Easter Season (1952)

[Music] Easter is a time of celebration, a time of happiness. There's happiness in the hearts of the people as they come to church. There's happiness in the flowers they wear. Flowers that have just started blooming again. And there's happiness in the special music we hear at the Easter season. [Music] Just a few weeks ago, it was still winter. The trees and the grass and the flowers were all sleeping under a blanket of snow. Only a few animal for many of them were sleeping too. and south. People dressed in warm, heavy clothes. [Music] It was cold. The sun seemed far away and low in the sky. Then one day, it began to grow warmer. The snow began to melt away. Little brooks began to play and sing. Here [Music] and there a flower pushed a green chute above the ground. The birds began to come back. Instead of snow, there were warm rains that melted all the rest of the snow and made the earth fresh and green again. The sun shone warmer and brighter. It made the earth warm. The flowers grew and insects appeared. The animals had slept all winter began to come out again. The air was sweet to smell. Springtime is a time of new growth, of bright colors. [Music] It is a time of new birth. [Music] Every year the world has this waking up time in the spring. Waking up after the long cold winter. Yes, springtime is the Easter season, a time of happiness, a time of celebration. [Music] Spring has been a festival time for many, many hundreds of years in many parts of the world. In the ancient lands of Japan, China, India, Egypt, Greece, and Rome, there were springtime celebrations. In China, it was the custom to boil eggs, color them, and break them in the spring to help the sun break out of its winter shell. People of ancient times believe that eggs held the secret of new life, and so they do. Rabbits or hairs also meant new life for their babies were born in the spring and the people made up stories about the springtime rabbit who lived in the moon. Later, Easter customs and beliefs spread across central Europe and Germany and into England. For their Easter celebration, the people baked bread and cake in many different shapes that were special for Easter. Now people in our own country fancy cakes and cookies and candies too. Just before Easter, a bake shop window is a wonderful thing to see. Long ago, people thought that the sun danced on Easter morning. In Germany, many people worshiped a goddess of the sunrise called Ostra or Istra. And from her we have taken our name for Easter. So you see our customs at the Easter season come from all over the world from many different springtime festivals in many different places. Now, we know that the Easter season comes in the spring, but just when is Easter? Well, spring begins about March 21st. Now, find the first full moon in spring. The next Sunday is Easter Sunday. Remember that Easter is not on the same date each year, but it is always early in the spring. In school, when the Easter season begins, we're busy making our own symbols of spring. The same symbols that people have used for thousands of years all over the world. Can't you imagine children in other parts of the world decorating their school rooms with pictures of rabbits and eggs and baby chicks? We learned to sing Easter songs. If you know this one, sing along with the class. [Music] Big glow. He doesn't seem to see us. Don't you think he I should make us with his ears so long. But I guess the reason he's so is he likes my song. Hardboiled eggs. They're a part of getting ready for Easter at home. And getting ready for Easter is some of the best fun we have at this season of the year. We have to be careful not to crack the eggs, don't we? Then we color them with Easter egg dyes, just as other children are doing in places far far away. We can make some of the eggs solid colored in the dyes or we can transfer designs to them. Maybe mother will prepare a ham for Easter with cloves and pineapple and cherries. And maybe she'll bake some hot cross buns. It's fun to put the crosses on. Yes, the Easter season is a happy, busy time in homes all around the world. On Easter Sunday, we go to church. We wear flowers. We dress in clean clothes and in spring colors. We can hear the joy say, "Happy Easter." And inside the church there will be joy and happiness, too. For spring has come. New life has come to earth. [Music] Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. [Music]