Read this article in Spanish, 日本語.
Easter is here! For most of you, eggs are in some ways synonymous with Easter. Some of you decorate eggs while some of you hunt them. So, what’s behind the tradition of Easter eggs?
Let’s crack open the story behind Easter eggs, both in the world of tradition and technology.
Easter eggs come from a long-standing tradition of the Easter egg hunt, where kids have to find the hidden decorated eggs.
In the US, Easter eggs come in all sizes and flavors. Traditional egg hunts bring families together, as children eagerly search for hidden treasures. The iconic White House Easter Egg Roll, a tradition from 1878, sees kids roll colorful eggs across the South Lawn.
In some regions of Germany, like Bavaria, where egg tapping contests are a popular Easter pastime, it’s a delicate balance of skill and chance. Opponents face off to see whose egg will remain uncracked. Across Germany, intricate hand-painted Easter eggs steal the show and these delicate masterpieces often feature floral patterns and folk motifs by skilled artisans.
Easter egg decoration goes a long way back, with some taking the egg decoration, and the egg itself, to a new level.
In 1885 Emperor Alexander III of the Russian Imperial family, commissioned Carl Fabergé with the family tradition to make Easter eggs using precious materials complete with ‘surprises’. Between 1885 and 1916 50 Easter eggs were created with the most expensive of them all, the “Third Imperial Easter”, having an estimated value of $33 million.
In Scandinavian countries like Sweden and Norway, Easter eggs are decorated using natural dyes sourced from plants like red cabbage or onion skins, adding a touch of local charm to Easter celebrations. Let’s not forget about the Norwegian tradition of “påskekrim,” or Easter crime novels, where families gather to solve mysteries while enjoying chocolate eggs.
On a volcanic island west of Norway, in Iceland, Easter eggs arrived around the beginning of the 20th century and are a fairly recent addition to the Icelandic Easter tradition. Icelandic Easter eggs are stuffed full of candy and surprises. These Easter eggs also come in different sizes including chocolate-covered caramel balls, toffees, licorice, boiled sweets, and jellybeans.
It started with a chocolate egg, but now popularity has grown significantly with more than 100 tons of different kinds of chocolate eggs sold each year!
Across the globe, Easter is celebrated uniquely in every country, with the practice of decorating and hiding eggs being common for many. This inspired the practice of Easter eggs in the commercial world, where a message (or joke) or feature in a product is purposely hidden.
What adds to the fun of going on a hunt for Easter eggs is how challenging it can be to find them. You have to follow a special procedure, which adds to the surprise as you might just stumble upon them even accidentally.
But why are they hidden and how did developers come up with this idea?
First-Ever Easter egg: Atari
The first Easter egg appeared in software development in the 1979 Atari 2600 game, Adventure. Back then, video game and software companies seldom gave credit to developers for their work. But Adventure’s creator, Warren Robinett, managed to think of a sneaky way to make his name known by hiding a feature with his name in the game to credit his work.
A Popular Easter egg: Konami Code
If you’re a programmer or a tech enthusiast, you’ve probably heard of the Konami Code. The button sequence “↑↑↓↓←→←→BA” was first used in Konami’s Gradius game. However, the whole world found out about it thanks to the legendary game—Contra.
It’s essentially the earliest example of a cheat code in a game or software. In Contra, players would get 30 lives with the Konami code instead of the regular three. Many Konami developers also programmed it into other games. The Konami Code, one of the best-known Easter eggs in the software industry, has been referenced several times by other companies too.
A Musical Easter egg: Spotify
Spotify surprised its listeners with a Star Wars Easter egg in its Desktop app, which still works by the way! When you play some iconic songs like the “Imperial March”, the regular progress bar changes to a lightsaber progress bar, resembling the famous weapon’s glow.
And that’s not even the cool part. When clicked, the lightsaber switches into a beam of light, and you can switch different lightsabers, and between the red (Sith) and green (Jedi) colors. This clever integration is a delightful nod to the beloved Star Wars franchise and their fans.
Browse for Easter eggs: Vivaldi
In a past Easter egg hunt, we brought the History Panel clock icon to life! For a day it showed the current time instead of just being static at 4 o’clock, and it was cool to see many of you catch that. Throughout the Vivaldia games, there are cool Easter eggs hidden and not-so-hidden.
For instance, in Vivaldia 1 the heroine is riding a unicycle as an homage to a well-known Vivaldi employee, and in Vivaldia 2 we’ve hidden a special warp level. In both games, you can see our co-founder Jon von Tetzchner in multiple places. But we won’t give away more secrets here. Play the games to discover them all.
But why all this Easter egg talk?
Well, two reasons:
Firstly, it’s always fun to learn something new. And if you know all of this already, reach out and we’ll get you on our pub-quiz team ASAP.
Secondly, of course, we have an Easter egg hunt prepared for you!
🐣 Here’s the first hint: use the Vivaldi browser and take the correct Actions to find the second hint, which is hidden in this blog.
So, as Easter approaches, whether you’re decorating eggs with loved ones, indulging in sweet treats, or simply enjoying the beauty of Spring, Easter eggs remind us of the joy and wonder that come with each new season.
Happy Easter and good luck egg hunting!
