In Europe, the most common format is the six-egg box, even though I have seen boxes of 4 being sold both in Switzerland and in Italy, and in the UK The Happy Egg Co. sells boxes of 10 eggs as well. In any case, because eggs last quite a bit and can be used in various recipes, one should be able to finish them quite easily before they turn bad. On a side note, I remember reading a conversation here on the Hotline saying you can freeze eggs as well (in that case separating egg whites and yolks) which could be a handy solution.
In grocery stores in my part of southern Germany, eggs are sold in packages of 10. I usually buy eggs at the weekly market, and there you can buy eggs by the piece--and they are priced individually as well. The egg cartons in the weekly markets are most often recycled from the grocery stores, so they can hold up to 10 eggs. the farmer brings them to the market in egg crates, which have stacks of eggs packed in cardboard. I'll have to look this week to see how many eggs each layer contains. It makes sense to sell them in tens, I suppose, since the metric system is based on 10.
Why are eggs sold by the dozen?
The number 12 has many symbolic meanings. In the Christian world, it is most closely associated with the number of Jesus' disciples. American embrace of the dozen as standard measure descends from English roots. Our food history sources confirm retail eggs were sold by the dozen during Elizabethan times. They do not tell us why this standard was chosen, nor do they credit a specific person or place for making this decision. Colonial-19th century wholesale exchanges were conducted in boxes or bbl (bushelbarrels); no count provided. In the days of industrial food packaging, it makes sense for eggs to be sold in even increments from a practical standpoint. No "bakers dozen" in the egg carton.
It is interesting to note some grocers through time argued eggs should properly be sold by weight, not count. Why? Because the actual size of the eggs were different. Today's egg sellers take this into account. Products are graded by size and grouped/packed/priced accordingly. While the dozen remains the standard for statistical purposes, eggs are now sold to retail consumers in packs ranging from 6 to 18.
[Anglo Saxon England]
Eggs sold in lots of 20 (no price supplied)
---A Second Handbook of Anglo-Saxon Food and Drink, Production and Distribution, Ann Hagen [Anglo-Saxon Books:Norfolk England] 1995 (p. 263)
[Medieval England]
"...ten eggs for a penny..."
---Food and Eating in Medieval Europe, Martha Carlin and Joel T. Rosenthal editors [Hambledon Press:London] 1998 (p. 38)
"Eggs ranged in price from 3 1/2d to 4 1/2 d a hundred."
---A Baronial Household of the Thirteenth Century, Margaret Wade Labarge [Barnes & Noble Books:Totowa NJ] 1965 (p. 82)
[Elizabethan Scotland]
"The only long-term series for the price of butter and eggs, goods that were associated in particular with salse made by the farmer's and cottar's wife, come from the accounts of the St. Andrews colleges...The price of eggs was about 1s.1d. a dozen in the late 1580s, and 62 per cent higher by 1617-21."
---Prices, Food and Wages in Scotland 1550-1780, A.J.S. Gibson and T.C. Smout [Cambridge University Press:Cambridge] 1995 (p. 200)
[NOTE: chart illustrating eggs (mean price per dozen, St. Andrews University 1587-1780 appears on p. 224.]
[18th century America]
"...a dozen eggs for 3 pence..."
---Martha Washington's Booke of Cookery, transcribed by Karen Hess [Columbia University Press:New York] 1981 (p. 9)
[1804 USA]
"Eight dozen eggs pays for a pound of tea."
---The Philadelphia Evening Post, May 4, 1804 (p. 3)
[1805 ]
"Eggs have been sold in Boston market the present winter at One Dollar a Dozen."
---Pennsylania Correspondent and Farmers' Advertiser, February 19, 1805 (p. 3)
[1833]
"It is bad economy to buy eggs by the dozen, as you want them."
---American Frugal Housewife, Mrs. Child, facsimile 1833 edition [Applewood Books:Boston] (p. 2)
[1857]
"In your comments upon the efforts to get rid of Spanish coin and give our decimal currency its proper position I have seen no suggestion concerning the disuse of dozens and grosses. As long as the fashion is to sell eggs and pen-knives and chissels and screws by the dozen, so long will the prices be computed in shllings and pence, and the fractions of cents be charged upon the purchaser. Manufactuers of articles who have been accustomed to put them up in dozens can do much to promote the use of decimal currency by putting them up in tens and hundreds. The price of a package will tehn readily indicate the price of a single article, and the nuisance of factions be avoided. There is no rational reason why twelve knives and forks, or teaspoons or cups and saucers should constitute a set, and that ten or twenty should, and no reason why screws cannot be put into papers of 100 as well as 144."
---"Decimal Currency," letter to the editor, New York Times, February 14, 1857 (p. 9)
[1861 England]
"The Metropolis is supplied with eggs from all parts of the kingdom...supposing them on an average to cost fourpence a dozen..."
