While Easter is celebrated by Christians as Christ's resurrection, it is also associated with the arrival of Spring time. With Spring comes the celebration of rebirth, renewal and fertility.
Our ancestors celebrated this time by having their own spring festivals. The name Easter is derived from the Goddess of Fertility, Eostre. This association is where we get the bunny and eggs used in conjunction with Easter. As everyone knows, bunnies are very prolific and have long been considered the symbol for fertility. Since eggs are also a sign of fertility, it is the reason that the Easter bunny brings all good children candy or dyed eggs on Easter morning.
The Germans were the first to make the chocolate Easter bunny and candy eggs in the early 1800s.
When Germans immigrated to the States, they brought their tradition of hiding Easter eggs in children's shoes.
Eventually the shoes were replaced with baskets so more
eggs and chocolate bunnies could be delivered to
"good children."
Just remember that biting the ears off your child's chocolate bunnies probably started in Germany too!
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