The oldest known (so far) decorated eggs come from South Africa’s Richtersveld coastal desert. There, in a natural rock shelter named Spitzkloof A, archeologists found sixty-thousand-year-old ostrich egg shells. Some were engraved. Some were decorated in colors like black, beige, teal, orange, yellow, and red. Probably the ancient ones used ostrich eggs in the same way as the modern Kalahari Bushmen use them: first as water-flasks and then, when the shells break, shaped into beads for adornment. Much, much later, decorated eggs were still prized and were widely traded from Egypt, through Mesopotamia, and even to India. They were associated with life after death, and replica ostrich eggs in gold and silver were put in tombs in ancient Egypt and Sumer.
The connection of eggs with Easter seems natural. It evidently originated with the early Christians of Mesopotamia, who died eggs red, green, and yellow. The custom spread north to Russia and then westward across Europe.
From medieval times, the Lenten fast included abstaining from eggs. Of course, the chickens didn’t realize that nobody would be eating their eggs and kept right on laying. The forty days of Lent made for a great surplus of eggs. They wouldn’t keep forever. One good way to preserve them was to hard boil them. So eating hard boiled eggs became part of the Easter feasting.
Eggs were first colored using natural dyes like onion skin for brown and beets for pink. In northern England, people tied various colors of wool yarn around the eggs to get a multi-color effect. If you’ve ever seen pysanky, you’ll have marveled at the intricate, delicate patterns achieved by this wax-resist technique. The artist uses a special tool to wax the areas that will remain white, then dyes the egg yellow. The areas to remain yellow are waxed and the egg is dyed orange. This continue through the colors, each getting darker. Finally, the egg is stripped of its wax and polished until it shines.
You won’t find pysanky at Eagle Leather’s Easter Egg Hunt. But you will find gift certificates for Eagle Leather merchandise. Our Easter Egg Hunt beings at 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 20. It’s an egg hunt for adults. We’ll hide six eggs in different spots throughout the store. One egg each will hold a certificate for $25.00, $50.00, $75.00, $100.00, $250.00, and $500.00 for a total of $1,000.00. The hunt will end when the last egg is found.
In addition to that, we have two drawings, one at 1 p.m. and another at 2 p.m. Both drawings are for $500.00 gift certificates for Eagle Leather gear. All you have to do is fill in your name and phone number ont the ticket, and be present to win.
Our third event of the day might end up saving you more than all the gift certificates. Derek Roberts from Law Tigers will present Motorcycle Matters, a free legal seminar for motorcycle matters, at 11 a.m. and again at 1 p.m. You’ll also have a chance to ask questions after each presentation. He’ll talk about legal issues that pertain to motorcycles, including what to do and what not to do if you are in an accident. This is a “don’t miss” event for all motorcycle enthusiasts.
We’ll have coffee and bakery goodies to keep your energy up during this event-filled Saturday. See you there!
And don’t for get the Mother’s Day Fashion show on April 27 at 6 p.m. If you want to be a model contact Damien at Marketing@EagleLeather.com and use the subject Model.
Yet, there’s no denying it: Unless you plan to ride exclusively around the Southern United States, you’ll face some chilly winters. And even before it...
