How many bites can we get out of this?

No wonder these little girls look puzzled, writes Eva Emendoerfer.

This Easter egg must have been 50 times larger than any they had seen in their short lives.

Four-year-old twins Myfanwy, left, and Johanna Kuchel, of Norham Gardens, Oxford, came face to face with the city's biggest Easter egg in 1976.

It had been presented by a Summertown trader to Oxford women Conservatives, who were due to auction it at their sale in St Aldate's Parish Hall, in Pembroke Street.

Tickets were within pocket-money range of most children at 5p each which, according to the organisers, made it "jolly good biting value!"

There was, however, one snag. The lucky winner wouldn't have been able to tuck in until Easter Saturday at the earliest, because that was the day the egg was to be released and delivered.

The picture shows that the gigantic egg was made by Lindt.

The famous Swiss firm has been reminding us in recent TV advertisements that it has been a master chocolate maker since 1845.

Easter, when Christian celebrate the resurrection of Christ from the dead, falls between late March and late April, following the cycle of the moon.

Eggs were exchanged at Easter many centuries ago - they were seen as the symbol of new life.

Often they were dyed goose eggs or beautifully decorated papier-mache eggs.

Chocolate Easter eggs started to appear in the early 1800s, although they were made of dark, gritty chocolate and were, apparently, rather unpleasant to eat.

Cadbury launched its first Easter egg in 1873, but customers had to wait until 1905 for the first milk chocolate egg to appear.

8:22pm Sunday 23rd March 2008

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