in 1875 out of dark chocolate and filled with sugared almonds. Decorated chocolate eggs were also created by piping chocolate and adding marzipan flowers to plain chocolate shells. Designs were based on French, Dutch and German designs with Victorian elements. In 1905, the Cadbury’s Dairy Milk Chocolate Company was launch, and Cadbury Chocolate Easter egg production launched. Eggs were filled with a variety of sweets, such the fondant crème white and yellow cream yolk found in Cadbury Crème Eggs.
Happy Eating!
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