The Teenie Weenies Give Up Their Easter Egg (1920)

The Teenie Weenies Give Up Their Easter Egg (1920) A certain little boy and girl lived with their aunt. The aunt was rather cross and the little boy and girl had some very unpleasant times. They were quite poor and the children had no toys. They never had good times like other boys and girls, but they seldom complained. There was one thing they had always wanted very much, and that was two colored Easter eggs. They wished many times for these, one for the little boy and one for the little girl. They very timidly asked their aunt if they could each have an Easter egg and she told them that eggs were entirely too expensive to use in such a fool way and that they would have to get along without them. The little boy and girl were greatly disappointed and that night they cried themselves to sleep. Some way the Teenie Weenies heard all about the matter. Just how, it is hard to tell. Maybe a mouse spoke to the squirrel about it and the squirrel might have told Tillie

Titter the sparrow, and she must have talked to the little folks about it. Well, anyhow, the Teenie Weenies heard that the little boy and girl wanted two colored eggs and the kind hearted little people set to work at once to supply them. “It means that we will not be able to have our regular Easter egg, if we give two to these children,” said the General. “For the old hen wants twenty-five grains of corn for each egg, and that’s an awful price to pay.” “We don’t mind losing our egg,” cried the Teenie Weenies, and so the General ordered fifty grains of corn to be counted out and tied into bags. Each bag held five grains of corn, which made a fair sized load for a Teenie Weenie to carry, and throwing them on to their shoulders the little men set off for the chicken yard where the old hen lived. “Madam,” said the General when the Teenie Weenies stood before the hen, “we have brought fifty grains of corn and we would like to buy two eggs.” “Two eggs!” exploded the old hen. “Why,

bless my pin feathers, I haven’t laid two eggs on the same day for months. But,” she said, eyeing the ten bags of corn greedily, “I’ll make a great effort and see what I can do.” “Thank you, madam,” said the General. “When shall we return for the eggs?” “Come back in two hours,” cried the hen as she jumped onto her nest. Two hours later the Teenie Weenies returned and found the two eggs awaiting them. Loading the two eggs onto a sledge, the little folks dragged them to the house where the little girl and boy lived. As it was a wet, rainy day, the Teenie Weenies found a dry, snug spot under the porch of the house where they carried the eggs. Then they took them through a broken place in the window and lowered them, with ropes, to the ground below. They were then placed on sticks and painted in many wonderful colors. When both eggs had been painted and when they were thoroughly dry the Teenie Weenies carried them out and placed the eggs in a very pretty nest which they had made on the

door step. On Easter morning the little boy and girl found the nest and they were two very happy children, but they were no happier than the Teenie Weenies, for they, too, had an egg. When the Teenie Weenies looked out of the shoe house window on Easter morning they found a fine big hen’s egg lying on the ground in front of the house, and scratched in the dirt were these words: “Happy Easter!” The Teenie Weenies had not told the old hen about the two children, but somehow she had found out that the little folks had sacrificed their Easter egg to make the little boy and girl happy. How she found this out it would be hard to tell. Maybe the mouse told her, or perhaps the squirrel told Tilly Titter and she told the old hen, but somehow she found it out, and feeling sorry for the generous little people, she sneaked up very early Easter morning and laid them an egg.

The Little Folks Are Robbed Of An Easter Egg (1921)

arrived at the chicken yard they found the hen still sitting on her nest.

Well, I’ve made arrangements for our Easter egg,” announced the General as he drew up a chair and sat down beside the Lady of Fashion, who was mending a pair of the Dunce’s stockings.

“Sorry I haven’t the egg ready,” said the hen. “But I’m rather worried this morning and it’s always hard or me to lay an egg when I’m worried.”

“Did you get the egg from that old hen we bought from last year?” asked the Lady of Fashion. “No,” answered the General. “She is too expensive and besides she is such a grouch. I hate to have dealings with grouches. I made arrangements with that old yellow hen who lives at the big house on the next street. We will get the egg tomorrow morning.” “What is the market price now for eggs?” asked the Lady of Fashion. “Well, they’re rather cheap now,” said the General. “We only have to pay seven grains of corn, but we have to go after the egg. The old hen won’t deliver it.” The old hen promised to lay the egg and have it all ready at ten o’clock the next morning but when the Teenie Weenies

“Sorry you’re worried,” said the General, bowing beautifully. “Is there anything we can do for you?” “No” answered the hen. “I’m worried about something you couldn’t help me with at all. There are signs of company for dinner at the big house, and that always means chicken for dinner and we always wonder who will be the victim. I just simply can’t keep from worrying about it.” The Teenie Weenies thoughtfully withdrew while the hen laid the egg, for it is quite embarrassing to hens when folks stand about and watch. When the egg was ready for them the little folks rolled it out of the nest and paid the hen her seven grains of corn. Gogo and the Turk made a clever rack out of several poles and some string, into which they rolled the egg.

