The original PAAS® Easter egg dye was invented by an American named William Townley. Mr. Townley owned a drug store in Newark, New Jersey, where he concocted recipes for home products. In the late 1800s, he came up with a recipe for Easter egg dye tablets that tinted eggs five cheerful colors. Neighborhood families started buying Townley’s Easter Egg Dye packets in 1881 for only five cents and mixed them with water and white vinegar to create the perfect egg dye!
Soon, Mr. Townley realized that he had a wonderful product that other families would like to use to brighten their Easter tradition. He renamed his business the PAAS® Dye Company. The name PAAS® comes from “Passen,” the word that his Pennsylvania Dutch neighbors used for Easter.
Today, Americans purchase more than 16 million PAAS Easter egg kits! We are proud of our legacy and the millions of family moments we have helped to create for 140 years.