A bit of Easter Egg Americana.
The
original PAAS® Easter egg dye was invented by an American named William
Townley.
Mr. Townley owned a drug store in Newark, New
Jersey, where he concocted recipes for home products. In the late 1800s, he
came up with a recipe for Easter egg dye tablets that tinted eggs five cheerful
colors.
In 1880, neighborhood families loved the idea and started buying Townley’s
Easter Egg Dye packets for only five cents! He renamed his business the PAAS® Dye Comopany. The name PAAS comes from "Passen" the word that his Pennsylvania Dutch neighbors used for Easter.
Today, Americans purchase more than 10 million
PAAS® Easter Egg Color Kits during the Easter season, and use them to decorate
as many as 180 million eggs!
There
are many new applications for dying and decorating eggs, from applying stickers
to using all natural ingredients. For me, when I think of coloring eggs, PAAS and that iconic package, will always come to mind.
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A mysterious letter and the drop-dead handsome town marshal, are the last things Mariah expects to find making rounds
as a midwife.
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Interesting tidbit about Easter egg dye. Wish I'd known it when I was helping my grands.
ReplyDeleteAs always, a great post, Gini! We've never tried dying eggs here. And now that my daughter is older, she gets a basket of goodies instead of hunting for hidden eggs.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. I have fond memories from my childhood with PAS dye and pink, blue and yellow fingers.
ReplyDeletePAS dye brings back fond memories of childhood and multi-colored fingers. LOL love your idea about the whisk, I'll give it try next year.
ReplyDeleteThis is AMAZING - I live right down the street from Newark and I never knew, thanks so much for sharing!! (Ps - the Kitty Botticelli is what dreams are made of.)
ReplyDeleteThat was a fascinating blog! I never knew that about PAAS (a box of which I still have in my Easter decorations drawer). Thanks! M. S.
ReplyDeleteI love learning these historical facts about everyday things we use. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteSo interesting. My kids are grown and on their own, but they still want to hide eggs.
ReplyDeleteThis is such an interesting post - I never knew the origin of egg dyes, although here in the UK we often use food colouring - although I have to admit to preferring the chocolate kind! :)
ReplyDeleteLove the decorations on your blog by the way!