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how long has Easter been associated with presents...


bettyandbob
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I'm curious.

 

As a child, we only did boiled eggs and maybe a small piece of chocolate. Dh's family did a lot of chocolate and it is important to dh to do baskets with a nice assortment of candy. Nothing beyond candy. Hunting for eggs was something I remember looking forward to. For a while I added things like bubbles or playdo to the baskets dh put together. The kids are big now. They just get a nice chocolate bunny now. Younger ds and I will color eggs together.

 

But I notice (here and elsewhere) people buying presents for Easter. Presents that would be bigger and more costly than the occasional trinket to put in an egg or to replace candy for the allergic child. I remember my neighbor putting a lot of thought and $ in Easter baskets years back and thinking it was weird.

 

Do you buy presents for Easter. Just candy? A few small things like playdo, sidewalk chalk, lego minifig? Bigger stuff (more than $15 lego sets, movies)? Even bigger?

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Nope, no presents here. One year I did give them some seeds and garden gloves, but they are older now and busier and we spend lots on extracurriculars we didn't spend when they were younger. They get some candy and that's it. Sometimes Dd and I make and decorate sugar cookies if we have time.

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My mom would go all out for Easter and our baskets were extravagant. She'd also make up rhyming clues for us every year for a hunt for our baskets. I think we had mostly candy in our baskets though.

 

We did not do that with our kids. Much more low key. Tried to focus more on Christ's resurrection.

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Baskets, candy, gifts -- we go whole hog! :) (But in all honesty, I'm going light on the candy this year, because ds never even finished his Christmas and Valentine's Day candy. I know my ds will want Peeps, plus a couple of the Russell Stover cookies & cream bunnies and white chocolate bunnies, because he loves those.)

 

But in our house, if there's a potential for gift-giving, we're all over it! :D

 

When I was a kid, I used to get several baskets with candy and small gifts, and a nice stuffed animal. (OK, it was always a bunny. :blush:)

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We do generally buy a large-ish gift for the baskets (or to go beside them). It's something I've always done for my children and my parents did the same with me and my sisters. We dye eggs, hunt for eggs, and baskets have a gift (and chocolate/candy).

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My mom always gave us big baskets with candy and a few small gifts. My dds get much smaller baskets with a little candy (they really just want Goldfish crackers) and a few small gifts or one big one. Their baskets are usually actually something they can reuse. This year they are small totes. They will have eggs with crackers and jelly beans, like always, and probably a chocolate bunny. The small gifts will probably be something I pick up at Michael's and I have two $10 iTunes cards I haven't given them yet so I'll throw them in.

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We have never done presents here, just candy.

 

 

This. The idea of presents at Easter is completely foreign to me. Where did that come from??

 

We color and decorate real hard-boiled eggs, and have an egg hunt. We have Easter baskets which include a chocolate bunny, jelly beans and a few other types of Easter candy. I make an Easter crown bread for breakfast. We have Easter dinner with the extended family and go to church in the morning. We have an Easter tree of forced forsythia branches hung with ornamental eggs and other signs of spring. No "stuff".

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My kids always get some toys in their Easter baskets. It's always Spring/Summer outdoor toys to replace/replenish the stuff from the year before, things like sidewalk chalk, sand toys, water guns, water balloons, bubbles, pool toys, etc.

 

 

I don't know about other families but I'm 40, and I always got presents at Easter.

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We do presents for Easter but only because I have kids that can't do gluten and/or dairy. That takes out all chocolate and a lot of candies. Instead of tears on Easter morning and arguing because so and so can have that and I cant, etc. we decided to get everyone gifts and forego the candy. We wouldn't do this if it weren't for their allergies. :(

 

ETA: its not extravagant like a second Christmas or anything. We spend around $30-$50 per child. Sometimes it's a new game or two, or new outdoor toys, like a scooter. Or a playmobil set they really want.

