Eggbert The Talking Egg, The Super Popular Christmas Figure You've Never Heard Of

You know how every year, you and the kids take a look at the holiday lights, go shopping at the mall and talk to a giant egg about what you want for Christmas? Oh wait, a 2 foot animatronic egg isn't part of your Christmas? Well, in the Hudson Valley of New York State, Eggbert the Talking Egg has been a holiday tradition for over 40 years!

Yeah! An egg. It's super weird. His slogan is "I am Eggbert and I Know Your Name." Crazy weird.

Eggbert appears at Devitt's Nursery in New Windsor, NY as a signal that Christmas season has begun. Families line up to talk to the egg, who will answer some questions and greets every guest by name.

The egg is not made of dark magic, every kid is given a name tag when they enter the nursery, so by the time they get to Eggbert every name has already been identified. 

Eggbert does have a few different voices, since he's worked by an employee behind a screen who operates his eyes and mouth. So depending on when you go, you'll get this slightly gruff egg with a New York accent.

Why does this exist? Well, there's an answer but it never really connects eggs and Christmas. 

Eggbert was created in 1971 by Cornell to be used for seminars to farmers. Why adult farmers would want to learn from a fake talking egg, we don't know, but they made it anyway. 

At the same time, Jack Devitt was trying to keep his nursery afloat. They didn't have heat in the winter, so they borrowed animals from a neighboring farm to use the animal's body heat to keep warm. Since they had a makeshift manger, they decided to add some Christmas decorations and invite people to come by and see. As Christmas on the Farm became more popular, Devitt looked for more attractions.

That's when Eggbert rolled into his life. The egg hadn't been useful as a teaching tool, so Devitt bought it and Eggbert became part of the Christmas display.

Now, kids come to tell Eggbert what they want for Christmas and Eggbert sends the info to Santa. We suppose buying a fake egg was cheaper than getting a Santa. They estimate over 80,000 kids come to see him each year.

It turns out Eggbert might be a little bit magical. There was a fire in the late 90's where Eggbert was stored, destroying nearly everything. Since Eggbert wasn't seen between 1999 and 2011, many thought he was gone. Yet, Eggbert lived. He was undamaged in the fire and was kept in storage as ownership of the nursery changed over. In 2011, they announced Eggbert was back and people have been lining up ever since.

Weird, right? A Christmas tradition in America that most of us have never heard of? And kids love it! Though they'll get scared of Santa, most kids are totally chill with the big talking egg. 

Christmas is always full of surprises.