evidence: This Sunday, as millions of children tear into Easter baskets and begin strewing candy wrappers, toys and other holiday jetsam around houses nationwide, parents can thank father-and-son inventors from Illinois for cutting in half the number of plastic egg pieces they have to pick up. Erwin and Donald Weder had a stroke of genius when they came up with the idea for the hinged plastic Easter egg. Patented in 1978, the simple yet effective concept changed forever the post-holiday cleanup process. Now, instead of trying to match discarded egg halves with the correct pieces, harrowed parents have one whole egg to deal with. [...] Yes, he has also had a hand in making the grass-like plastic material in many Easter baskets that cushions those single-piece plastic eggs. It is also used as a decorative element in numerous floral presentations.