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I was wondering today if this was 'an American thing', but obviously not. Growing up (in South Africa) I never heard about Easter baskets. In Australia I see plenty of baskets for sale, but I assumed they were to collect eggs in (as we have always hidden chocolate eggs). I have never heard of Easter gifts, either in or out of baskets, until reading this forum.

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We do under $20ish in gifts per kid. Sometimes if I find clearance or sales - it is more like 10 to 15. I don't do a lot of candy because my mom and sister do an egg hunt for my kids and some of our friends' kids. They don't put chocolate in the eggs (sometimes it is too warm and chocolate melts), so I do put some sort of chocolate in the baskets. My kids don't get stuff except on Easter, their birthday and Christmas. It gives us a chance to treat them to something.

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I think it's been pretty recent - maybe within the last ten years - that it's been promoted so heavily in retail stores. We don't usually do Easter gifts, although last year I did give my son a "teen" Bible on Easter Sunday. We did baskets w/candy up until middle school, now it's just a chocolate bunny. We have peeps and Cadburry Cream eggs on hand from the time we see them in the stores.

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Australians are the worlds biggest consumers of chocolate eggs...and I proudly claim that lol

 

It's because our chocolate is so good....when I lived in Canada I wouldn't buy their chocolate eggs or bunnies...they were nasty so I don't blame Americans or Canadians for wanting stuff instead lol (ducking)

 

However I did see an ad yesterday pushing for " lowering children's consumption of sugar" which seems like a great campaign until you see it is sponsored by Mattel. So to me giving "stuff" for Easter is distasteful because it's all about commercialisation and toy companies grabbing another opportunity for marketing. Yes the eggs are commercial too....but at least they have meaning and tradition attached to them. What does buying toys have to do with Easter.?

 

We do coloured eggs here and mountains of chocolate. As a kid it was eggs only or stuffed Easter bunnies for the babies.

I do understand people want to limit candy for their kids. I'm always sorry after Easter that I bought my kids so much but my excuse is we don't do Halloween here is so its only once a year.lol

 

 

That's how it works here anyway...I had never heard of giving toys until I started coming to American boards.

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Australians are the worlds biggest consumers of chocolate eggs...and I proudly claim that lol

 

It's because our chocolate is so good....when I lived in Canada I wouldn't buy their chocolate eggs or bunnies...they were nasty so I don't blame Americans or Canadians for wanting stuff instead lol (ducking)

 

This is why I end up blowing a wad at the Lindt store... I'm a chocolate snob. And Jelly Belly beans. :D I may end up spending as much as some of the people who do gifts, but there's no "stuff" left over. I also go for quality over quantity, so there isn't an obscene amount of it.

 

However I did see an ad yesterday pushing for " lowering children's consumption of sugar" which seems like a great campaign until you see it is sponsored by Mattel. So to me giving "stuff" for Easter is distasteful because it's all about commercialisation and toy companies grabbing another opportunity for marketing. Yes the eggs are commercial too....but at least they have meaning and tradition attached to them. What does buying toys have to do with Easter.?

 

:iagree: and I think you've hit the nail right on the head as to where this "tradition" came from...

 

That's how it works here anyway...I had never heard of giving toys until I started coming to American boards.

 

Is this partially regional? Have I never heard of this because it isn't done around here, or I just haven't ever been that nosy about what other people 'round these parts do for Easter??

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My kids get needed things. Things they need or things I need them to get. Like outdoor toys. They want to play outside with their new toys after a long winter. Instant mom down time. :)

 

Some years my kids get swim or bath things; this year it is curricula related. I purchased some fun things with my last curricula purchase and I saved them for the baskets.

 

Most years it is just bubbles, chalk, bug finding things. All of the things I put in the baskets are things I would buy anyway with the exception of a few eggs and limited candy.

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I think it's been pretty recent - maybe within the last ten years - that it's been promoted so heavily in retail stores. We don't usually do Easter gifts, although last year I did give my son a "teen" Bible on Easter Sunday. We did baskets w/candy up until middle school, now it's just a chocolate bunny. We have peeps and Cadburry Cream eggs on hand from the time we see them in the stores.

