One thing I take somewhat of an interest in is vintage women's fashion. I think it is really the more formal style people had back then as compared to now which opens itself up to many good oppurutnities to not only get wet and messy but also look good doing it. The social reasons why they did may be interesting but it isn't something I wish to dive into on this site so enjoy.

April 1952:

"Let the Hunt begin!"

And we all took off. It was Easter Sunday and the sun was shinning bright. There were about 15 of us women there, all dressed in our best church clothes and were about to start an Easter egg hunt while the kids and husbands were off doing their own thing like making chocolate bunnies. The Easter Egg hunt was a tradition that we had at the church for the past few years ever since the the end of the War, partially as it gave us women the ability to the fun of the hunt and also as it allowed the men to spend some quality time alone with their kids, especially the first time back after it became clear Hitler was defeated. Some may think of it is as childish, but we were the ones having fun (and the chocolate in the eggs? greatest I have ever tasted). This year we were told it would be different largely in part to the new pastor who some of us feared would call it off, but so far nothing of the sort had occurred. He was a nice guy really but many people found him a bit odd, some of his more eccentric actions were how he liked to draw pictures of bible scriptures to help kids understand (which importantly also involved the...rougher parts) how he seemed rather picky about getting the best wine during communion (I wasn't complaining though) but also his insistence that women dress up for their baptisms. He was rather handsome though being about 6,2 broad chinned and having well groomed nice blond hair, having just come back from the war In Korea due to a bullet wound in one of his kidneys, he was in very good shape too. If I had not already been happily married.

"Hey Mrs. Jones. you look quite lovely today"

I turned around to see one Ms. Park Taeyeon. She had been a refugee brought over here from Korea. She often told of how she felt unwelcome in most of the country before finding our town , I think it was a real shame for them personally as she was I often found her a joy to be around and was very insightful. She was also very attractive with pretty brown eyes and very sleek black hair.

"Why thank you, I said" For the holiday I was wearing gold open-toed high heels a white and blue thin striped button up dress that came down to about my shins. I wore a white cardigan (also buttoned up) which had a nice flower embroidery along the neck. With I wore short dangling earrings, short white gloves, as well as a cute hat that had a large ribbon tied around it with a few feathers stick out too. I had also spent yesterday at the salon styling my hair for the day.

She was dressed very nicely herself, wearing a wide hemmed brown dress with some white spots, short brown gloves and a very pretty pearl necklace. Her Hair had been similarly done up for the day and her face was made up emaculately. To compliment the outfit she carried a small white purse

"So the Other women tell me you are skilled at this game. Would mind helping me? we can split the prize pool"

I had no clue what they were talking about as I came in third to last during the past two years, but I figured an extra pair of hands couldn't hurt

"of course you can" I replied

"Anyeonghaseyo" she said before bowing

"Please no need for the formalities here. we are friends"

"I understand, Where should we head first Mrs. Jones"

"Just call me Rachel"

"Rachel, where should we start searching"

"I don't know in the fields I suppose"

It turns out I may have been wrong about this as during our search of the fields we found one egg and it was hidden in a rather sappy tree
...

With our lack of luck, Taeyeon and I started to head back to the church when we passed by the pool and noticed something odd. their appeared to be motion. We stepped forward to get a closer look when we saw something shoot out from the pool. It was a woman, In fact it was none other than Ms. Ellen Kennedy, a young woman from the church who appeared to still be fully dressed in her Sunday best, which consisted of a white and brown striped dress (white stripes were bigger though) which was also buttoned up a brown leather belt and was topped off with a hat like mine that had been surrounded in flowers. Her hair which had been done up when I saw her last looked noticably more messed up though still mostly kept shape. Obviously I was a little curious what this young lady was doing so I yelled out to her.

"Easter Egg hunting still?" I asked

"of course" was the reply

"and you just decided to take a swim huh"

"No, while looking around here for eggs maybe under a towel I noticed that an egg had been sunk to the bottom so I tried to get it out with the net but it was to far and natrually I fell right in. But hey I did get the egg, and it seems you two could use some help"

"kaesekhi" I heard Taeyeon mumble under her breath

"What was that?" Ellen yelled out

"Nothing we just politely decline your very sincere request to help" I said

"That was weird" Park said

"I know but I suppose knowing the pastor it isn't exactly surprising. He has probably Hidden the eggs in some other areas like this I imagine. You think we should check the lake"

"Yes, we probably should" and the two of us ran off towards the Lake. In search for more Eggs. Park beat me to the pier and entered the lake with a cannonball that splashed water everywhere. a second later her head broke through the water and she came out sputtering

"How is it" I asked

"Not warm, but I can manage fine" she said "are you coming?" she asked

"I'm not a very good swimmer I'm afraid. I'll look around elsewhere and report back in about ten minutes"

"Ok I understand" she said before diving back under

I then went about looking for some more Eggs around the edge of the lake. By the time I had reached an area that was surrounded with tall grass I had considered going back before I finally spotted an egg, while reaching down to pick it up I began to notice some movement coming from the other side. Curious, I pushed the grass out of my eyesight and was treated to a view even stranger than what I had witnessed at the pool. In the middle of these muddy field were two women crawling around searching and digging for eggs.

