The advent of both Santa Claus as a Christmas symbol and eggs as an Easter icon can be traced to Christian roots and beliefs. The Easter bunny is a different animal altogether. No connection exists between this endearing children’s character and any element of the Christian faith. Yet for many children, the Easter bunny is a wonderful reminder of the coming of Easter.

For thousands of years rabbits have been considered to have mystical powers. Many cultures that built statues of fertility gods and goddesses gave them rabbit heads. Certainly, few creatures reproduce as often or in as great a number as do rabbits, so this association seems natural. The bunny’s first link with Easter probably sprang from a story about one of these ancient deities.

Oestre, a pagan goddess from which the name Easter might have been derived, played an important part in spring celebrations. Many European tribes thought that she actually drove winter away and reawakened the world for its annual rebirth in spring. A legend, passed from one generation to the next, told of Oestre giving an audience to a bird. The bird looked into Oestre’s face and was overcome with the beauty it saw in the goddess’s rabbitlike features. Sensing the special nature of the rabbit, the bird asked the goddess to transform him into a rabbit. Oestre acted upon the request the next spring. When the bird became a rabbit, it forgot everything about its former life except how to lay eggs. This bird’s eggs were then gathered by Oestre and presented to the world’s best children. This story is the first known connection of the rabbit and the egg. Over time, the tale was embellished to the point where the rabbit’s eggs were made of gold.

When people who had worshiped Oestre and other pagan gods became Christians, the story of the bird that became a rabbit all but disappeared. Only in a few remote villages in Germany did a bunny find its way into Easter lore. In fact, there probably would have been no Easter bunny if not for the large numbers of rabbits that populated so much of Europe.

In the Middle Ages, Easter egg hunts usually took place in open fields or meadows. Children who sought the hidden eggs regularly frightened rabbits concealed in the grass. As eggs were often discovered in the same location from which the bunnies had just fled, children naturally associated their newly found colored treasure with the furry animals. In time this resulted in stories of a rabbit laying the colorful eggs. For children who loved fantasy, and for parents who felt a desire to bring some fun into their kids’ lives, the tale seemed perfect. Soon adults even told children that the best place to find Easter eggs was in a rabbit’s nest.

Germany was the first place the Easter bunny appeared in stories. Several books published as early as the sixteenth century connected the rabbit to the holiday. In the early 1800s, German candy makers sensed the great commercial possibilities offered by the rabbit’s association with the holiday. Using a variety of recipes, numerous shops created a wide range of edible bunnies. In large part because of the popularity of these treats, in Germany the Easter bunny stopped laying eggs and started delivering candy.

Dutch and German immigrants brought the Easter bunny to the United States as Oschter Haws, a large, white hare. This mythical creature brought beautiful eggs to those who had been good all year long. To prepare for his visit, children would make nests in hay or place hats or bonnets in the barn where the white rabbit would leave his bounty. Thus, for some immigrant children, Oschter Haws was the spring equivalent of Santa Claus. When Americans started celebrating Easter in the mid to late 1800s, Oschter Haws became the Easter bunny. Stories were written about this benevolent rabbit. Department stores even had employees dress up in bunny suits to lure shoppers. Yet, at this time, it was still the holiday candy that proved the most popular element of the old German Easter rabbit tradition.

Beatrix Potter’s famous children’s stories that began with The Tale of Peter Rabbit owe a bit of their inspiration to the acceptance of the Easter bunny; surely so does that cartoon icon Bugs Bunny. Yet what really cemented the holiday hare into a prominent role in Easter festivities was a hit single recorded by Gene Autry in 1950. Autry had scored huge seasonal hits with “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “Here Comes Santa Claus,” so the singing cowboy had a strong holiday track record. Thanks to his Western movies and radio shows, he was also beloved by millions of children. Thus, when Steve Nelsom and Jack Rollins penned a song about a rabbit named Peter Cottontail, they asked Autry to sing it. His recording of “Peter Cottontail” became a huge hit and launched a marketing bonanza. Soon there were Peter Cottontail coloring books, storybooks, pajamas, and even dishes. Peter Cottontail appeared at stores and posed for pictures with children. A generation later television got on board, and Peter hippityhopped his way into a new set of hearts. So, Autry’s hit song, and all that resulted in its wake, no doubt made the bunny a permanent star in every Easter celebration.

A recent poll showed that almost 90 percent of Americans include the Easter bunny in their holiday celebrations. So, while it is true that this furry symbol has no links to the events of the first Easter, he has opened up a world of opportunity for Christians to share what happened on a cross and in a tomb two thousand years ago. The Easter bunny has taken the holiday to a host of new non-Christian people. Once they share Easter with this rabbit, maybe they will dig deeper and discover the real reason for the season.

Reprinted from The Stories and Traditions Behind the Songs of Easter