The Easter celebration has evolved over the centuries. Adding to its significance as a Christian holiday is its symbolic connection to the rebirth and renewal that comes with each spring season. Looking back over more than 100 years of Waynesboro history, newspaper accounts and well-kept stories paint a picture of the local progression of this cherished holiday.
The naming for the Easter holiday supposedly comes from the Germanic goddess, Eostre, who is associated with spring through Anglo-Saxon and Old High German folklore. With little written history recorded about her, some cultures portray her as a symbol of fertility and rejuvenation. Eostre’s image is often depicted with eggs and hares, familiar elements of the modern Easter celebration.
In the first few decades after the American Civil War, local newspapers like Waynesboro’s Village Record documented their annual prelude and Easter Sunday coverage primarily on its religious Christian theme, the resurrection of Christ.
During Lent in 1869, the paper published the rules for fasting and abstinence practiced by Catholics and some protestants, describing those sacrifices as rigid and challenging. The only people exempt from these fasting rules were followers under 21, nursing women, the sick and “those who are obliged to do hard labor or people who cannot fast without great prejudice to their health.”
In 1877, the newspaper described the last Easter sermon of Lutheran minister P. Bergstresser, who detailed his godly career in local church services. He had delivered 2,288 sermons, baptized 364 children and married 159 couples. “His discourse was affecting and appropriate to the occasion and caused tears to flow from the eyes of his attentive hearers,” the newspaper reported.
Easter services in local churches were described in lavish detail as congregations practiced their rituals and rites in decorated settings. A reporter lauded services held at St. Paul’s Reformed Church in 1887: “The decorations on Sunday far exceeded previous efforts by the congregation. I have seen many elegant displays in city churches, but for design, beauty and effect, I’ve never seen St. Paul’s surpassed anywhere. It was truly the most elegant and attractive Easter decoration I ever had the privilege to behold.”
As the 1800s wound down, more quirky news accounts appeared at Eastertime, as traditions like painting eggs and holding dances and parades came more in vogue. In 1887, a Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, man ate 48 Easter eggs, and the newspaper jokingly reported he was still alive. A local man was fined $100 for an unauthorized kiss at an Easter parade. “The suit was brought by the young lady and vigorously pursued.”
With the variances in Easter’s arrival each year (the holiday occurs on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox), predicting local weather conditions proved problematic. In April 1868, winter was still in control. The local newspaper described the weather conditions: “Easter Sunday morning presented a cloudless sky with a mild and almost unruffled atmosphere. However, by noon, ‘Old Sol’ disappeared behind huge clouds which suddenly appeared. In the afternoon, a storm ensued with rain, sleet and snow until Monday noon, covering the ground with the latter to the depth of several inches. The public roads, street-crossings and alleys have since been in deplorable condition.”
In 1884, another Eastertime snowstorm struck, with five inches of white powder, but that didn’t dampen the spirits for the coming spring. The Village Record’s local news offered that “fruit prospects are promising” and “the season for whitewashing is around again, and about another month the ice wagon will be around.” The paper also noted that day was the 19th anniversary of Lee’s surrender to the victorious Union army.
Easters celebrated in April typically offered better weather conditions, as in 1878. The news reported that “Easter services were largely attended on Sunday last. Every person remarked about the beautiful weather, as it was truly a lovely spring day.” The newspaper pointed out that Easter could never arrive later than April 25 (celebrated on April 21 that year) nor earlier than March 22.
Spring flowers and floral arrangements took the forefront when people celebrated Easter. In April 1897, the store windows presented a “gorgeous appearance, the effect being accomplished by the floral displays of Henry Eichholz, our hustling young florist. The spectator is greeted by a sea of Easter lilies, hyacinths, tulips, carnations and vines and roses of all varieties.” Locals cherished Eichholz’s lovely productions of floral art back then, and the store he founded, Eichholz Flowers, is still a Waynesboro tradition today, supplying holiday cheer and beauty.
Since Franklin County is an agricultural haven, the annual planting season and predictions for crop yields were linked often to Easter remarks. Written in one April edition, the area’s farming, gardening and growing season observations appeared in snippets of lively banter. This included the comments, “Plant corn next, some wheat fields look sickly, farmers are busy with the plow, wheat is too low for bran to retail at 30 cents per bushel, the ‘horse radish man’ has not been around this spring.”
As Waynesboro moved into the new century, the local newspaper, now called the Record-Herald, published more advertising aimed at Easter shoppers. Kirson’s Bargain Store (“we buy for less, we sell for less”) touted its Easter wares, teasing shoppers with the dare, “Can you afford to miss this sale?” All-wool Jersey suits cost $19.75, and charming Easter hats sold for $2.95 to $5.95, complete with dainty flower trimmings, all in the latest colors and styles.
