How the Easter Bunny became a tradition

Have you ever wondered about the origins of your favorite Easter traditions? How did a rabbit delivering chocolate eggs come to represent this holiday? Here’s the lowdown on some of our long-held Easter customs.

Easter eggs
Eggs have long been a symbol of rebirth, and decorating and exchanging them in the spring is a practice that goes back many thousands of years. Early Christians adopted this custom and eventually began exchanging empty eggs to represent Christ’s tomb after the resurrection. The eggs were often dyed red to represent the blood Jesus shed on the cross.

The Easter Bunny
Some believe that the Easter Bunny we know and love today was brought to North America by German immigrants in the 1700s. Their Easter traditions involved the Osterhase, an egg-laying hare. The night before Easter, children made nests for the hare to lay its eggs in. The next morning, the kids would find brightly colored eggs, paper bunnies and small treats in their nests.

Easter chocolates
The tradition of eating chocolate at Easter has nothing to do with ancient custom and everything to do with this treat becoming readily available to the masses. By the late 19th century, cocoa had become much more accessible to the middle classes and parents started putting chocolate candies in their children’s Easter baskets.

This Easter, as you’re hunting for Easter eggs or biting the ear off of a chocolate bunny, you can tell your family about the intriguing origins of the custom.