Vintage Easter Stuff & Easter In Berlin (1960)

Since Easter is just two weeks away, let's take a look at some vintage Easter "stuff"!

This vintage item is the "Decoregger Egg Decorating Machine," from the 1970s.  It was purchased at our local "Lucky" Supermarket, for only .99 cents (note the original price tag, which is still attached to the box).  This "machine" was supposed to help you to decorate your hard-boiled eggs with colored markers, instead of dyeing them.

The instructions were on the back of the box.  From what I remember, this thing didn't work quite like I was expecting it to.  I never got anything close to what the egg on the front of the box looked like.

I still have the colored pens, and the envelope they came in.

And here's the actual contraption.

This next item is also from my childhood.  It's a cardboard cutout for a chocolate-covered marshmallow bunny "on-a-stick."  It was sort of like a very large sucker, except it was "soft" because it contained marshmallow inside.  The candy came wrapped in cellophane, with this cutout tied to the outside.  This is also from the 1970s, and was included in my Easter basket one year.

Here's an older version, from the 1960s.  I wasn't born yet, but my older brother got one of these in his Easter basket.  The graphics are a little different, and there is additional writing on the bunny's sign, but I'm guessing that it came from the same manufacturer.  I believe variations of this type of candy "on-a-stick" are still available today, for different holidays.

That same year, my mom and dad took my brother to The Broadway department store (in the Del Amo Shopping Center, in Torrance, CA), for an "Easter portrait."  The photo came in a card-like holder, with these cool graphics on the cover.

And here is the photo.  I especially like that leaping rabbit in the background.  It's reminiscent of a leaping reindeer figure that might be seen at a "Santa Claus" meet & greet.  It looks like Mr. Bunny has a furry mitten on one hand, but is missing the mitten on the other hand.  It also appears that Mr. Bunny had a microphone attached to his chest, so he could talk to his young visitors.  "Okay kid, get down now.....it's time for my cigarette break!" (Spoken in a "Krusty The Clown" voice.)

A few years back, my aunt gave me this vintage plastic "cake topper."  I love how the bunny is just randomly hugging a 1950s-style rocket.  The rocket's shape reminds me of the Moonliner rocket, from Disneyland's 1955 Tomorrowland.

Going back even further in time, here's an Easter card from 1945.  This was given to my mom, by her parents.

However, they actually gave her this card in 1981.  I'm not sure if they had saved this for 36 years and had just not used it, or if they found this vintage card for sale somewhere (ebay didn't exist back then!).

The back of the card shows that it was a "Hallmark Card," and includes the copyright date of 1945.

This Norcross brand card is most likely from the late 1960s, and was given to my dad, by my brother.

 

And this Charm Craft card was given to my brother in the 1960s, by our great-grandmother (the same one who brought her home-cooked fried chicken into Disneyland, during one of my family's visits to the park).

I took piano lessons during my childhood, and my teacher had me learn the song, "Peter Cottontail."  The sheet music has a copyright date of 1950 down in the lower left corner, but Wikipedia states that the song was written in 1949.  The same songwriters, Nelson and Rollins, wrote "Frosty The Snowman" the following year.

Nelson and Rollins also wrote non-Easter-related lyrics to Peter Cottontail, which later appeared on the Disneyland Record, "Peter Cottontail - Plus Other Funny Bunnies and their Friends."

My aunt also gave me this vintage advertising card, or as they seem to be referred to in ebay listings, "trade card."  It's the same size and thickness of a typical postcard.  Huyler's was a candy store chain in New York, which operated from 1874 to 1964.  For a time, it was the largest and most prominent chocolate maker in the United States.  According to Wikipedia, Milton S. Hershey worked for Huyler's from 1883 to 1885, and then went back to his home state of Pennsylvania to start his own company!

Back in 1989, I purchased a few vintage postcards during a trip to Victoria, British Columbia.  And just like the vintage Valentine postcard that I shared back in February of 2022, most of the details on this one are embossed.

The card was postmarked April, 1909.  When I bought this, it was already 80 years old, but now it is 116!  I have to say that it has held up pretty well, even though the back has some light staining.  The sender's message was, "To My Dear Uncle,  It is coming round to our birthday.  I go to school everyday.  I like my teacher.  Love to my uncle John, from your (nephew?) Earl"  (I added the punctuation, because the child didn't use any!)  Earl's uncle, John A. Harper, lived in Waterloo, Ontario.  I've had this card for 35 years, but only after getting it out recently to scan for this post (and doing a little research on those names), have I discovered that Earl was my 10th cousin twice removed, and John was my 9th cousin three times removed!  It really is a small world, after all!

