Ahh, it’s that time of year. Tulips are blooming, trees are beginning to bud and the occasional sunny day breaks through the Pacific Northwest’s endless, wintry rain. But most importantly, shelves are stocked with my all-time favorite treat: PEEPS! This sugary springtime staple makes my stomach queasy, my teeth ache and my head pound, but every year I go back for more. Though these marshmallow goodies hadn’t quite made it to Emerson’s in 1939, it seems that the citizens of Ritzville had plenty of sweet treats to satisfy.

Check out the larger version of Emersons Easter display from the town’s Washington Rural Heritage collection, and you’ll see a 10-cent PAAS egg-dying kit, a bounty of chocolate bunnies, quite an assortment of 8-for-a-penny monstrous jelly beans, and what I can only assume are the most giant Cadbury creme eggs I have ever seen (pardon the fuzziness of the zoomed image at left, I had to show you, or you wouldn’t believe me).

So hop to! Grab your annual ration of Peeps/creme eggs/giant chocolate bunnies before they’re gone. It’s a long year without ’em.