The History Of Chocolate Easter Bunnies

If you are a fan of the holiday seasons, one of everyones favorites -- aside from Christmas, that is -- is often considered to be Easter. Since this holiday usually falls near the beginning of Spring, it is a great way to break out of the winter doldrums that have more than likely crept in as the long, cold months of winter have inched along.

Of course, for the kids it also doesn't hurt that the day is loaded with Easter baskets filled to brim with Cadbury chocolate eggs, coloring books, hard boiled eggs from the Easter egg hunt and that wonderful staple, the chocolate Easter bunny. Following is a brief history of chocolate Easter bunnies.

For starters, and to understand the history of chocolate Easter bunnies, it is important to understand why the bunny is used in our culture as a symbol to celebrate Easter, especially when so many view this holiday for its religious symbolism with Christ's resurrection. It has to do with Easter falling in the Spring time, which is a time celebrated for the rebirth, renewal, and fertility all around us.

Bunnies, as we all know, are very prolific in the reproductive area and as such have long been considered the symbol for fertility. For centuries, the people our ancestors celebrated this time by having their own Spring time festivals -- what is now known as our Easter, with the name having been derived from the Goddess of Fertility, Eostre. It is from this association where we get the Easter bunny, and since eggs are also a sign of fertility, it is also the reason why the Easter bunny brings all the good children (and adults) Easter Eggs to hunt.

As time continued, and the tradition of the Easter bunny was firmly passed down from generation to generation, it only became a natural extension to create candy that was associated with this solid symbol of the Easter Holiday, and thus the chocolate Easter bunny was born.

Now you know the brief history of chocolate Easter bunnies, of which over 90 million are made each Easter season.