 |
 |
 |
|
Our genuine Pisanki shaped squirters are imported from Poland.
NOTE: Price is for one squirter and colors are chosen at random
Not for children under 3 due to choking hazard from small parts.
In Poland Easter Monday is known as Lany Poniedziałek which may be translated as Drenching Monday. The custom itself of called śmigus-dyngus (pronounced: SHMEE-goose DIN-goose). Since śmigus-dingus is quite a mouthful for English speakers to handle, it has ended up as Dyngus Day.
Actually, śmigus-dyngus is a composite of two separate customs. Originally “Chodzenie po dyngusie” or “dyngowanie” meant house-to-house post-Easter visits. It came from the German word dingen (to haggle or dicker) and referred to the “ransom” (money or treat) householders were expected to give to revelers if they didn’t want a prank played on them. Hence we can borrow the American Halloween term and refer to this practice as “Easter trick or treating”. Drenching householders with water was one of the pranks they could expect if they failed to treat the visitors.
The custom of boys drenching girls was a separate practice, sometimes humorously referred to as Dzień Świętego Lejka (St Drencher’s Day), although obviously there was no such saint in the Catholic calendar. The lasses also had their legs thrashed with willow branches and the verb “śmigać” (to whip, lash or thrash) gave its name to the custom known in different parts of Poland as śmigus, śmigust, szmigust or śmigurt. The origin of the custom is buried in time. Some say it can be traced to Old Jerusalem after the death of Jesus, when people poured buckets of water from roofs and open windows to disperse his disciples gathering in the streets. Others have alluded to the symbolic sin-cleansing properties of water exemplified by the Sacrament of Baptism.
In the Baltic region of Pomorze (Pomerania) the drenching part was not in vogue and the custom was known as zielony śmigus or suchy śmigus (green or dry śmigus) and girls could only expect to get their legs thrashed with woven willow twigs or other green branches In the Cieszyn region along the Czech border, girls were first drenched and then got thrashed “to dry them off”.
Although the girls being pursued by bucket-wielding youths shrieked in protest, secretly they welcomed such attention. Any maiden that that did not get drenched felt neglected and unpopular. If a girl felt the boys had overdone things, she could buy herself off with an Easter egg. Back in our great-grandparents’ day, an Easter egg given to a boy by a girl meant that she fancied him and that he would be welcome as a suitor. By custom, girls had their chance to get even on Easter Tuesday and the days that followed, but they often got the wetter end of the deal in their encounters with the stronger and more boisterous lads they tried to drench. The custom was also known in the country manors of the gentry and among city folk, but among the better-to-do young men with limit themselves to sprinkling their sweethearts with a little cologne-scented water.
Unlike most folk customs which tend recede in face of urbanization, śmigus-dyngus continues to be widely practiced in today’s Poland in cities and rural areas alike. In fact, major cities are now the scenes of free-for-all water fights between bucket-wielding groups of youths as well as all-out attacks on anyone in sight.
This custom also appeals to Polish-American youngsters and is therefore easy to promote. Although Easter Monday is not a free day in America, in some parts of the country Dyngus Day is celebrated in halls, bars and clubs with good food, drink, music and general merriment. The water sprinkling custom is naturally a part of it. Two cities best known for their Dyngus Day celebrations are Buffalo, New York, and South Bend, Indiana. The Polonia of Buffalo in particular goes all out to celebrate this event and calls its city “the Dyngus Day capital of the world”. In fact, they have actually set up a special Dyngus Day website (http://www.dyngusdaybuffalo.com).
Buffalo’s Dyngus Day doings have been billed as “one of the greatest ethnic spectaculars and displays of Polish Pride in America!” The annual Dyngus Day Parade kicks off on Easter Monday at 5 p.m. at Corpus Christi Church and wends its way through the streets of the city's Historic Polonia District. Marchers pass numerous official Dyngus Day sites such including the Adam Mickiewicz Library, The Tyskie Party Tent and St Stanislaus Church before concluding at the magnificent Buffalo Central Terminal. After the tour, the Sobieski Vodka Shuttle can take you on a party hop to over 10 venues in one of Buffalo's oldest neighborhoods.
This custom appears to be spreading. The Polish Falcons Nest 610 of Erie, PA are now holding an annual Dyngus Day Celebration and, interestingly enough, it was the pierogi that made the biggest hit. To a greater and lesser degree Dyngus Day is also celebrated in such places as Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit and Brooklyn’s Greenpoint.
Written by Mr Robert Strybel
Our genuine Pisanki shaped squirters are imported from Poland. Not for children under 3 due to choking hazard from small parts.
Wet Monday Village Scenes In Poland
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
Features
- Imported from Poland
- Price is for one squirter
- Colors chosen at random
- Not for children under 3 due to choking hazard from small parts.
- Size 4" x 2.5" - 10cm x 6.5cm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|