This is Holy Week culminating in Easter Sunday, and as is the custom for us in the “later stratas” of life, we find a certain joy in pondering the past.
Of course, Easter eggs played a role in the holiday when my three sisters and I dyed hard boiled eggs, using the packet of colors that one could purchase.
(We also experimented with beet juice.) What fun — and what a mess we made but our parents never complained. There was the fun of looking for eggs that were hidden on Easter morning. I remember Easter baskets filled with green “grass” on which chocolate bunnies and jelly beans rested. These were popular when we were raising our sons.
Remember the huge chocolate covered cream Easter eggs? Course, we were told these came from the Easter Bunny.
I remember the Easter egg hunts in the park — what fun. Then there were the tasty dinners at our grandparents’ homes following church services.
Church services were the height of the Easter holiday for me, both as a child and while raising our family. I remember Easter Sunrise services, followed by those eggs and bacon breakfasts at the church.
I also recall my mother making Easter attire for my sisters and me from feed sacks. She made matching skirts on her pedal sewing machine for all four of us, and one would never guess they were feed sacks.
In those years, it was not only the style, but almost standard, that a woman or girl wear a hat to church and that required time and fussing for finding just the right one. The males in my family were much more conservative, pleased to wear a new tie or shirt.
Easter is a time of hope and renewal and celebration of spring. Wishing each of you a joyful Easter holiday.
Speaking of eggs, next week’s column will be devoted to the history of one of Cardngton’s largest and (best kept secret) businesses, Slicer eggs.
80 years ago, Easter, 1938: The Globe Hotel, Mount Gilead, offered an Easter dinner that included a choice of roast young turkey or baked chicken with whipped potatoes, peas, spring salad, beets, strawberry shortcake, etc., all for 75 cents. They even offered a $.50 dinner.
70 years ago, Easter, 1948: An estimated 300 children took part in the Easter Egg Hunt in the Cardington Park. Sponsored by local merchants, a total of 100 chickens, five rabbits, 12 baskets and 24 candy bars were given to children who found lucky eggs.
Cahoon’s Store sold jelly beans for 39 cents per pound. Dewey’s Three R’s Restaurant on U. S. 42 advertised a choice of chicken or ham on Easter Sunday. The Marengo Restaurant, open 24 hours a day, also offered ham and chicken for Easter Sunday.
60 years ago, Easter, 1958: The Easter Bunny visited patients in Morrow County Hospital on Good Friday; Hardman’s Bakery, Cardington, featured Easter baskets filled with “Delicious cookies and baked goods;” Also in Cardington, the Busy Bee Restaurant on West Main Street offered a three-course Easter Sunday dinner with the cost at $2 for adults and child’s portion for $1.25.
Weaver’s IGA Market, Mount Gilead, advertised a six-pound canned ham for $6.89 and an Angel Food cake from Nickles Bakery for a quarter and the Dari Delite on North Main Street, now Grill and Chill, advertised its Easter special: a fresh frozen strawberry short cake with “gobs and gobs of whipped cream.”
March, 1958: Dorothy Bingman was elected as the Cardington High School May Queen. Cardington’s one act play cast won the county contest. Cast members were Lynn Main, Mannas Boger, Sally Hull, Kent Haycook and Gretchen Wetzel.