Eight of the strongest Teenie Weenies caught up the poles, and the little people set off for home. “If you see an old rooster on your way home you’d better keep out of his way,” said the old hen. “He’s a lazy old wretch that’s always eatin’ eggs, and my advice would be to keep out of his way.” The Teenie Weenies hurried across the yard and they had just passed through a hole under a picket fence when they suddenly came face to face with a huge rooster. “Where did you get that egg?” asked the rooster gruffly. “We just bought it from a hen in that yard,” answered the General, pointing through the fence. “Well, clear out and drop that egg, I’m hungry,” said the rooster, and he looked so cross and ugly the Teenie Weenies skipped out of his way as he advanced towards them. The rooster cracked the shell with his great bill, and in a few minutes he had gobbled up the egg and then he devoured the shell. In fact, there wasn’t a thing left but a tiny wet

spot on the ground where the egg had been. The rooster was such a powerful fellow there wasn’t a thing to be done so the Teenie Weenies hurried back to the old hen, where they told her about the robbery. “The wretch!” exclaimed the old hen when she heard the story. “Just like a rooster. Strut around and make themselves important and then eat honest folks’ eggs. We’ll fix him. I’ll come over to your house early in the morning and lay another egg for you, and it won’t cost you a single grain of corn.” Can’t you lay one now?” asked the Dunce, who wanted to be sure of the egg for Easter. “Hardly,” answered the hen haughtily “It’s quite unusual to lay two eggs in a day, but I’m most mad enough to lay one,” and the hen glared at the rooster who came mincing into the yard. The hen kept her promise and appeared at the shoe house early the next morning, where she laid the Teenie Weenies a beautiful egg, and the little folks had a wonderful Easter dinner.

Tilly Titter Saves The Day (1922) Eggs were most expensive. The high cost of living had even reached the Weenie village under the rose bush, and it looked as though the little people would have an eggless Easter. “It won’t seem a bit like Easter without an egg,” said the Lady of Fashion as the little folks sat about the luncheon table one day discussing the matter. “Well, I’ve visited every hen in the neighborhood, and they ask such terrible high prices I don’t see how we can afford an egg,” said the General. “Why, the lowest price I could get was sixty grains of corn or eighty-five grains of wheat.” “What!” exclaimed Grandpa, looking terribly shocked. “sixty grains of corn! Land sakes! What in the name of jumping beans are those hens talking about? Have they gone crazy? I could get all the eggs I wanted when I was a young fellow for five grains of corn apiece and the old hens would deliver them,

too; they’d come right over to the house and lay the eggs any place you wanted them. My word, what are we comin’ to?” “Have you tried Mother Bunch?” asked the Doctor. “Yes, I have,” answered the General. “But she’s sittin’ on a nest of eggs—expects to have a brood of young chickens next week.” “Don’t you think we could afford sixty grains of corn?” asked the Lady of Fashion, looking sweetly at the General. “No, we can’t,” answered the General. “The Cook and I have gone over the grain in the store room, and we haven’t a grain more than we’ll need before we can get another supply.” The Teenie Weenies were all most mournful over the outlook for an eggless Easter, and even Tilly Titter, the English sparrow, noticed some thing was wrong when she flew down in front of the shoe house that afternoon.

“What’s eatin’ all you folks?” she asked as she looked about at the disappointed Teenie Weenies. “You all ‘ave faces as long as a ‘orse. Any one sick?” The General told the bird how they were unable to have their usual egg for Easter, and the bird shocked every one by laughing at the top of her shrill voice. “Bless your little ‘arts,” laughed the bird. “I’ll see you get heggs for Easter and it won’t cost you a shilling.” “How, Till? How can you get them?” asked the little people. “Why, I’ll lay ‘em. Hits four days to Easter and I’ll lay three of the freshest eggs you ever tasted before that.” Tilly kept her word, and Easter morning the Teenie Weenie men removed three lovely eggs from her nest and carried them to a quiet nook under some bushes where they were prepared for roasting.

A big fire was built, and when a great bed of hot ashes had been burned the Turk bored a hole in each of the eggs with a tiny drill. “That hole in the eggs is to let the steam out when they’re cooking, so they won’t blow up,” the Turk told the curious Teenie Weenies who gathered about him. The tiny eggs were shoved into the fire and covered with hot ashes, where they cooked for some time, and when they were taken out and the shells removed they were cooked to a turn. The Teenie Weenie women spread a big tablecloth on a mossy hill near by, and with plenty of sandwiches, cocoa, and the eggs the little folks had a wonderful picnic. Tilly was not forgotten, for the Cook brought over six loaves of Teenie Weenie bread, and the grateful bird was so pleased she cried. In the afternoon the Teenie Weenie men played ball, while the little ladies hunted wild flowers and every one had a lovely Easter.

