WHAT does Easter mean to you? Church thanksgiving services and hymns, perhaps. Bonnets, daffodils, days out. Chocolate heaven, or traffic jam hell?

For most of us it means time off. But what did people do at Easter before the special episodes of their favourite soap and the big films on the box?

Looking back through old editions of the Evening Press, it becomes clear that there was always some Easter entertainment on offer in York and North Yorkshire.

One hundred years ago, there was no wireless, telly or cinema and the moving image was in its infancy. It didn't matter because there was fun for all the family at the Exhibition Buildings.

Grand Promenade Entertainers were proud to present Orville Pitcher's Royal Vaudeville Company. The shows began on Easter Monday, April 13, 1903, and ran throughout the week.

The bill shows how variety got its name. "Olive Armidale, ballad vocalist; Snow & Farran, comedians; Tessie Vandean, vocalist and danseuse; Le Clay's Jolly Dogs; Blitz, King of Plates and Equilibrist; Carl Webb, solo pianist; The Three Novella Acrobats; Clair's Imperial Bioscope, with Up-to-Date Films including the Great Delhi Durbar Pictures."

Quite a line-up. But that was not the end to the entertainment available, far from it. Over at the Theatre Royal was The Greatest Attraction Of The Season: Mr George Dance's Company in Three Little Maids, direct from the Prince of Wales' Theatre, London.

And the New Grand Opera House was running a Good Friday Grand Concert in aid of York County Hospital.

Perhaps the most excitement was caused by the circus coming to town, however. At the Festival Concert Rooms, York, was the "instantaneous success of Mr Horace Livermore's Royal Italian Circus: the only exhibition of its kind in the whole world".

It boasted more than 100 trained animals, including performing bears, goats and 50 monkeys.

The Evening Press reviewer was blown away. "This is quite the best show of its kind that we have ever witnessed," their report began, "and judging from the applause and the encores, the spectators also were pleased with what they saw.

"It is astonishing that dogs, ponies and monkeys can be trained to go through a series of "dramas", but it is doubly so when such animals as goats and bears can do the same."

He singled out for special mention "Theresa, an Arabian thoroughbred pony which picks out coloured and white handkerchiefs and entertains the house in various ways for 20 minutes." And Nino was "a wonderful dog which ascends a very high ladder and leaps down into a sheet".

We might think the commercial side of Easter is new, but gift-giving was not unheard of 100 years ago. An advert on the front page of the Evening Press from E Epworth, Jeweller, of Spurriergate, York, began: "Easter Gifts!! Easter Gifts!!" The shop was promoting gold brooches from six shillings and sixpence, and gilt paste brooches from one shilling.

The tradition of giving Easter eggs to children was also well established. But the Evening Press carried a salutary tale in its Easter Saturday 1903 edition of two children who were struck down with a fever after eating theirs.

"They ate the outside, but gave a small white tablet, found in the centre, to a nursemaid, saying it was nasty.

"The nursemaid said that 'Poison' was written on these tablets, and the words, 'Light this and a serpent will appear'. The chocolate had evidently become impregnated with the phosphorous, hence the illness."

The children recovered and the Press noted that "doubtless the manufacturers of sweets will be most concerned of all to learn of the incident and note the lesson".

York at Easter 1903 had enjoyed a baking hot Good Friday and snow on Sunday.

"The storm we had in York at 10.30 struck Scarborough at noon, and soon scattered the church parade," noted the local news section on the Easter Monday.

"It has always been a marvel to me where the ladies promenading on the Esplanade get to when a sudden shower falls.

"Lazily, languidly strolling one minute, they scurryingly disappear the next, like a flight of birds. Before a mere man has time to rub his eyes the promenade is deserted by the fair.

"Hats and gowns are articles of precious worth to be saved at all costs, and the elderly ladies skip and race as quickly as the young."

Skip and race forward 40 years, and we encounter an Easter at war. In April 1943, mums had to create spring feasts from the meagre ingredients allowed them by rationing, and there were many recipes in the paper to give them inspiration.

Meanwhile, the movies offered an Easter escape. At the Rialto, Charlie Chaplin was playing in The Gold Rush, "the world's greatest laughing picture". Laurel and Hardy starred in Great Guns at the Clifton, and the Grand featured Tarzan.

At the Tower was The Strange Case of Doctor X starring Mona Barrie. Vera Lynn, with Geraldo and his orchestra, entertained at the Royal.

Because of wartime restrictions, it wasn't easy to travel. On the eve of Good Friday, York's traffic chiefs made last-minute appeals to stay at home. "You have been warned that you may be stranded if you go away," they said.

A spokesman for the LNER railway said: "The railway must be kept clear for war traffic and cannot deal with holidaymakers. There can be no extra trains for unexpected crowds.

"Don't run the risk of being left behind or adding to the discomfort of those who must travel. Help the railway to do its essential job."

The message was heeded. "The deserted streets of York on this fourth war-time Easter Monday sharply contrasted with the crowds of people who thronged the streets of the city on Saturday," began a report on April 25, 1943.

"Sunday bus services were in operation and many holidaymakers had to cycle or walk...

"York had again bowed to the Government's request for a 'Stay-at-Home' holiday and citizens found diverting entertainment from various sources, including the theatre, cinema, and some even did some useful gardening...

"Helping father on the allotment was a favourite way of spending Bank Holiday, and many made a day of it with a picnic beside the cabbage patch."

Updated: 10:26 Monday, April 21, 2003