Easter Bunny

The whole concept started with German immigrants. Back in the 1700s, German settlers arrived in Pennsylvania and brought along their tradition of an egg-laying hare called the Osterhase.

Kids originally built nests instead of using baskets. To prepare for the Osterhase, children would use their caps and bonnets to create cozy little nests in hidden spots around the house, hoping the magical hare would leave them brightly colored eggs.

Rabbits have always represented new life. Long before the holiday existed in its modern form, ancient people saw rabbits and hares as powerful symbols of fertility and the arrival of spring simply because they breed so incredibly fast.

The White House has a serious egg rolling tradition. President Rutherford B. Hayes started the annual White House Easter Egg Roll way back in 1878, inviting local children to roll hard-boiled eggs across the presidential lawn with long wooden spoons.

The first chocolate bunnies were practically bricks. When chocolatiers first started making these sweet treats in the nineteenth century, they were entirely solid, meaning eating one was a genuine workout for your jaw.

We made them hollow for a very specific reason. During World War II, cocoa rations forced candy makers to get creative, so they started molding hollow bunnies, which perfectly saved chocolate while still looking massive and impressive in a spring basket.

Most people eat the ears first. An overwhelming majority of Americans admit that when they finally crack into a chocolate bunny, they always bite the ears off before touching the rest of the body.

Early egg dyes were strictly natural. Before we had those convenient little fizzy tablets from the grocery store, people dyed their springtime eggs using boiled onion skins, tree bark, flower petals, and beet juice to get those brilliant colors.

Jelly beans have a surprisingly recent connection to the holiday. While these sticky little candies existed during the Civil War, they only became a popular Easter basket staple in the 1930s because their oval shape perfectly resembles tiny, colorful eggs.

The Easter Bunny used to judge your behavior. Similar to how Santa Claus operates during winter, the original German folklore claimed the Osterhase would only deliver colorful eggs and treats to children who had been perfectly well-behaved leading up to the holiday.

Not every country waits for a rabbit. While the United States loves the fluffy bunny, children in Switzerland often wait for a magical cuckoo bird to deliver their eggs, and kids in parts of Germany actually expect a fox.

Marshmallow Peeps take practically no time to make today. When the company first started making these sugary yellow chicks in the 1950s, it took twenty-seven hours to hand-pipe and dry a single Peep, but modern machines pop them out in exactly six minutes.

It is a massive day for candy sales. Halloween might seem like the ultimate sugar rush, but Easter consistently ranks as the second highest-selling candy holiday in the United States, driving billions of dollars in chocolate and jelly bean sales every single year.

Pretzels were originally a springtime treat. Because they are made without dairy or eggs, these salty twists were a popular snack during the fasting period of Lent, and their shape was actually meant to look like two arms crossed in prayer.

Australia swapped the bunny for a bilby. Because rabbits are considered a highly destructive invasive species in Australia, many conservationists and chocolate makers promote the Easter Bilby instead, using the holiday to raise awareness for this endangered, big-eared marsupial.