Jane Thompson Olson, 2022
Easter brings back vivid memories of — new “good” shoes, new dress, 
Easter egg tree, fake cellophane green grass, jelly beans and chocolate bunnies, Easter egg dye and the smell of vinegar, “tattoos” to apply to dyed eggs but often seen on our arms, baskets of various shapes and sizes that were used year after year, live baby chickens and ducks dyed pink and green and sold at Woolworth’s that we hoped the Easter bunny would bring but never did.
I was always excited for Easter to come because it meant that I would get a new pair of Sunday shoes, often black patent leather Mary Janes.
My old Sunday shoes then became everyday shoes. There was many an Easter Sunday when I wasn’t allowed to wear my new shoes or dress because it was too cold and muddy for a pretty spring dress and new shoes. Big disappointment!!
The egg tree was a carefully chosen branch devoid of leaves, placed in some sort of container to hold it upright. Dyed and decorated egg shells hung from the branches. We would pierce a raw egg on both ends and blow the yolk and egg white out. Not an easy process and one that took patience and usually our parents to blow out the insides. This tree graced the center of our dining table and was quite festive looking.
Of course we dyed many hard boiled eggs. I remember placing the dye 
tablets in bowls of hot water mixed with vinegar. Color choices were limited to four basic reddish, greenish, blueish and yellowish colors. As we got older and more daring, we would dip an egg in more than one color. I’m wondering how many of you remember the wax marker included in the kit along with the decals that we called tattoos. These items allowed for a bit of creativity.
Since it was almost always cold outside in Wichita on Easter, all activities would be inside including hunting for eggs. Tradition was that the Easter bunny hid eggs and candy around our house. In order to prevent fighting over the stash, the bunny would carefully leave a name designating who it was for. After we found all the eggs, we would re-hide them many times. I can still picture some of the eggs partially cracked but good for at least one more “hide.”
For us, this was a fairly basic Easter season.
