This coming Sunday is Easter, considered by millions of Christians, especially in western countries, as the holiest day of the year. While the primary focus is on the central fact of Jesus Christ’s Resurrection from the dead, there are other activities association the holiday that are designed for fun and bring much pleasure to adults and children alike.

April 10, 1900—On the 50th anniversary of their original publication the classics by poet Robert Browning have been reissued, “Christmas-Eve and Easter-Day.” (1850)

April 15, 1900—One Hartselle family fortunate enough to have friends “up north” in Chicago has received a German-made Easter card. The keepsake card is embossed and colorfully decorated.

April 12, 1903—Mothers shopping for dyes to color their children’s Easter Eggs are finding a greater variety of colors than ever before at Hartselle drug and grocery stores. The two most popular brands are Paas’ Egg Dyes and White Rabbit Easter Egg Dyes. (Paas is apparently the only brand still on local store shelves after more than a century.) White Rabbit paper dye features 16 color designs for 5 cents.

Jan. 26, 1925—Easter Brown Cullum and James (J.B.) Bascom Cullum announce the birth of a baby daughter today whom they have named Margaret. (Margaret Cullum later married Donald E. Burleson. Mrs. Burleson passed away approximately one year ago.)

April 23, 1905—In addition to the usual chocolate covered Easter eggs and other such sweets, local grocers have a new item on their store shelves. These are Heckerman’s Easter Chips. In addition to being a tasty treat, they also won’t fill up the children’s stomachs so much that that their appetite for the Easter Dinner mother has prepared for them to eat after church will be dulled.

April 20, 1930—Following their delicious Easter lunch many Hartselle folks sat around their living rooms reading the Sunday papers that had been brought here on the north and south-bound trains. Since they had been enjoying themselves with delicious food only a short time earlier their eyes were attracted to a story entitled “supermarkets.” These stores are much different than what Hartselle has now. While they have a variety of merchandise, they also sell on a cash-only basis (no credit) and there are no deliveries. Once the transaction is made the customer delivers it to her home. This approach seems better suited to these Depression times.

April 6, 1939—For the traditional favorite of an Easter Ham, a local grocery store is offering a ready-to-serve picnic ham at 21 cents per pound. For the dessert the same store is offering Tru-Vote Fancy Pumpkin at three cans for 22 cents.

 April 9, 1939—A great cup of coffee tops off any Easter meal. One of the newer brands Hartselle coffee lovers are enjoying this Easter is Satisfaction Coffee. With each container of coffee comes a little booklet in which the housewife can write down her grocery list for the week. If any man wishes to have a cigarette with his coffee, popular brands like Lucky Strike, Chesterfield, Camel, and Old Gold are usually available at two packages for 25 cents.

April 1, 1945—Easter Sunday came early this year. While thankful for the Resurrection, many Hartselle parents, mothers, children, and other loved ones were concerned about their loved ones “somewhere in the Pacific” There is talk that Okinawa will be invaded soon.

April 9, 1950-In addition to the large quantity of groceries Hartselle shoppers purchased for their Easter lunches, many also got trading stamps redeemable for nice gifts when enough stamps are collected. Currently, the most popular stamps given out by grocers are S&H Green Stamps and Gold Bond Stamps.