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Going down the rabbit hole: Where did the Easter Bunny originate and when did it come to America?
Over the centuries, the cute egg-delivering Easter Bunny became a part of the Easter tradition.
On Easter Sunday and the days leading up to it, people may wonder about the origins of the Easter Bunny. Many want to know how the cute egg-delivering rabbit became a part of the Easter tradition.
The origin of the Easter Bunny
The Easter Bunny, originally referred to as Oschter Haws or Easter Hare, hails from Germany, according to Country Living. The Bunny lays a nest of colorful eggs for well-behaved children. The earliest known mention can be traced back to a German text from 1572, according to A Dictionary of English Folklore. The translated text reads, “Do not worry if the Easter Bunny escapes you; should we miss his eggs, we will cook the nest.”
Later, in 1682, the German physician and botanist Georg Franck von Franckenau recounted the children’s story of Oschter Haws, who laid eggs in the garden. Kids would hunt for the eggs, resembling the modern day Easter egg hunts.
The traditions surrounding the Easter Bunny started to grow more elaborate over time across the world. It gradually started to feature chocolate bunnies and chocolate eggs, and toys too.
When did the Easter Bunny arrive in America?
After the Easter Bunny’s legend hopped continents, it landed in Pennsylvania Dutch communities in Colonial America no later than 1757, or possibly even earlier, Stephen Winick, PhD, of the Library of Congress’s American Folklife Center, wrote in his article “On the Bunny Trail: In Search of the Easter Bunny.” The date was based on the year a young artist named Johann Conrad Gilbert immigrated to Pennsylvania from Germany. Gilbert later went on to produce two famous drawings of the Easter Bunny, which happens to be the earliest hard evidence of an American Easter Bunny.
Writings from the 1800s also show an important picture of the Pennsylvania Dutch traditions. There are recollections of kids building nests and leaving edible flowers to encourage the Easter Bunny to lay eggs.
However, notably, the Easter Bunny is not related to the resurrection story of Jesus that is celebrated by Christians on Easter Sunday, and neither is it in the Bible. Rabbits and eggs are general symbols of spring and renewal, and have been included in the holiday’s celebration through the decades.