I hope everyone has an egg-cellent Easter!  ;-)

****Update****

Once again, I've decided to share some of my dad's photos, which he took when he was stationed at McNair Barracks, in Berlin.  To see more of his vintage U.S. Army photos, check out my Veteran's Day post from November of 2024.

These pics are all from Easter of 1960, and were taken on the base, inside the All American Service Club (where my mom worked as a recreation director).  The Service Club staff had invited German children from a local orphanage, to come to the base and enjoy some Easter festivities.

I'm guessing that the club's recreation directors got one of the soldiers to dress up as the "Easter Bunny."  They used to "recruit" the soldiers on the base, to participate in the various Club activities and stage shows.

Most of the kids in this pic are holding up their Easter baskets.  The girl in the polka dot dress is also holding onto a plush rabbit.  And a boy to the right of her is holding up a box labeled, "Dominoes."

Many of the soldiers really enjoyed spending time with the children, especially the soldiers with children of their own, who were now thousands of miles away back home in the U.S.  Notice the drink dispenser in the background.  I looked up the translation of what's written on the side.  "Erfrische Dich" means, "Catch Yourself," and "Trink Coca-Cola Immer Eiskalt" means, "Drink Coca-Cola - Always Cold/Icy."  That door on the right led to the Service Club's offices, and also the base's Craft Shop (wood, metal, leather), Music Room, Library, and the Photo Lab, where my dad spent a LOT of his spare time, developing and printing all of the photos that he took.

It looks like these children might have been playing "musical chairs," or as it's called in German, "Reise Nach Jerusalem" (The Journey to Jerusalem).

Based on the reel to reel tape recorder on the table, and what looks like a microphone in front of the little girl, I'm guessing that they were letting the kids record their voices and then letting them hear it played back.  The lady in the uniform (with the "U.S. Army Service Clubs" patch on the shoulder), was Carol Murphy, who's title was "Club Director."

The recreation director leaning over in this photo was Dagmar Kunz, a very good friend of my mom's.  They did some local sightseeing together, whenever their time off from work corresponded with one another.

And the lady in this photo, being "piled on" by kids, was Shirley Robinson, the "Assistant Club Director."  She was another good friend of my mom's.

Here's Shirley, again.  It looks like she is taking candy out of that paper bag, and handing it out to the children.  Dagmar can also be seen in the background (leaning over, again).  To the right of her, is someone dressed as a hobo.  And the two women above Shirley's head are, Carol Murphy (left), and my mom (right).  For some strange reason, this is the only photo that my dad took during this Easter event, in which my mom appears.

This soldier appears with the same little girl, in the next two photos.

From the looks of the flat wooden stick, it appears this child was being fed some ice cream.

At this point, they all went out outside.  The kids are holding eggs, so I'm guessing they were either participating in an Easter egg hunt, or were going to have an Easter egg rolling contest.  Or both!  Of course, the eggs could have been rotten, and the kids might have been plotting to fling them over the fence, at local passersby.

And just as I have shared some portraits of some of the soldiers at McNair Barracks, I'm going to share individual shots of some of the All American Service Club staff (who we saw above).  I'm hoping that some of the families of the many people my dad photographed, will somehow come across the photos I've posted.

These first two pics are of Dagmar Kunz, taken in the office of the All American Service Club.

My mom's desk is in the background of this next shot!

These next two photos are of Shirley Robinson.  As the Assistant Club Director, her desk was actually on the other side of that glass wall, alongside the desk of the Club Director, Carol Murphy.  Shirley is cutting out the pictures from a Trans World Airlines calendar.  We can just make out the words, "Fly The Finest - FLY TWA."

In this shot, Shirley is just outside the perimeter of McNair Barracks.  There was an "Autobus" stop just out of view, which provided convenient transportation for both the soldiers, and the non-enlisted staff.  The Service Club staff all lived off-base, in housing that was paid for by the U.S. Department of the Army.

Last up, we have two photos of the Club Director, Carol Murphy, who we previously only saw from behind.

This photo was taken in the base's Craft Shop, and came from a batch that my dad had labeled, "All American Club Craft Shop - Publicity Photos for Craft Week."

