Grocery store research

[sjfan]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

On Dec 27th one our 'big' two had a display of Easter (hot-cross) buns at the end of an aisle, which in itself I thought a bit weird; the day after folks finish celebrating the birth of Jesus they're being asked to commemorate his death.

Hot cross buns have been associated with Christmas as well as Easter since Elizabethan times; the idea among some people that they should only be consumed at Easter is a fairly recent foible. Terry Breverton's The Tudor Kitchen even mentions a law from 1592 which forbids the selling of the buns except at Christmas time and Good Friday (with an exception for funerals).

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by sjfan

Hot cross buns have been associated with Christmas as well as Easter since Elizabethan times; the idea among some people that they should only be consumed at Easter is a fairly recent foible. Terry Breverton's The Tudor Kitchen even mentions a law from 1592 which forbids the selling of the buns except at Christmas time and Good Friday (with an exception for funerals).

I suspect that 'decree' only applied within the boundaries of the City of London Corporation - which is roughly Chancery Lane to Tower Hill, and the River to the Barbican (no Westminster, no Tower, nor anything south of the River)

So, could one could say the EU's penchant for regulation, which the majority of the English say they loathe and detest, stems not from Napoleon and other so-called continental despots, but from their very own Queen Bess' bureaucrats

BR

[sjfan]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

I suspect that 'decree' only applied within the boundaries of the City of London Corporation - which is roughly Chancery Lane to Tower Hill, and the River to the Barbican (no Westminster, no Tower, nor anything south of the River)

Oh, definitely. It was just meant as illustration that historically, Christmas was a perfectly acceptable time for hot cross buns. The nursery rhyme “Hot Cross Buns” also first appeared in 1798 in a Christmas collection (The Christmas Box).

Easter’s always been the primary focus for sure, but it’s only relatively recently that some people have apparently begun objecting to their appearance during the Christmas season. I've even seen breathless articles with titles like Hot Cross Buns So Near Christmas Is Metaphor For All That's Wrong With Australia.