HUNKS AND EASTER EGGS
When I was growing up in Western Pennsylvania, I was always amazed at the Ukrainian community’s intricate design of their eggs every Easter. I’m not Ukrainian myself, but I grew up in an area where many Eastern European immigrants settled, working alongside my own Italian relatives in the coal mines and steel mills of that region.
(That’s the origin of the word “hunk,” by the way, it came from “mill hunkies,” which was actually a pejorative term to describe the often muscular men from the Slavic/Austro-Hungarian countries who earned their living with physical labor. Okay, okay, so the gratuitous photo above does not illustrate Ukrainian "mill hunks," but they are mostly blond and they are hunks. Hey, close enough!)
So, anyway, this being Holy Saturday, the day before Easter Sunday, I thought I’d dedicate my blog to the biggest Ukrainian Easter Egg in the world!
Check it out: the largest Easter egg in the world is located in Alberta, Canada (Vegreville), and it even turns like a weathervane!
-Egg Width: 25.7 feet
-Egg Height: 18.3 feet
-Material: Alumuinum
-Weight: 5,000 pounds
-Nuts and Bolts: 6,978
-Man Hours: 12,000
It’s hard to believe, but this good egg is an achievement of 9 mathematical, architectural and engineering firsts. The design represents the first computer modeling of an egg and involved cutting edge computer graphics.
It was constructed in 1975 to commemorate early Ukranian settlements in an area east of Edmonton and was dedicated as a tribute on the 100th Anniversary of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police! Go Mounties! Hunks for sure!
Gee, Cleo, I don’t know what I like better the hunks or the egg. How amazing. Very interesting data about where the word hunk came from. LOL.
Comment by Annette Blair — April 9, 2007 @ 10:03 pm
I never expected to see the local “Chippendales” group featuring here. LOL
Many Slavic Easter egg designs I’ve seen are absolutely gorgeous, but the process is a little more complicated than how I painted eggs as a kid.
Comment by Paula — April 11, 2007 @ 12:38 pm