The Haunted Egg (1923) Of course, the Teenie Weenies had made arrangements for an Easter egg. The General had ordered it days ago from an old hen who lived near by. To make sure she would not forget, for the old hen was terribly forgetful, the General had tied a string around the middle toe of her left foot. Easter was a great day for the little folks—it was the one day they were allowed to eat their fill of egg. They usually cut a hole in the shell, and then the Cook would scoop out what he needed to fill the orders. Some of the Teenie Weenies liked their egg fried, some poached or baked and once in a long time they boiled it whole, but that was such a great task it was seldom done. “Do you know, General,” said the Lady of Fashion the day before Easter, “I think it would be lovely to have a sort of picnic dinner tomorrow. We could have the egg brought over to that big bush by the creek, and we could take out some bread and cake and things—” “Plenty of cake!” shouted the Dunce, who

was carving a gun for one of the twins out of a toothpick. “Yes, lots of cake and a few cooking things so we could build a fire and cook the egg,” continued the Lady of Fashion. “I’m for it,” cried the Clown. “I am, too.” “And me.” “And me,” chorused the rest of the little people, that is, all but Grandpa, who grumbled something about the “damp ground.” Anyhow, it was decided to have the picnic, and the little women set to work at once baking cakes, cookies, and other dainties for the party. On Easter morning the Cowboy, the Chinaman, Paddy Pinn, and the Dunce were sent after the egg while the rest of the Teenie Weenies carried the baskets of food, cooking things, and dishes over to the bank of the creek. The men gathered dried sticks and the Cook soon built a great fire, while the rest of the little folks waited for the arrival of the egg. They waited and waited for the longest time, but still no egg

appeared, and finally the General sent the Indian off down the creek in his pea pod canoe in search of the men who had been sent after it.

his head out of the egg.

Presently loud shouts in the distance announced the coming of the egg, and soon the little men came dragging it on a sledge.

“It’s a joke, General. Just a joke,” answered the Cowboy, laughing so hard he could scarcely talk, “We found this empty egg shell on the way back and we thought it would be fun to have you break open the shell and find the Dunce inside.”

“Oh, what a lovely egg!” cried the Lady of Fashion, as the little folks gathered about the sledge. “Let’s boil it. It would be such fun to boil it whole, right in its shell.” Then the strangest thing happened—the Teenie Weenies almost stopped breathing and their eyes nearly popped out of their heads, for out of the egg came a voice—a faint voice but plenty loud enough for all to hear: “I—I—I don’t want to be boiled.” “LAWSY,” gasped Miss Jackson, the colored nurse, who was holding the Guff baby in her arms. “What dat?” “A HANTED EGG,” gurgled Gogo. There was a crackling of shell, and the next instant the Dunce, pale with fright, popped

“What in the name of sense does this mean?” asked the astonished General.

“Well, I wasn’t gonna be boiled!” shouted the Dunce. “We put the Dunce inside the shell and then cemented it up,” continued the Cowboy. “The other egg is hidden back in the woods and we’ll get it now.” How the little people laughed! They laughed until their tiny sides were sore. The other egg was soon brought up, and the Cook set to work cooking for the hungry Teenie Weenies. He cooked for nearly an hour and the little people ate their fill of Easter egg, stopping every now and then to laugh, whenever they thought of the frightened Dunce bursting out of the egg shell

April 20th, 1924

Grandpa and the twins were walking in the woods one afternoon when they sat down to rest, and immediately the twins began to make embarrassing inquiries concerning the Easter rabbit. “Does the Easter rabbit lay all the Easter eggs?” asked Jerry. “Does he lay them all colored?” inquired Tom.

“Well,” answered the old Gentleman, “I ought to tell you something about the Easter rabbit. I worked for him one time. It was in the Spring of `51. Three or four of us were walking through the woods one morning when we came across a sign askin’ for help with the Easter rush.

“We were lookin’ for work, so we traipsed over to the Easter rabbit’s hole and asked for a job.” “Was he a chocolate rabbit?” asked Jerry. “No, regular rabbit,” said Grandpa. “He told us to come early next day and be sure to bring asbestos gloves. I thought that was kinda funny, but—

“We certainly needed those gloves. That rabbit laid Easter eggs so fast they came out of his house hotter than a baked potato. Every time he laid an egg he’d kick it out of the house with his hind foot. He sure did keep us busy, and the only rest we got was when he got a cramp in his leg from kickin’ eggs.

“There were a lot of mice and frogs workin’, too, and our job was to grab the eggs as fast as they were kicked out and roll them down to the colorin’ department. Jack Frost did the colorin’, you know, the fellow who colors the leaves in the Fall, and he sure is some artist.” “What happened to the eggs after they were colored?” asked Tom. “Well,” answered Grandpa, “There were hundreds of frogs and mice waitin’ and as soon as an egg was colored a mouse or a frog would start rollin’ it away. I suppose they rolled it off and popped it into some child’s Easter nest somewhere.”