 

I'm surprised so many think it's a recent thing. My mom has gave us large baskets with candy and gifts, and most of my friends received the same. She still sends me an Easter gift (without the basket) and I'm 36. Maybe it was a regional thing and now it's more widespread?

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Australians are the worlds biggest consumers of chocolate eggs...and I proudly claim that lol

 

It's because our chocolate is so good....when I lived in Canada I wouldn't buy their chocolate eggs or bunnies...they were nasty so I don't blame Americans or Canadians for wanting stuff instead lol (ducking)

 

However I did see an ad yesterday pushing for " lowering children's consumption of sugar" which seems like a great campaign until you see it is sponsored by Mattel. So to me giving "stuff" for Easter is distasteful because it's all about commercialisation and toy companies grabbing another opportunity for marketing. Yes the eggs are commercial too....but at least they have meaning and tradition attached to them. What does buying toys have to do with Easter.?

Some people just enjoy giving gifts to their children. What does giving gifts have to do with ANY holiday really? Nothing. For what it's worth, I don't think we've bought one thing this Easter that I've seen televised or marketed - instead we bought things we know our children have been eyeing for a while.

 

That's how it works here anyway...I had never heard of giving toys until I started coming to American boards. My husband's family were immigrants (Italy) and they were big on Easter baskets as well, so I'm *assuming* it isn't just an American thing (assuming - I really have no idea, I just know that dh's family were immigrants and he remembers getting baskets, lol).

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I'm surprised so many think it's a recent thing. My mom has gave us large baskets with candy and gifts, and most of my friends received the same. She still sends me an Easter gift (without the basket) and I'm 36. Maybe it was a regional thing and now it's more widespread?

Yep. I'm 28 and received baskets; my husband is 44 and received baskets. I doubt it was regional either - I'm from NC and my husband is from PA, lol.

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Our mother gave us presents on Easter when we were kids. But it was only one or two, and it wasn't anything extravagant (like a new dress or book). We had small baskets with some bubbles, jelly beans, Kisses, and a chocolate bunny. My mom would also hide eggs around the house for us to find. I do something similar with my kids

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Growing up DH and I only got candy in our baskets. DH's mom did a candy hunt, too. No presents. I had never heard of presents for Easter until a few years ago on a parenting forum. We only do candy in baskets. Our youngest has severe food allergies and special candy for him is expensive so this is a chance to splurge and get him something special that his safe for him.

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What DD usually gets in her Easter basket:

  • A little candy
  • A hardback picture book (I use every excuse I can to give picture books)
  • Something religious (last year she got a cross necklace and this year she's getting a rosary)
  • A small toy or stuffed animal ($5 playmobil thing)

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We got candy as kids, and I give candy (chocolate bunny, Cadbury eggs, jelly beans) but with so many kids it's SO much candy and it just gets thrown out. So I give candy, but not so much. I buy them books---because ANY day is a day to give books as gifts-- and this year I got them a group video game gift they've been wanting.

 

And new Easter duds. Which is why I'm still up--I'm sewing. Well, not right this second...

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Australians do Easter baskets too....it's just we don't usually put anything in them except chocolate eggs. My mum is German and as kids we only did coloured eggs and chocolate as well. No presents.

 

There is nothing wrong with giving kids gifts if you want to. I like giving my kids gifts too. I'm just saying that I find it kind of distasteful that toy company's are starting to market themselves at Easter time especially in Australia where it has never been the tradition to give toys.

 

This year they come out with sneaky campaigns about lowering kids consumption of sugar and most parents will agree with that...but they will still want to give their kids Easter baskets so now what will they fill them with...oh I know..toys of course. This campaign will go on for a few years until more and more parents starting giving toys and it becomes an accepted practice. Then suddenly..hey what do you know...no more sneaky, health appealing campaigns from the toy companies but full on open advertising.

