A STORY TO DYE FOR: EGG DECORATING THROUGH THE AGES

A STORY TO DYE FOR: EGG DECORATING THROUGH THE AGES

LIBERTY CORNER, N.J. (Wireless Flash) -- Here's a fact you've probably been "dying" to hear: egg decorating is nearly 5,000 years old. According to PAAS egg-dying expert Carol Sterbenz, the ancient Persians were the first to dye eggs. In fact, on the first day of spring every citizen would receive an egg dyed red. The custom soon spread to Egypt, Rome and Greece and the ancients made dyes out of things like onion skins, blueberries, beets and tree roots. The custom of coloring eggs for Easter first caught on in Europe during the Crusades thanks to European soldiers who brought the tradition back with them from the Middle East. A Newark, New Jersey, pharmacist named William Townley is the man credited with making the first modern Easter Egg dye in 1880.

CONTACT: Carol Sterbenz, ****; Arrange with Amanda Hamilton; Upper Montclair, NJ; (973) 744-0707