Easter – Author Sarah Angleton

On December 5, 1942 the Easter Bunny went to war. That’s when the United States War Production Board issued Conservation Order M-145, banning the production of novelty chocolate, including those delightful long-eared treats that had been gracing the Easter baskets of American kids for a few years by then.

The Board defended the decision by suggesting that the move would more intentionally include children in the war effort, providing them with the opportunity to be as sad as the adults in their lives. Instead of enjoying chocolate treats, children would wake up on Easter morning to plush bunnies, or to bunnies carved from soap or wood, which were somewhat less delicious.

Of course it’s worth noting that chocolate Easter bunnies had been introduced in Germany in 1890, had only come to the United States 1939, and had pretty quickly become hollowed out by vanishing supplies and profit margins. The children had already been sacrificing.

And the real reason for the decision had more to do with supply line interruptions and the diversion of limited resources to the front lines. That makes sense, because I think it’s safe to suggest that chocolate improves morale. It packs a pretty substantial caloric punch and is a mild stimulant, which makes it a great snack for soldiers on the go.

What makes it less great is chocolate’s tendency to melt and spoil. The War Production Board had a solution for that as well. Government contracts went to major chocolate manufacturers who could produce a D-ration chocolate bar with a higher melting point and a flavor described by soldiers as maybe a little bit better than a boiled potato. It was also not shaped like a bunny.

So, nobody was happy, though eventually American children did get their chocolate bunnies back. By about 1947, supply lines were humming along more or less at pre-war efficiency and chocolate was allowed to be both fun and delicious once again. The Easter Bunny returned home, but like so many who go to war, he’d been forever changed by the experience.

Today, it’s hard to find a chocolate bunny that isn’t hollow inside. Manufacturers and chocolatiers will tell you that’s because when chocolate gets too thick, it’s less pleasant to bite into. Personally, I think I could manage, but hollow or not, I certainly won’t hesitate this Easter to bite into the long ears of a chocolate bunny.

According to many not entirely substantiated claims on the internet, more than ninety million such bunnies are sold in the US every year, and 89% of people surveyed claim that biting first into the ears is the right way to consume them. 5% are convinced that the tail should be first. I don’t know what to think of that other 6%. I guess maybe they’re hollow inside.

How about you? How will you be eating your chocolate bunny this Easter?

With Easter Sunday nearly upon us, it’s probably time we talk about rabbits. I have a complicated relationship with these admittedly adorable creatures. My first favorite stuffed animal was a floppy-eared bunny I received at Easter. My youngest son, too, has a stuffed bunny that is near and dear to his heart, enough so that when he was younger, there were many nights of frantic searching for “Bunny,” who always managed to disappear at bedtime leaving behind one inconsolable little boy.

evilbunny — Just look at that twitchy nose. He’s up to something. photo credit: emraps my kid’s face via photopin (license)

And then there’s the Easter Bunny, one of a very few species of mammals to lay eggs, and the only one known to lay eggs filled with candy. This creature is also commonly classified as a rarely seen and likely nonexistent animal (like Big Foot), a creeper sent to spy on naughty children (like the elf on the shelf), or a guy in a scary costume that makes small children cry in the middle of the mall commons (like our favorite jolly fat man).

But where does this strange critter come from? The answer to that may be as hard to find as a favorite stuffed bunny at bedtime (make sure you check outside in the wet grass next to the play set). There are references to the Easter Bunny as early as the 16^th century in Germany where it seems likely the tradition was born.

BrownDog — The only bunny I’ve ever liked.

And speculation that rabbits and hares became linked to the holiday because they are the animals most closely associated with the pagan goddess Ostara, traces its roots back to the connection of the goddess with the Christian holiday. That connection was first postulated by the 8^th century monk and (practical) historian known as the Venerable Bede, who a lot of scholars now think probably just kind of made it up.

That didn’t stop Jacob Grimm (of fairytale-telling fame) from spreading the rumor in 1835, nor does it slow the annual onslaught of internet claims that Easter is little more than the Christian commandeering of yet another pagan holiday (which, even according to quite a few pagan scholars, it’s not).

But that still doesn’t explain why a bunny brings a basket of eggs, a common symbol of fertility and new life, to hide for the kiddos on Easter. All we really know is that the tradition seems to come out of German Lutheranism in various forms, all involving the hiding of colored eggs by an animal. The species of the egg-bearer varied by region, showing up sometimes as a rabbit, but in other places as a rooster, a cuckoo, a stork, or a fox. Eventually the rabbit won the day. By the time German immigrants began arriving in large numbers in America in the 1700s, they brought the Easter Bunny with them.

But as I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I have a complicated relationship with bunnies. On the one hand, they are adorable. And on the other hand, I hate them. Because while the Easter Bunny brings candy, plain ol’ bunnies hippity hop through my neighborhood with impunity.

These monstrous little nose-wigglers descend every spring to destroy my carrot, beet, and lettuce crops, decimate my blueberry bushes, and even nibble the life out of the new little tree shoots that have done nothing to deserve this harsh treatment. The demons dig ankle-spraining holes in my yard (never once having the decency to leave a candy-filled egg inside) and relentlessly taunt my dog who is well-intentioned, but too slow to catch them.

EasterOzzie — My poor dog would like to add another argument against the Easter Bunny.

So here’s my proposal. Let’s go back to the Easter Fox. Foxes are shy enough you rarely see them. They’re also kind of cute, but much easier to say no to when your son begs for one as a pet, and they will pretty much leave your beet crop untouched. Also, in the wild, though foxes do not lay eggs (and neither do bunnies, in case you weren’t clear on that), they do tend to steal and occasionally hide them. Also (and I think it’s safe to say this is the most important point) adopting the fox as the official mascot of Easter would effectively put an end to all this “Hoppy Easter” nonsense.

So it just makes sense. Or at least it makes as much sense as the Easter Bunny.