Fancy That Friday – Here Comes Peter Cottontail

Note: Thanks to Wikipedia for the facts used in today’s post.

Presumably, we’ve all seen the commercial: The little white rabbit hops away from its nest and where it sat there’s now a whole slew of delicious Cadbury Creme Eggs. (If you prefer a caramel egg, you’ll have to locate a brown bunny.)

Now I and every other rational thinking adult (hopefully) knows that rabbits don’t lay eggs. And they don’t really sit on nests. They burrow in tunnels. Their young are born sans shell. So why then, in the celebrations of so many, is the arrival of Easter heralded by an egg-laying hare? Well, since today is Friday, I’m going to tell you…

The Easter Bunny originated in Western European cultures – as a hare rather than a rabbit. You see, German Protestants wanted to eat colored eggs at Easter time. One problem: This was a Catholic tradition, tied to the fast of Lent during which period eggs were forbidden to Catholics (explaining the abundance of Easter eggs), and the Protestants didn’t want to introduce a Catholic tradition to their children. To get around this religous association, the “Osterhase” or “Oschter Haws” (Easter Hare) was devised. Children built nests out of their caps and bonnets before Easter. Good kids could expect their nests to be filled with gifts of colored eggs, presumably laid by the “Oschter Haws” when the children weren’t looking.

The notion of an egg-laying bunny came to the United States with the immigration of Germans to the Pennsylvania Dutch area in the 18^th century. Over the years, Americans have adapted this tradition to include chocolate and candy treats, Easter egg hunts, and leaving carrots for the Easter Bunny, but the origins of the tradition remain the same.

Apparently, we Americans can’t resist a nightly visitor bent on leaving us treats – no matter how improbable that visitor may be.

Now for your stories. Favorite Easter candy, bunny tales, Easter memories? “Lay” them on me. Just make sure their wrapped in brightly colored foil and filled with a delicious (albeit stomachache-inducing) fondant center.