Besores, a clothier on the Waynesboro square, greeted customers with Easter tidings in April 1900. “Like the tulips and lilies, our merchandise is in full bloom for Easter. This store looks very bright, very cheerful, very home like. Each department vies with the others in showing their daintiest, freshest and best goods. Everybody awakes to greet the new season and proceeds to bedeck himself or herself, as befits the occasion.”
Since the local newspapers were also responsible for keeping readers updated on state, national and world affairs, Easter articles were often published next to accounts of wars, harsh economic times or monumental societal changes. In 1916, suffragettes in Philadelphia urged women to forego their yearly Easter bonnets and contribute that money to the women’s cause. The movement garnered success four years later when women achieved national voting rights.
During a World War I report a year earlier, the newspaper detailed on April 7, 1915, that the Russians continued their advance, the French attack was increasing in its vigor and gaining ground on the right wing, and the Allies might delay their strategy in the west as the war in Europe raged. Meanwhile, during Easter services in Waynesboro, a brass choir entertained a throng of worshippers at the Lutheran belfry.
The Record-Herald national headline on April 2, 1923, read: “HARDING LACKS POWER TO CUT SUGAR TARIFF,” as Republicans worried their party’s President might make high sugar prices a tender subject in the next year’s election. Harding died suddenly four months later.
A neighboring local article in that same April edition mentioned a Redding, Pennsylvania, man who claimed to own the United States’ oldest Easter egg at 147 years old. Henry Stoyer, its owner, exhibited an egg with red artwork that included a chicken, a tree and a tulip, and dated in the auspicious year 1776.
One hundred years ago, Waynesborians welcomed Easter on April 12, 1925. Former V.P. Calvin Coolidge was president, and in the nation’s capital, the Washington Senators baseball team were the reigning World Series Champions. A local institution, the Wayne Band (formed in 1899 and still performing in 2025), gave a roving concert on an open truck stage, playing Easter tunes throughout town before ending their serenade in center square.
The price of eggs in 1925 was a sore subject. “There was a scarcity of eggs at the farmer’s market this morning,” The Record-Herald reported. “Eggs jumped from 26 cents a dozen to 30 cents a dozen.” Stitely’s Meat Market on East Main Street offered Swift’s premium hams (8-12 lb. avg.) for 34 cents a pound.
The Anthony Wayne Hotel announced an Easter dance for Tuesday the 14th. The event offered entertainment ($2.50 per couple) from the Gettysburg College Serenaders from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. A local ad in that day’s paper from the Val Smith Store offered fashion advice for the Easter season: “Discriminating women recognize what an important part of their dress the hat is – what a pity to spoil an Easter costume with a cheap looking, tawdry hat. Let us show you what is correct and worthy in today’s styles.”
The newspaper carried 1925 guidance for parents who considered giving a pet rabbit as an Easter gift, titled “Don’t Break Bunny Ears.” Advice from reputable breeders said rabbits were suitable house pets but should be treated gingerly. “Care should be taken when picking up the rabbit. The ears of rabbits are easily broken when picked up by the ears. Once an ear is broken, the rabbit ceases to be as attractive and healthy as before.”
The wedding of a notable local couple was announced in the paper, joining Mary Catherine Zook and Fred O. Bartholow Jr. in marriage. The 1925 bride was an organist at the Lutheran Church and wore a rose crepe meteor gown with matching slippers and hat, sported a string of pearls and carried a bouquet of roses. The couple was reported to be “the best known and popular young people of the town” and were both 1919 graduates of Waynesboro High School. They departed town by automobile for a 10-day tour of Eastern cities.
In downtown Waynesboro, a clothier called Spiro’s (“Always on the square, Everything ready to wear”) ran a prominent newspaper display ad describing exciting Easter “toggery” for 1925. They touted their suits, topcoats and shoes that would be “the swellest you will see during the Easter fashion parade.” Men’s spring suits cost $14-$28. The store called Easter “the time of newness, brightness and gladness.”
To top off the spirit of the 1925-era community, Scotland School children enjoyed an Easter hunt with 400 colored eggs, and the Pennsylvania United Spanish War Veterans also donated $100 in prizes. A spacious lawn at a Chambersburg residence hosted 60 kids from the children’s Home. At the Waynesboro Hospital, volunteers delivered floral arrangements to appreciative patients.
The newspaper summed up the reverent 1925 attitude under the headline ‘Go to Church on Easter.’ It said in part, “There are thousands of people who remember Easter as the day they first testified in public they were on the Lord’s side. They acknowledged they would try to follow the Master and make the Lord king of their lives.”
In the century since 1925, Waynesboro and the surrounding communities continued honoring their religious and cultural traditions. Devout followers will dress in their Sunday best for Easter services. They will offer kindness toward the less fortunate and bestow love and fellowship to their families and neighbors. As Christians celebrate the miracle of the resurrection, they also will welcome a rebirth of the natural world, lived on a renewed landscape where they pray, work and play.
