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International Egg Display

According to an ancient legend, the Easter egg custom comes to us from Germany. It was during a war hundreds of years ago that the Duchess von Lindenburgh fled with her two children to a small village in the mountains of Germany. There the people were very poor. They had neither meat nor eggs. The kind Duchess sent a faithful servant back to her home to bring back a coop full of chickens. She carefully saved the eggs and eventually invited the women of the village to a feast of a wide variety of egg dishes.

For the children, she boiled the eggs and colored them with the juices of roots and berries. The eggs were then hidden in little nests of moss in the nearby forest. Then she took the children to hunt for the colorful egg. As they were searching for the eggs, a hare bounded across their path, and the children exclaimed, "The hare has laid those beautiful eggs." Thus the legend of the Easter rabbit was born. The Duchess also left a sum of money with the villagers in order that a feast of eggs might be held every springtime and later the custom spread to the United States.

The egg tree has been popular in Germany, Holland, and Sweden and dates from the latter part of the nineteenth Century. The earliest account of an egg tree in the United States appeared in the "Reading Eagle" in April, 1876. It is only during the last decade that the custom has been noticeable here in the United States. By 1964 the custom spread to Alaska where it has been very popular with the Eskimos.

Today eggery - the decorating of egg shells - has become an international pastime, and the collecting of decorated eggs is taking its place along with stamp and coin collecting. Their use has been extended beyond Easter. We see them used as Christmas ornaments. Many are used for special occasions when they contain tiny music boxes that play "Happy Birthday" or "The Anniversary Waltz" as well as "Easter Parade".

Among this collection may be seen examples of eggery from the following countries:

Africa
Austria
China (Mainland)
China (Formosa)
Costa Rica
Czechoslovakia
Denmark
Ecuador
England
France
West Germany
Hong Kong
Hungary
India
Israel
Italy
Japan
Jordan
Kashmir
Mexico
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Russia
Spain
Sweden
The Tyrol
United States