The history behind the Easter Bunny, eggs and more

While some Easter customs and symbols have been around for centuries, others have developed over time.

Although many Easter customs are not mentioned in the Bible, Easter is celebrated by Christians as a time to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus. According to legend, German immigrants who brought their tales of an egg-laying hare to America were responsible for introducing the Easter bunny, the most well-known secular symbol of the Christian holiday. The tradition of decorating eggs is thought to have originated at least in the 13th century, while the Easter parade ritual has even older origins. Modern additions to the celebration of this early spring holiday include other customs like the consumption of Easter candy.

According to the History Channel, here are some interesting explanations of various well-known aspects of the Easter Holiday:

• The Easter Bunny
What is the origin of the Easter bunny? Even though the Bible makes no mention of a long-eared, short-tailed creature who delivers decorated eggs to good-behaving children on Easter Sunday, the Easter bunny has become a prominent symbol of Christianity’s most important holiday. The exact origins of this mythical mammal are unknown, but rabbits are an ancient symbol of fertility and a new life because they are prolific procreators.

According to some sources, the Easter bunny first arrived in America in the 1700s with German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania and brought their tradition of an egg-laying hare known as “Osterhase” or “Oschter Haws” with them. Their children built nests for this creature to lay its colourful eggs. The Easter morning deliveries of the fabled rabbit eventually expanded to include chocolate and other types of candy and gifts, while decorated baskets replaced nests. Furthermore, children frequently left carrots out for the bunny in case he became hungry from all his hopping.

• Easter Eggs
Although Easter is a religious holiday, some of its customs, such as the use of Easter eggs, are likely derived from pagan traditions. The egg, an ancient symbol of new life, has long been associated with pagan spring festivals. Easter eggs are said to represent Jesus’ emergence from the tomb and resurrection from a Christian perspective. According to some sources, decorating eggs for Easter dates back to at least the 13th century. Eggs were once a forbidden food during the Lenten season, so people would paint and decorate them to mark the end of the period of penance and fasting, then eat them as a celebration on Easter.

Two popular egg-related traditions are Easter egg hunts and egg rolling. The White House Easter Egg Roll, a race in which children push decorated, hard-boiled eggs across the White House lawn, is an annual event held on the Monday following Easter in the United States. The first official White House egg roll took place in 1878, during the presidency of Rutherford B Hayes. The event has no religious significance, though some have interpreted it as the stone blocking Jesus’ tomb being rolled away, resulting in his resurrection.

• Easter Candy
After Halloween, Easter is the second most popular candy holiday in the United States. Chocolate eggs, which date back to early 19th century Europe, are among the most popular sweet treats associated with this day. Easter eggs have long been associated with new life and the resurrection of Jesus. The jelly bean, another egg-shaped candy, became associated with Easter in the 1930s (though the jelly bean’s origins reportedly date back to a Biblical-era concoction known as a Turkish Delight).

According to the National Confectioners Association, over 16 billion jelly beans are produced in the United States each year for Easter, enough to fill an 89-foot-high and 60-foot-wide egg. For the past decade, the marshmallow Peep, a sugary, pastel-colored confection, has been the best-selling non-chocolate Easter candy. Just Born (founded in 1923 by Russian immigrant Sam Born) of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, began selling Peeps in the 1950s. The original Peeps were handmade, marshmallow-flavored yellow chicks, but other shapes and flavours, such as chocolate mousse bunnies, were later introduced.