When did Easter become a gift-giving occasion?

[Connonym]

I keep seeing and hearing ads "a perfect Easter gift!" WTF? Aside from candy and trinkets from the Easter bunny I've never heard of gift giving for Easter.

[Deep13]

1. JUST BUY STUFF, DAMMIT!

Corporations see us as nothing more than hands for working and mouths for consuming.

[skygazer]

2. Everything's a gift-giving occasion, didn't you know that?

Death in the family? Buy a gift. Someone get divorced? Get 'em a gift. Dog run over? Time to go to Target!

[AlCzervik]

3. it's not at my house, my kid gets a easter basket and an egg hunt.

[Left Is Write]

4. This trend drives me absolutely bonkers. Retailers are trying to create another Christmas.

My kids' Easter baskets will contain jelly beans, sidewalk chalk, and playing cards. (When I was growing up we got candy only, but the kids get SO much candy these days that they don't need any more. They hadn't even finished their Halloween candy when they got Christmas candy, and these days almost EVERYONE includes candy with valentines, so they come home from school with a bag full of damn candy! And on that note, can kids go back to exchanging simple valentine cards instead of everyone trying to outdo each other with candy and goodie bags?)

[Redstone]

5. Fuck if I know. I'd never heard of it before either but well, it's America. So we gotta BUY!

Redstone

[CottonBear]

6. I have no idea but I don't give Easter gifts.

I stopped getting an Easter basket when I went to college. I used to get my former stepdaughter an Easter basket each year.

[Bunny]

7. This is driving me nuts too.

Last year the ex-SO showed up with toys, t-shirts, and other crap for the girls for Easter. This was the first he'd done this in the 11 years I'd known him, so I was surprised. I told him we don't *do* gifts at Easter, so knock it off! I think he got the message for this year, but we'll see on Sunday. :eyes:

[tigereye]

12. hey Bunny!

whatcha get me for Easter? bwa ha ha ha ha


no, I just get my kid chocolate. And I bought some choc. covered pretzels and nut candies for me. And we dye eggs. And that's about it. My parents have bought my son some of those giant basket things in the past, probably since they were on sale and he's the only grandkid.

[Bunny]

13. Hey you!

I just get chocolates, jelly beans, and we color eggs too. No presents!

I chuckle at the folks who hang plastic eggs off of the shrubs in front of their house, too. Tres tacky (but in a charming way, of course)!

[seaglass]

8. My SIL has always given gifts to my kids on Easter and I have

no idea why but I could be just a heartless mom because I don't even give my kids cards on Valentine's Day.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

9. I don't know anyone who gives gifts on Easter

Candy for kids, yes, maybe flowers for whoever is hosting the Easter dinner, but gifts? No way.

(I once knew a woman who said that her favorite holiday of the major church festivals was Pentecost, because nobody had tried to commercialize it.)

[Oeditpus Rex]

10. Market-driven

Corp'rit Mer'ka saturates us with phrases like "a perfect Easter gift," which propagates the idea that we're supposed to give gifts for Easter.

[trof]

11. Why do you hate 'Murica?

Somebody hadda ask.