 

So many people complain about Christmas being over commercialised....I can see Easter becoming this way too. Another religious holiday ( if you are religious of course) lost to the world of "buying stuff".

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We do easter baskets. They include practical stuff like crayons, pencils and of course candy. Last year, they both got new fleece throws in it. I guess this is another thing I am scarring my kids life with by not getting them presents. LOL.

 

The crayons, pencils, and the fleece throws counted as presents, so I'm sure you'll be incredibly relieved and happy to know that your kids aren't scarred for life. :D

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I'm surprised so many think it's a recent thing. My mom has gave us large baskets with candy and gifts, and most of my friends received the same. She still sends me an Easter gift (without the basket) and I'm 36. Maybe it was a regional thing and now it's more widespread?

 

I agree. I'm 40 and my siblings range in age up to 48. My mom has pictures of my sister standing in front of a new red wagon filled with Easter grass and candy. Granted the wagon was the gift for all 3 of my siblings to share. I would say that picture was from 1968 when my sister was 2. I remember getting some type of toy, a chocolate bunny and jelly beans each year. My son would be 24 now. We always did a gift and candy in an egg hunt.

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There is nothing wrong with giving kids gifts if you want to. I like giving my kids gifts too. I'm just saying that I find it kind of distasteful that toy company's are starting to market themselves at Easter time especially in Australia where it has never been the tradition to give toys.

 

This year they come out with sneaky campaigns about lowering kids consumption of sugar and most parents will agree with that...but they will still want to give their kids Easter baskets so now what will they fill them with...oh I know..toys of course. This campaign will go on for a few years until more and more parents starting giving toys and it becomes an accepted practice. Then suddenly..hey what do you know...no more sneaky, health appealing campaigns from the toy companies but full on open advertising.

 

So many people complain about Christmas being over commercialised....I can see Easter becoming this way too. Another religious holiday ( if you are religious of course) lost to the world of "buying stuff".

 

I'm not seeing a lot of "toys for Easter" advertising here. I mean, I know a lot of people who buy toys and gifts for their kids at Easter, but the only things I see advertised in the stores' sale flyers are the Easter-themed plush animals and different Easter baskets and candy. I'm not seeing any campaigns (like TV ads) by the big toy manufacturers that are geared toward pressuring people to buy their kids Barbies or Transformers for Easter, and none of the store sale flyers seem to be trying to tie Easter and "regular" toys together.

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The baskets my kids get aren't any bigger than the ones I got, but they have more nontraditional stuff in an effort to not buy candy that I'll just throw out in two days.

 

Why more "stuff?" Well, as a child I received one Easter basket from my parents and that was it. My children receive a Fed Ex from the grandparents in Florida (candy), a basket from their Grandma who lives a few miles south (candy) and a huge basket from my parents (also candy). Insane. I basically put stuff in their baskets that I would buy them anyway. Books. Fruit. Crayons.

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Now that I'm thinking of the whole Easter gift thing, I'm starting to feel kind of old.

 

I was just remembering that my dad used to take Easter pictures every year before we went to church, and there I'd be, in my new dress, new Spring coat, new shoes, new dressy gloves, new hat, new little handbag, and holding whatever stuffed bunny I'd gotten that year.

 

I probably wouldn't be feeling quite so old if I hadn't remembered the gloves and the hat. :glare:

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It is so funny how everyone is different. One of my rules of gifts is to ask myself if it is something I would get them anyway, and if so, not give that as a gift. ;) We are trying to get away from candy, and I *hate* cheap trinkets that easily break or that end up just cluttering things up. I try to stick with quality chocolate and fun toys that are not junky. I put cash in the eggs for the hunt.

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No presents here, just candy. The candy is usually in one big basket, but when they were little they each got an empty basket to go hunting for candy and plastic eggs with candy and/ or coins inside. We color eggs, too.

 

Friends of ours have a fun tradition of saving all their egg shells for months. They make a small hole in one end to get the raw egg out. Then they wash all the saved, empty shells and fill them with confetti. The outsides are decorated with glued on tissue paper that covers up the holes. On Easter the kids--sometimes adults too--crack the confetti eggs on each others' heads in the back yard.

