Along with rabbits, eggs have been used as fertility symbols since antiquity, and as early as the 1st century AD eggs were associated by the Christian Church with rebirth. In medieval times, eggs became one of the many foods that were prohibited during lent, in the run up to Easter. So before the start of Lent, parents would hand out eggs as special treats to children, and - rather like the origins of boxing day - children would go door to door asking for eggs before they started their Lenten Fasts.
During the 18th century, chocolate was added to the mix. Louis XIV used to give decorated ostrich eggs to his court favourites, and one of his chocolate cooks had the bright idea of replacing these ostrich eggs with chocolate moulded to look like ostrich eggs. It took the UK some time to catch up. The Victorians started to give out chocolate for Easter, but it wasn’t until 1873 that J.S. Fry & Sons claim to have launched the first British Chocolate Easter egg in 1873, closely followed by Cadbury’s in 1875.
Today these different themes of eggs, chocolate, and bunnies have been conflated and combined to
create an extravaganza of Chocolate Easter Bunnies, Easter Eggs , and much else. It’s hard to obtain
exact numbers but estimates of the UK gifting over 80 million eggs are often quoted.
Our bags of foil wrapped chocolate eggs are perfect for your Easter Egg Hunt and our
fun chocolate bunny lollies and special gift boxes can be delivered locally or posted out to friends and relatives.
We wish you a happy chocolate Easter
Chocolate Cooky
www.chocolatecooky.co.uk
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