One of several linguistic debates generated by the current lockdown is over the word “essential”. A couple of days after the government announced restrictions on movement in the UK, there were reports that shops and shoppers had been reprimanded by zealous police officers for going out and buying chocolate Easter eggs, which were not considered “basic necessities”. The Association of Convenience Stores instructed its members not to be intimidated by these interventions and to keep chocolate eggs on their shelves. Meanwhile social media lit up with outrage: “Easter eggs are essential!”
Underneath this debate, won by the retailers, was the persistent idea that chocolate eggs represent a commercialisation of a Christian festival, and were a recent frivolous, foil-wrapped invention. In fact, children have been given shiny egg-shaped treats at Easter since the 17th century. Chocolate eggs were introduced into Britain in 1873 by Fry’s; by 1893 its rival, Cadbury, was selling 19 different branded eggs across the country. The 80m Easter eggs recently sold annually in Britain – an average of seven for every child – will no doubt fall this year, but perhaps not by many.
This picture was taken in 1937 by a staff photographer, known as Richards, of the Fleet Street-based Fox Photos agency, which specialised in “ordinary people doing ordinary things” – often staged by the house snappers (or “smudgers” as they were known). The children, in Cardiff, are playing a spring version of a Halloween game, snap apple. In another picture in the series, the photographer captured a baby in a pram in a before and after of messy chocolate egg eating. The children in this picture look likely to be less successful in their no-hands game, while the dog (which obviously should not be eating chocolate at all) has a notable advantage.
