HIDDEN GEMS

Notes from the Editor: Bringing Back the Magic of Easter

Whenever advent calendars are depicted in films, you’ll typically see an excitable child eagerly opening a ‘door’ to reveal a traditional festive scene. Maybe the angel Gabriel, or three wise men following a bright star. The kid would then skip to the window and stare out at a snow-filled sky, as if they might see Santa Claus. Which seems a tad greedy, given that there’s already hundreds of presents under the lavishly-decorated tree.

The reality – in this country anyway – is that it’s usually raining at Christmas, and most advent calendars are so indescribably naff that there are no pictures of Santa Claus, Christmas crackers, or Jesus in a manger. Just a plastic mould with ripped foil scraped to the edges. In fact, it’s hard to imagine them possessing less yuletide joy.

The last ones we bought for our two sons had the chocolate brand’s logo plastered across the front, with clip-art Christmas trees in one corner and what we assumed to be a chocolate reindeer in another. I won’t name the brand, other than to say they make malted balls with a milk chocolate coating. And it rhymes with Waltesers. One calendar split at the bottom and the inner tray fell out, so my eldest just tore the foil and ate the whole bloody lot. So little love had gone into the product that behind each door, there were no festive scenes. Just words like ‘Ho! Ho! Ho!’ Ah, the magic of Christmas!

Doors were first added to advent calendars to hide pictures about a century ago, but surely they’ve never been as unimaginative as they are now. What’s even sadder is that – judging by the fact that many seem to undergo only minor alterations every year – most of us don’t care. These dreadful calendars are a winning formula and fly off the shelves.

My wife, however, wasn’t happy with the calendar we bought (some of the pictures behind the doors had been printed upside down!) so decided to make her own. She bought reindeer heads cut from plywood, with 25 holes - 24 to accommodate a Lindor chocolate and bigger hole in the middle for a Terry’s chocolate orange. Now I’ve written it down, it sounds like the most middle-class thing in the world, but it did at least mean that the boys abided by the ‘one chocolate a day’ rule and have something festive on the shelf, rather than an advert made of flimsy cardboard.

A similar thing happens at Easter and again, it’s not something most of us think much about. But this month, I visited Cocoa Loco in West Grinstead, for a feature in this edition (p51). They were making Easter egg moulds, and before placing the two halves together, they did something special: they put chocolate buttons inside. It made me wonder if – Kinder aside – my children have ever broken open a chocolate egg to find treats inside.

I remember the eggs I has as a child, and how I would try to break them perfectly in two with a firm whack on a hard surface, to reveal mini eggs or perhaps soft-centres within. I think even Cadbury’s used to do it, back when it wasn’t owned by a multinational corporation.

But looking along the supermarket shelves this year, I found one lone egg amongst the masses, which had treats inside. Many others deployed clever wording to suggest they do, but the scale of automated mass production these days doesn’t allow for treats to be individually placed by human hands. When confectioners initially stopped this practice, they would at least visibly display bars and sweets either above, below or beside the egg. Now, they conceal the egg and all other contents behind excessive, heavily-branded packaging. Much like they do with the advent calendars.

This isn’t a rant against commercialisation, or a localised call to arms against the Americanisation of seasonal celebrations. We’ve all got someone to buy for – partners, children, grandchildren, nephews, nieces – and cost matters. I’m sure we’d all love to give them chunky, hand-made chocolate eggs in plastic-free packaging from an independent, local producer, but when you’ve got half a dozen to buy, it’s not easy.

And I’m not suggesting that we try to engage children too much about the meaning of Easter either. Tell a five-year-old that eggs and bunnies are symbols of fertility and new life, which is why we associate them with the resurrection of Jesus, and all you’re going to get is a look of confusion!

I’m just saying that Easter is special and the gift of a chocolate egg should mean something. It shouldn’t be a hollow gesture.