---Mrs.. Beeton's Book of Household Management, Isabella Beeton, facsimile 1861 edition [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 2000, abridged edition (p. 322)
"Two hundred thousand dozen eggs have been received at this port from Europe during the past nine months...The eggs came packed in straw in long cases containing 120 dozen each."
---""Eggs From Foreign Lands," New York Times, June 14, 1883 (p. 8)
[1884]
"...pay twenty-five or thirty cents a dozen..."
---Boston Cooking School Cook Book, Mrs. D.A. Lincoln, facsimile 1884 edition [Dover Publications:Mineola NY] 1996 (p. 198)
[1886]
"How to Pack Eggs. Receivers have a good deal of trouble with eggs that come in loose packages, have not been properly packed, and arrive more or less broken. When cases are not used, the barrel is the next best package. In packing, oats should not be used, because they are heavy and increase the cost of shipment, and the eggs are apt to work through, and coming in contact with one another, there is sure to be some breakage if great care is not taken. By using straw the eggs can be got through in good shape and are in suitable condition for reshipping, provided the proper rules have been followed. In using straw, see that it is clean and dry so that there will be no musty smell. The eggs should be laid with the ends toward the outside of the barrel. Betweeen each layer of eggs there should be a thick layer of straw. See that plenty of straw is placed between the eggs and the sides of the barrel. A barrel, if properly packed, should not have more than about sixty or sixty-five dozen. When the package is filled, place considerable straw over the top, put the head of the barrel in securely, and then mark the package plainly: Eggs, so many dozen; and all is complete, and a good condition is certain."
---The Grocer's Hand-Book and Directory for 1886 [Philadelphia Grocer Publishing Co.:Philadelphia] 1886 (p. 67-68)
[1890+ ] The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has been tracking retail sale of eggs in lots of one dozen from 1890+ [go to page 31]
[1911] Artemas Ward's Grocers's Encyclopedia 1911: "The egg is one of a dozen that the farmer takes to the nearest village store and either sells for a small sum of money or barters for sugar, calico, tobacco or some other commodity that he needs more than he needs eggs."
One stand at my local farmers market has been selling them by the piece (50 cents each) for years and allows customers to choose their own (brown, white, light blue/green).
I've seen them sold by the piece at our local Whole Foods. I have an enduring memory of standing next to another customer in front of an assortment of single eggs, each carefully placed in a grass "nest." As we both stared in amazement, she turned to me and said, "I'm too old for this."
They aren't, always. They're often sold by the half-dozen. 12 was just a good quantity back in the days of large families who often ate cooked breakfasts; consider that the English money and measurement system was base-12 before they went decimal--12 inches to a foot, 12 pennies to a shilling. So you could get an egg for a penny, half a dozen for sixpence, and dozen eggs for a shilling
Where I live (in S. Europe), bacon and eggs (or eggs and home fries) are often a supper dish, and you are usually served 2 eggs at a time. Eggs are often sold in 3 or 5-dozen packs. People here have long known that eggs are nothing to fear; I have neighbours who have eaten 2 eggs every night, all their lives, and they are in excellent health.
10 Comments
Why are eggs sold by the dozen?
The number 12 has many symbolic meanings. In the Christian world, it is most closely associated with the number of Jesus' disciples. American embrace of the dozen as standard measure descends from English roots. Our food history sources confirm retail eggs were sold by the dozen during Elizabethan times. They do not tell us why this standard was chosen, nor do they credit a specific person or place for making this decision. Colonial-19th century wholesale exchanges were conducted in boxes or bbl (bushelbarrels); no count provided. In the days of industrial food packaging, it makes sense for eggs to be sold in even increments from a practical standpoint. No "bakers dozen" in the egg carton.
It is interesting to note some grocers through time argued eggs should properly be sold by weight, not count. Why? Because the actual size of the eggs were different. Today's egg sellers take this into account. Products are graded by size and grouped/packed/priced accordingly. While the dozen remains the standard for statistical purposes, eggs are now sold to retail consumers in packs ranging from 6 to 18.
[Anglo Saxon England]
Eggs sold in lots of 20 (no price supplied)
---A Second Handbook of Anglo-Saxon Food and Drink, Production and Distribution, Ann Hagen [Anglo-Saxon Books:Norfolk England] 1995 (p. 263)
[Medieval England]
"...ten eggs for a penny..."
---Food and Eating in Medieval Europe, Martha Carlin and Joel T. Rosenthal editors [Hambledon Press:London] 1998 (p. 38)
"Eggs ranged in price from 3 1/2d to 4 1/2 d a hundred."
---A Baronial Household of the Thirteenth Century, Margaret Wade Labarge [Barnes & Noble Books:Totowa NJ] 1965 (p. 82)
[Elizabethan Scotland]
"The only long-term series for the price of butter and eggs, goods that were associated in particular with salse made by the farmer's and cottar's wife, come from the accounts of the St. Andrews colleges...The price of eggs was about 1s.1d. a dozen in the late 1580s, and 62 per cent higher by 1617-21."
