Easter Bunny Postcards
Easter postcards were very popular during the early years of postcard collecting and many are still available to collectors. If you like "cute" or want to bring back the childhood excitement of "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" or hearing the song "Here Comes Peter Cottontail," you will enjoy collecting Easter bunny postcards.* The most desirable are the ones categorized as "dressed rabbits" or "animals doing people things."
The Easter bunny is a nonreligious symbol of Easter originating in pre-Christian fertility lore. Rabbits and hares, along with chicks and eggs, symbolize new life in the spring. The rabbit's association with eggs is believed to be of German origin. An old German fable has the Easter bunny laying eggs and hiding them in the garden. The Easter bunny was said to lay colored eggs the night before Easter Sunday.
Like the Easter bunny himself, most of the dressed rabbit cards are of German origin. Many of the cards show the rabbits doing things such as participating in sports, dancing, playing music, or decorating eggs.
Among my favorites are the ones showing the rabbit actually painting or delivering the eggs.
Others I especially enjoy are the cards picturing children with the rabbits. These really make me feel a part of a fantasy world where rabbits dress and act just like people.
*"Here Comes Peter Cottontail" was written in 1950 by Jack Nelson and Steve Rollins who also wrote "Frosty the Snowman."
Here comes Peter Cottontail, Bringin' every girl and boy Oh! here comes Peter Cottontail, Here comes Peter Cottontail, You'll wake up on Easter morning Oh! here comes Peter Cottontail, |