rabbits

Historical postcards are among the many images that the Library’s Digital Gallery collects. And I’ve found a gold mine of Easter Bunny cards. How easily does this secular holiday figure fit into our pop culture – you can see just by the types of scenes depicted on these cards. Fertility is one obvious clue to the pagan origins of the Easter Bunny, since rabbits generally have large litters. But why are these furry mammals hauling around chicken eggs? Another fertility symbol, a harbinger of new life. The use of a rabbit or hare for an Easter symbol may have started in Germany. Certainly, the Germans were the first people to make a sweet Easter Bunny, starting with pastry and sugar before moving on to chocolate. The Easter Bunny made it to America courtesy of Pennsylvania Dutch children who sang the praises of the “Oschter Haws” and the colored eggs he’d leave behind for lucky people to find. The next step was the creation of Easter baskets to hold goodies…

Children’s stories abound about the doings of the Easter Bunny. Most of them feature his giving out of eggs. Most valuable of all Easter eggs are the fabulous creations of Faberge, made for the ill-fated last Russian Czar and his family. Should you encounter an Easter Bunny this weekend, be sure to show some respect. After all, I can tell you personally that there’s nothing worse than disapproving rabbits.

p.s. My rabbits, Beau and Jack, wish everyone a good Rabbit Day. Should any of you feel a desire to learn more about rabbits as companion animals, check out the House Rabbit Society.

At this point, I find myself taking another strategic break. We’re a little over one-third of the way through the nineteenth century. A holiday is coming up, undeniably the most important event of the Christian calendar. But it’s not religion I want to talk about. No, there’s a secular element to this holiday that weighs greatly with me. You see, I am a rabbit owner, and the Easter Bunny lives with me 24/7.

Popular culture has a way of imprinting itself on us. All my life, I’ve looked forward to Easter because of the delight its furry patron creates. How many of you have painted Easter eggs, put together or received an Easter basket replete with phony paper grass, or, best of all, gone on an Easter egg hunt? So important is this event, that the White House for years has sponsored an Easter Egg hunt on its East Lawn.

I got my first pet bunny from Woolworth’s at the age of nine. My mother, who’d raised rabbits for meat as a child during the World War II years, had an offhand attitude, “Oh well, if it doesn’t work out, we can always eat it.” Sure. That rabbit was my best friend and companion for eight years. Minnie Bunny had an endearing habit of jumping up on my bed in the afternoon to watch her favorite television show. As soon as it was over, she’d jump down and go off on her rabbity business.  read more »