Eggshelland: The End of Cleveland's Unique Easter Tradition

I will never think of eggs the same way again.

Earlier this week, I was invited to visit an Easter tradition in nearby Lyndhurst (suburb of Cleveland) that is ending after 55 years. Affectionately known as "Eggshelland," it is a front yard display of designs made entirely of individually painted eggshells. It's tucked away in a cul-de-sac but if you asked anyone where to find it, they'd be more than happy to point you in the right direction. Started as a labor of love by its original creator, Ron Manolio, in 1957, this 2013 presentation marks not only the end of an astonishing run (Ron passed away in August 2012), but a beautiful tribute to the father (and grandfather) that started this world-famous artistic display.

Easter is here when Eggshelland, Ohio comes to town.

My co-worker, a lifelong resident of Cleveland, brought this to my attention knowing that I'm a fan of seeing very strange attractions. I had heard about this display before in some random online newspaper article I had read several years back but never tried to find my way up here to NE Ohio when the display came around.

One might say, "Oh, it's just eggshell art, no big deal." But that's not the point; it's the mass quantities of these eggs that gather the curious and devoted fans year after year to see this. When I was out here on Wednesday, there were multiple out-of-state plates and lots of kids just staring at the front yard of the Manolio household.

Here is a full video pan of the entire display.

The bottom of the lawn spells out a farewell message to its many fans of all ages.

The eggshells are donated by a local cafe that still uses traditional eggs in their recipes (many chain places have switched to liquid eggs). Additionally, the Lyndhurst Fire Department takes an overhead shot of the yearly display from one of their ladder trucks.

The "Eggshelland" name and cross are staples in every yearly display. The owl is one of several reoccurring designs. 

This is the "Eggshelland" sign in front of the house.

This year, the main eggshell display is in the likeness of the late Ron Manolio, the original creator of Eggshelland.

All the eggshells are meticulously coated in enamel paint. In some years, this display has been hit by inclement weather, including hail and late snow showers but it's found its way to survive.

There is always an eggshell count sign in the display. This amount is considered to be in the middle, with some displays well over 50,000 eggs in certain years.

Every design is mocked up on graphing paper. Here is the plan for the Ron Manolio tribute image, including final dimensions (top left corner) and eggshell color count (top right corner).

The Easter Bunny made up of 2,266 eggshells.

Photos of the late creator in action.

For the first-timer, this was a sight to see. I'm glad to have finally seen it in person. If you want to see some of the designs from previous years, just type in "Eggshelland" in Google and you'll get a lot of them. Eggshelland has been documented in an award-winning documentary of the same name. For more information on that, visit http://www.eggshellandmovie.com/.

Click the photo for the full-sized panoramic. (It's pretty big.)