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Now that I'm thinking of the whole Easter gift thing, I'm starting to feel kind of old.

 

I was just remembering that my dad used to take Easter pictures every year before we went to church, and there I'd be, in my new dress, new Spring coat, new shoes, new dressy gloves, new hat, new little handbag, and holding whatever stuffed bunny I'd gotten that year.

 

I probably wouldn't be feeling quite so old if I hadn't remembered the gloves and the hat. :glare:

 

I'm right there with ya! We wore gloves and hats on Easter and chapel veils the rest of the time. My sister and I had the small, round doily kind that Mom pinned to our hair with bobby pins. My mother had a beautiful assortment of hats, and a few long chapel veils. She was sad when women stopped wearing hats to church.

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I'm surprised so many think it's a recent thing. My mom has gave us large baskets with candy and gifts, and most of my friends received the same. She still sends me an Easter gift (without the basket) and I'm 36. Maybe it was a regional thing and now it's more widespread?

 

 

i agree. i'm 41 and i have 3 older sisters. we all received easter baskets & had pictures with the easter bunny. i fully believed in the easter bunny too, lol. easter was a pretty big deal where i grew up. we received new dresses for church, had easter egg hunts, received baskets, had dinner with family and friends, watched easter specials on TV, etc. this was all in the 70's too.

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No presents here, just candy. The candy is usually in one big basket, but when they were little they each got an empty basket to go hunting for candy and plastic eggs with candy and/ or coins inside. We color eggs, too.

 

Friends of ours have a fun tradition of saving all their egg shells for months. They make a small hole in one end to get the raw egg out. Then they wash all the saved, empty shells and fill them with confetti. The outsides are decorated with glued on tissue paper that covers up the holes. On Easter the kids--sometimes adults too--crack the confetti eggs on each others' heads in the back yard.

 

 

Those confetti eggs sound really cool! :thumbup:

 

We still do money eggs for my ds. We just use the cheap plastic eggs from Walmart or Target, and I've been re-using the same ones for years. I hide them all over the house (and make a list of where I hid them, so I can be sure he finds all of them!)

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As a child, all of my siblings and I received a gift for Easter along with our baskets, but it was always a religious/spiritual gift in celebration of the reason for Easter. One year we all got new Bibles with our names engraved on the covers, one year I remember my sisters and I got cross necklaces, things like that.

 

My daughter is still little. We color Easter eggs, make a small Easter basket with a small amount of candy, and I will usually include a Bible storybook of some kind in the basket as well. I don't like to make huge productions of holidays, especially religious holidays, that would turn them into commercial moments more than their intended meaning though.

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I'm not seeing a lot of "toys for Easter" advertising here. I mean, I know a lot of people who buy toys and gifts for their kids at Easter, but the only things I see advertised in the stores' sale flyers are the Easter-themed plush animals and different Easter baskets and candy. I'm not seeing any campaigns (like TV ads) by the big toy manufacturers that are geared toward pressuring people to buy their kids Barbies or Transformers for Easter, and none of the store sale flyers seem to be trying to tie Easter and "regular" toys together.

 

 

 

There isn't any overt advertising here yet either. However two days after I first saw the "eat less sugar" ad there appeared in my mailbox 4 different "toy sale" catalogues. Coincidence you say. Well considering we never see that many toy catalogues at once during the year except at Christmas I have reason to be suspect LOL.

 

The toys they were featuring were all small, knick knack type toys..you know...the type that might fit in an Easter sized basket LOL

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I had never heard of giving toys until I started coming to American boards.

 

Me neither until we moved to the states. You remind me of AU Cadbury chocolate, Golden Boronia nougats and Milo :p

 

ETA:

Walmart has the pre-wrapped Easter basket with toys in them. Safeway (supermarket) has some too. Target has aisles of Easter "basket stuffers".

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