Now you have all your candy, here are some interesting facts for you:
– This year, Americans will spend $2.1 billion on Easter candy. That’s 120 million pounds of the stuff.
– There should be no shortage of key Easter confections: 16 billion jelly beans and 90 million chocolate Easter bunnies have been made for the holiday.
– In the category of good to know: seventy six percent of Americans think you should eat chocolate bunny ears first.
Traditionally, spring begins on St Valentine’s Day (February 14th), the day on which birds chose their mates. In parts of Sussex Valentines Day was called ‘the Birds’ Wedding Day’.
There are many other traditions and superstitions associated with romance activities on Valentine’s day including:
Sweet dreams that told of ones true love on Valentines Day: In the 1700s, rural Englishwomen would pin five bay leaves to their pillows—four on the corners, one in the middle—on the evening before Valentine’s Day. By doing so, it was said, they would see their future husbands in their dreams.
A variation of this tradition called for women to sprinkle bay leaves with rosewater and lay them across their pillows. “When you go to bed put on a clean nightgown turned wrong side outwards,” reads one folkloric account, “and, lying down, say these words softly to yourself: ‘Good Valentine, be kind to me, In dreams let me my true love see.’ ”
A Valentines Day historical tradition: Just prior to the Elizabethan era, gloves were worn almost exclusively by men. But, by the late 16th century, gloves became a traditional Valentine’s Day gift for women.
In fact, it became custom for a young woman to approach her man of choice and utter the verse “Good-morrow Valentine, I go today; To wear for you, what you must pay; A pair of gloves next Easter Day.” Having thus been ambushed, the man was expected to send the woman a gift of gloves to wear on Easter Sunday. Sometimes men sent women gloves without an invitation. If the lady wore the gloves on Easter, it was a sign that she favored the gentleman’s romantic overtures.
Whether you and your family view New Year’s Eve as a time for reflection or as an opportunity to have a huge party, it is a date steeped deep in traditions. This year, invite your clan to start a new first night ritual. Here are some ideas to get your creativity started:
1: Make and frame a photo collage of the past year’s events….. A poster sized frame can be obtained and everyone can have a hand in helping create a masterpiece to display all year around in an entryway, hallway or nook.
2: Deliver a plate of home made goodies to a neighbor… a great time to say hello and to keep up with current happenings in each home so that the other has ideas of what is happening at each others homes…. safety is always a big concern for all of us and if a neighbor knows some of what is happening in your home they know what to look for and vise-versa.
3:Make something old – new again: glue images cut from your old postcards/Holiday cards your family received onto postcard-sized pieces of posterboard or index cards, add a wish for the new year…. and mail them off to those you love.
4:Cover they floor with bubble wrap…. and have the family stomp their way into a new year…. while you start off that resolution to be more energetic and shed the extra pounds.
Country & Victorian Times 