 

Thumper's Easter Egg Hunt at Disneyland - 1980s

Let's go back 40 years, to the totally tubular 80s!  The year was 1984, the Summer Olympics were taking place in Los Angeles, the Space Shuttle Discovery launched on it's maiden voyage, Michael Jackson's hair caught on fire during the filming of a Pepsi commercial, and the very last World Expo/World's Fair to take place in the United States, was held in New Orleans.  Oh, and in April, Disneyland was holding their 3rd annual "Thumper's Easter Egg Hunt" event.

According to this "Collector's Series" card from Disneyland's 40th anniversary year, the egg hunt event began in 1982.  I have an identical button as the one above, but with "1983" on it, so I know they held the event for at least three years in a row.  However, I'm not sure how many years they continued it.

A game card was given to children ages 3-12 (3-11, in 1982 and 1983), as they entered the park.  It included 5 silver scratch-off  "eggs."  You were supposed to scratch off only one spot, to reveal which "Easter Meadow" (within the park) you needed to go to for your prize.  Someone scratched off all of the eggs on the card, below.  I hope someone told that child that they were not getting any prizes, because they couldn't follow directions properly!  Once you located your designated "meadow," you could choose one of the plastic eggs that were scattered out on the grass.  There was another scratch-off card inside the egg, that would let you know what you had won.

I scanned this card years ago, and I wish I had done it at a higher resolution.  There is a list of prizes on the back, along with a number of how many of each prize was awarded.  The prizes were; Thumper Buttons (like the one at the top of this post) - 30,000 were available to win, a child's Disneyland Passport - 25,000, a 14" stuffed Thumper toy - 800, a Thumper backpack bag - 500, and a Bradley Mickey Mouse wristwatch - 250.

There were also lesser-value food items, such as a box of Orville Redenbacher popcorn, a large Coca-Cola, a Carnation ice cream bar, and a large Sunkist orange juice.  And one lucky winner was going to win a family vacation for four, to Walt Disney World.  That prize included round-trip coach air fare, a five night stay in a Disney hotel, six days admission to the Magic Kingdom and Epcot Center, and breakfast, lunch and dinner at any Walt Disney World restaurant or dinner show!  Gee....that was a REALLY good prize!

Here's what the child's Disneyland Passport prize looked like:

The Spring 1983 issue of Disney News Magazine included a brief mention about Thumper's Easter Egg hunt.  It looks like you had to fill out an entry form, for the chance to win the grand prize of a vacation at Walt Disney World.

I went to the park just a few days before Easter Sunday of 1984.  This is the entertainment guide that was available at the main gate:

"Airplay" was performing at the Tomorrowland Terrace during the day, playing the "now" sounds of today's popular music, while "Krash" was playing there in the evening.  Sister Sledge and The Whispers were also performing that week!

Disney was selling a special "Olympic Spirit Passport," which came with a solid bronze medal.

This ad from the April 8, 1984 edition of The Los Angeles Times was promoting Thumper's Easter Egg Hunt, along with the grand reopening of the Alice In Wonderland attraction.  Apparently, a few days before my visit, Frankie Avalon and KC (of KC and the Sunshine Band fame) had both been appearing.  Tommy Tutone had also performed at the park, earlier that week.  I had seen him there two years earlier during my Grad Nite.  I guess Tommy Tutone is actually a "them" and not a "him," since it's the name of the band and not one individual person.  I only found that out just now, when looking up the release date of their hit song, 867-5309/Jenny (November of 1981).

Here's the advertisement for Thumper's Easter Egg Hunt, from the previous year.  This one is dated March 20, 1983.  Jay Johnson & Bob from the TV show, "Soap," were performing!  And so were Kool & The Gang!  Oh...and Chachi was there, too.

And here's the advertisement from 1982, the event's debut year.  Peaches & Herb were being "Reunited" at Disneyland, and "shaking their groove thing!"

I will "wrap" up this post with another Disney Easter item, from the 1980s.  This "Instant Egg Art" kit has a date of "1981" on back, but I purchased it at least a couple years later, approximately in 1983 or '84.

The instructions:

These colored strips could be cut out and assembled into stands, for holding the decorated eggs:

And these are the "wrappers" or sleeves, which were designed to slip over your hard-boiled eggs.  After dipping them in boiling water for 3 seconds, they would shrink tightly around the egg.  There were two sets of each design included, but I never used any of them.

A very happy Easter, to all!