---Prices, Food and Wages in Scotland 1550-1780, A.J.S. Gibson and T.C. Smout [Cambridge University Press:Cambridge] 1995 (p. 200)
[NOTE: chart illustrating eggs (mean price per dozen, St. Andrews University 1587-1780 appears on p. 224.]
[18th century America]
"...a dozen eggs for 3 pence..."
---Martha Washington's Booke of Cookery, transcribed by Karen Hess [Columbia University Press:New York] 1981 (p. 9)
[1804 USA]
"Eight dozen eggs pays for a pound of tea."
---The Philadelphia Evening Post, May 4, 1804 (p. 3)
[1805 ]
"Eggs have been sold in Boston market the present winter at One Dollar a Dozen."
---Pennsylania Correspondent and Farmers' Advertiser, February 19, 1805 (p. 3)
[1833]
"It is bad economy to buy eggs by the dozen, as you want them."
---American Frugal Housewife, Mrs. Child, facsimile 1833 edition [Applewood Books:Boston] (p. 2)
[1857]
"In your comments upon the efforts to get rid of Spanish coin and give our decimal currency its proper position I have seen no suggestion concerning the disuse of dozens and grosses. As long as the fashion is to sell eggs and pen-knives and chissels and screws by the dozen, so long will the prices be computed in shllings and pence, and the fractions of cents be charged upon the purchaser. Manufactuers of articles who have been accustomed to put them up in dozens can do much to promote the use of decimal currency by putting them up in tens and hundreds. The price of a package will tehn readily indicate the price of a single article, and the nuisance of factions be avoided. There is no rational reason why twelve knives and forks, or teaspoons or cups and saucers should constitute a set, and that ten or twenty should, and no reason why screws cannot be put into papers of 100 as well as 144."
---"Decimal Currency," letter to the editor, New York Times, February 14, 1857 (p. 9)
[1861 England]
"The Metropolis is supplied with eggs from all parts of the kingdom...supposing them on an average to cost fourpence a dozen..."
---Mrs.. Beeton's Book of Household Management, Isabella Beeton, facsimile 1861 edition [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 2000, abridged edition (p. 322)
[1883] ---Grocer's Companion and Merchant's Handbook [Benjamin Johnson:Boston] 1883 (p. 53)
"Two hundred thousand dozen eggs have been received at this port from Europe during the past nine months...The eggs came packed in straw in long cases containing 120 dozen each."
---""Eggs From Foreign Lands," New York Times, June 14, 1883 (p. 8)
[1884]
"...pay twenty-five or thirty cents a dozen..."
---Boston Cooking School Cook Book, Mrs. D.A. Lincoln, facsimile 1884 edition [Dover Publications:Mineola NY] 1996 (p. 198)
[1886]
"How to Pack Eggs. Receivers have a good deal of trouble with eggs that come in loose packages, have not been properly packed, and arrive more or less broken. When cases are not used, the barrel is the next best package. In packing, oats should not be used, because they are heavy and increase the cost of shipment, and the eggs are apt to work through, and coming in contact with one another, there is sure to be some breakage if great care is not taken. By using straw the eggs can be got through in good shape and are in suitable condition for reshipping, provided the proper rules have been followed. In using straw, see that it is clean and dry so that there will be no musty smell. The eggs should be laid with the ends toward the outside of the barrel. Betweeen each layer of eggs there should be a thick layer of straw. See that plenty of straw is placed between the eggs and the sides of the barrel. A barrel, if properly packed, should not have more than about sixty or sixty-five dozen. When the package is filled, place considerable straw over the top, put the head of the barrel in securely, and then mark the package plainly: Eggs, so many dozen; and all is complete, and a good condition is certain."
---The Grocer's Hand-Book and Directory for 1886 [Philadelphia Grocer Publishing Co.:Philadelphia] 1886 (p. 67-68)
[1890+ ] The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has been tracking retail sale of eggs in lots of one dozen from 1890+ [go to page 31]
[1911] Artemas Ward's Grocers's Encyclopedia 1911: "The egg is one of a dozen that the farmer takes to the nearest village store and either sells for a small sum of money or barters for sugar, calico, tobacco or some other commodity that he needs more than he needs eggs."
Voted the Best Reply!
Where I live (in S. Europe), bacon and eggs (or eggs and home fries) are often a supper dish, and you are usually served 2 eggs at a time. Eggs are often sold in 3 or 5-dozen packs. People here have long known that eggs are nothing to fear; I have neighbours who have eaten 2 eggs every night, all their lives, and they are in excellent health.
I believe in Japan, a standard carton of eggs is ten. There are likely more examples of non-dozen packaging around the world.