With the official day of chocolate indulgence now over, have you ever stopped to wonder about the custom of giving and receiving eggs during the Easter festivities?

In earlier times, the egg represented re-birth and this was adopted as a symbol of the resurrection of Christ.

Carved wooden eggs were some of the earliest Easter gifts.  Another old tradition is the dyeing or painting of eggs, which still takes place in many countries today. Followers of eastern Christianity believe that Mary Magdalene had taken eggs to the tomb of Jesus which miraculously turned red when she saw the rising of Christ. 

The first sweet Easter eggs were molded out of marzipan or sugar. The first chocolate egg came from Europe and can be traced back to 19^th century France and Germany.  They were small and solid and made from a course bitter dark chocolate.

The first mass-produced chocolate egg was made by Cadbury in England in 1873. Milk chocolate eggs only made an appearance in the early 1900’s. Today, you can find an amazing array of chocolate eggs, figurines and works of art to suit all tastes and budgets.