Spirit of the age

Easter – once a relatively low-key festival for retailers – is becoming a “second Christmas”. Shops say they are doing a roaring trade in pastel-hued Easter crackers, and are also selling a growing array of chick- and bunny-themed toys and table accessories, alongside the usual eggs and hot cross buns. At Waitrose, sales of Easter crackers are up 63% this year.

The jokes and other slogans in greetings cards have become so rude and potentially offensive that shops are having to take action. Branches of the stationery shop Scribbler now carry a sign in their windows, warning that some of its cards are “of an adult nature”. Paperchase has gone a step further: it has started putting explicit cards on the top shelf.