They were a family actually. The older woman was the mother Mrs. Emilia Hawthorne and her daughter Margaret. Emilia was about 46 and was woman obsessed with an old idea of feminity and elegance that many people at the church found somewhat annoying. We did have to admit though that it paid off as even at 46 she was an exceptionally pretty woman who had managed to keep a very lean body and youthful skin even after birthing 3 children. Margaret was the Oldest of them at 20, and while not exactly rebelious, she had a very different set of beliefs that she wasn't afraid of letting others know about, she was though a very sweet kid.

When I saw them earlier today Emilia had been wearing a very pretty pink suit dress, a belt earrings, and short gloves. Margaret had her pretty blond hair done like Grace Kelly and was wearing a blue and white wide hemmed checkered dress a bracelet and large brimmed sun glasses. I could hear them approaching so I began to crawl backwards a bit and listen in to what they were saying who knows maybe I would hear something useful.

"Keep your back straight. It's unlady like otherwise"

"Must I really right now I mean come on look at us"

"Being covered in mud is no excuse to not practice habits my dear. Do you think I get out of this nature when I'm at the spa?"

"Well kind of"

"Well you are right, but only when during mud baths, and we are not at the spa and it is a holy day so we should be respectful"

"what is this really about? Did you enjoy it?"

"Whether I liked the feeling of the soft Mud seeping through my clothing is ultimately not of importance right now"

"It sounds like you did mother"

this was the last thing I heard from them before they were out of hearing range.

I may not have heard anything about eggs but I was ok regardless.

I carried on searching in the tall grass finding only one other egg before I walked back to the pier and began to hear a ruckus coming from the lake. Alongside Taeyeon in there were four other women. Two of them were the Hawthorne women, Margaret was splashing around and diving under, presumably in an attempt to look for eggs while distracting those in the way. Emilia was simply floating around, she appeared to now be wearing her daughter's sunglasses.

The other two women seemed to be one Jessica simmons and Lauren Morrison. Both were in their early thirties having been born just after the end of ww1. The two of them had been best friends ever since they were born and they seemed to be enjoying themselves now as well. They were pretty different personality wise though all things considered with Jessica being a lot more "out there" so to say while Lauren was a rather reserved girl who disliked being a spectacle. Today Jessica was wearing a blue blouse top with a white flower embroidery a wide plain white skirt that touched the floor. She also carried with her two short white gloves and a handbag. Lauren on the other hand was wearing a full bright yellow dress with a very pretty flower pattern on it. she also worse to near elbow length gloves and a very wide brimmed hat.

"Catch" I was suddenly hit in the face with what appeared to be Taeyeon's bag as I wiped my eyes I could see her getting out of the lake and approaching me

"I'm sorry" I heard her say

"It's fine trust me. Did you get any eggs?"

"yes, three" she said while emptying the contents of her purse on the ground, which contained (besides a whole lot of water) her make up kits and brushes, both probably useless, a mirror and of course three eggs.

"were any eggs found?" she asked

"No, but I think I may have found an area where eggs may be located"

"Where" she asked

"come on I'll show you" and we started walking

"how many girls were with you in the lake anyways"

"about six other than me, Both Hawthorns, Morrison, Simmons, Mrs Wallace and Mrs Miller"

"I actually saw the Hawthorns coming from the area we are heading towards, but what were Morrison and Simmons doing there?"

"I think the were getting washed off, When I saw them entering the lake both of them were covered in melted cheese but they were laughing and seemed to even be eating it off each other"

"and what about Shirley Miller and Mary-Anne Wallace?"

"Well Mrs Miller, that was the one wearing the blue cotton Bonnie dress right?"

"No I think she was wearing the yellow dress gloves and head band. So what happened to them"

"oh they were both running after an egg that had been dropped out of one of their baskets and in pursuit of it both accidentally ran off the pier and straight into the river. It was too good really"

"So who got that Egg?"

"We did actually" Taeyeon said before finally reaching the tall grass

"Ah so this is the area. As you can see it's a bit muddy but I believe there may be an egg within here somewhere"

I expected her to start wading out but she suprised me by instead diving straight into the mud which ended up being deeper than I think she expected and she was covered almost instantly.
I looked at her in shock but she shrugged and said "My dress was already brown, besides it is better to do this sooner rather than later."

she started to scoot off while I looked behind her for eggs. This went on for about 5 minutes before I saw one out of the corner of my eye. "egg" I shouted which appeared to get Taeyeon's attention but it also got the attention of three other ladies who began rushing down the hill.

