However, both Brent and Mike actually boil their best eggs inside a cardboard carton. After the eggs are boiled, they are dyed and decorated. Today, most families use commercial egg dyes or bottled food coloring. However, the citizens of Marksville and Cottonport recall the stories their parents and grandparents have told of the days when eggs were colored with juice from wildflowers, roots, berries, chimney soot, and coffee grounds. The old-timers believed that boiling the eggs in coffee grounds made them stronger.
Some people still do it.
Mike and Brent and many other people in Marksville and Cajun communities throughout south Louisiana learned the tradition from their grandparents. Easter was the favorite holiday of Mike's grandmother, and she delighted in the sport of egg knocking. Brent also has fond recollections of going to his grandparent's house to knock eggs on Easter Sunday. Back at the courthouse square in Marksville, more and more people arrive with baskets of eggs in hand. A large group is gathered around the registration table.