Easter is still about a month away, but that doesn't stop the antique vendors from dragging out the fluffy bunny goods now that Valentine's Day has become but a distant memory. And I've been looking at this Gypsy Easter Egg Colors box (manufactured by Gypsy Dyes, Inc Chicago, IL) for a few weeks now at one of our local stores, and boy do I love the packaging design and swirly, pastel color scheme. The curly mopped, gypsy madame mascot is quite the looker as well (she can absolutely fondle my eggs, any day.) Okay, I'm not exactly sure about the age of this shell coloring kit, but if I had to guess, I'd say 1930's or 40's maybe. I'm also not sure if I've ever seen an Easter egg kit like this, one that comes with the colors already mixed with water and available in little glass, mad science-esque vials. I am, of course, much more aware of the chalky color tablets that you have to add to water yourself. "The eggs you chalked were thorny," mumbled Maleva, "though no fault of your own..."
Yep, anything to thrill the kiddies!
This is an actual technique they use on guitar bodies called "hydro dripping." The basic premise is you get a body of water, you drop special paint on it that doesn't mix with the water, swirl the paint on top of the water, then dip the body through to make those swirl patterns.
ReplyDeletePretty neat to see a kit used for eggs. This is really not something for kids, though, I'm not sure those instructions properly convey this -- it's kind of complicated -- speed is important, etc. I suspect a lot of people got bad results out of this!
I love the colors still in the jars. That stuff would probably make Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles now!
Containing resins, turpentine, mineral spirits and coal tar colors, I have the feeling more than a few kids needed to see their family physician after eating the eggs in these color coated shells. It isn't outside the realm of possibility that the dye couldn't seep through the shell and into the egg.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like the rabbit in the corner is casting a spell on the egg to give it a psychedelic look. No doubt the rabbit served a magician and learned how to cast spells when the magician's back was turned.
That is definitely an unappetizing description of these pretty fluids. It kind of reminds me of tropical fauna, snakes and frogs. Even mushrooms, I guess. In nature, it's usually the really brightly colored things that are the most toxic.
ReplyDelete