The first was a forty or so woman named Leia Fisher. Who tended to volunteer a lot and had worked doing hard manual labor during the war and even continued to afterwards. She was probably dressed the most casually of the women here today wearing only a polka dot dress that while not loose wasn't very form fitting either. Her hair was short so their wasn't much to style up for today. the second was a 30 or so girl named Gertrud Wagner. She was probably the richest of us at the church and it showed. Her outfit wasn't to spectacular being a large black and white skirt with a diamond pattern and a pretty simple black top but she also wore a lot of jewelery with several necklaces and earrings. The last girl was the pastor's sister, Jane who was a very headstrong girl but not very religious, at least not like her brother. she wore a white dress with a large blue flower pattern, two gloves, and a flower bow in her well fashioned red hair. Taeyeon had just gotten to the egg when all three women near simultaneously leaped headfirst into the mud.

Just then we heard the bell ring signaling us all back to church to check the results. The three women got up and went towards the church none seemed to upset about having just ruined their pretty outfits for basically nothing (Leia because it was common at her job, Gertrude as she was rich and jane for reasons I'm not sure)

Taeyeon then came slithering back and I helped her out after removing my gloves.

Taeyeon and I were the last to arrive back and it was quite a sight. With one exception (me) not one of the women present were the least bit clean with most covered in at least one layer of either mud or foods. Those that were better off were soaked to the skin and it was clear that most of them had not been so "tidy" recently before hand.

"Did we all have fun ladies?"

A unanimous "Yeah" was shouted from the crowd

"good" I see that you guys managed to find them in my hiding spots if what I'm seeing now is any indication. Now lets move towards the pool.

He had us all line up against the edge of the pool where he called our names out in order of place before pushing us in. Taeyeon and Margaret both went in first having zero. Women were pushed in one by one until it was just me and Jane.

"and the winner is"

I stood there having my eyes closed in anticipation

"Isabella Jones"

I couldn't believe it I jumped up and down in excitement as I heard the now familiar splash of a women (Jane this time) entering the pool.

I went up to the stage to receive my trophy

"and the grand prize is. a 100 gallon vat of our chocolate"

I couldn't believe it. I jumped up and down squealing and I saw Jane running towards me to give a hug when I backed away from her afraid to get my outfit dirty but I must have lost my footing as I fell backwards into my prize.

Now my first reaction was to be pissed but something stopped it. I felt great. The chocolate was all warm and, the smell was strong and sweet and the taste, well you would just need to taste this stuff to understand it. Mixed in with the feeling of near weightless ness in their I felt as if I was in heaven I decided to stay under and embrace the feeling for a few more seconds and let it soak up everyone of my sense before breaking through the surface and climbing out

"So I'm sorry about that" said Jane somewhat sheepishly "But you seemed to have handled it well"

I burst out laughing at this "Are you kidding? It was amazing! the warmth, the smell, the taste, feeling of floating was just so pleasant you just have to try it some time, you know just uh...later"

She looked down at the state of her mud covered self before nodding her head in agreement "yeah I suppose we don't want it any more contaminated than it is now. Shame you made it look like so much fun"

Feeling bad I decided to give her at least a little something and I took off my hat and refilled it with chocolate so she could give it a taste, an offer she gladly accepted.

"mmmmmmm"

"good right"

"yeah it's amazing! are you going to come get in the pool? I'll race you"

"No, I won all this chocolate fair and I'm not wasting any of it, However, TAEYEON" I yelled and I saw the young Korean exit the pool and run towards me near at the peak of the stage and infront of the vat

"will you do the honors?" I asked

"hana, dul, set," and we both jumped into the vat before emerging chocolaty covered messes while relaxing and enjoying the show of the other 13 fully clothed women take part in what appeared to be a diving contest in the pool. It had been a wonderful day and I was looking forward to a very similar one next year. in the mean time though I was hoping that many oppurunities were to follow.

Final Authors note: I wrote this story in honor of the easter holiday and was hoping to get it out by then. I set it in the 50s as I feel this is the decade where the fashion spoke most to me, elegant yet simple. Some parts I feel are a bit rushed so who knows maybe I will come back and expand upon this story in the future someday especially in order to expand on the charcterization somewhat.

order of characters in the pictures are Gertrude, Mary-Anne, the narrator Isabella Jones, Ellen,
Emilia, Shirley, Jane, Jessica, Lauren, Leia, Margaret and Taeyeon.