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History of the Easter Bunny

Shelby Petersen
Editor in Chief/News Editor

As many of you may know Easter is a religious holiday
commemorating the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Whether or not you believe in Jesus, religion, or God is entirely
up to you and nobody's business but your own. However, | ask
you, where in all of this religious business did a bunny bran-
dishing chocolate eggs come from? Nowhere in the Bible is
there mention of a fluffy rodent hiding sugary treats for small
children, so how did this furry friend come to represent the holi-
est day in all of Christendom?

The Easter Bunny originates from Alsace and the Upper
Rhineland (you should be familiar with these places... the Sec-
ond World War... no?) in the 1600s where it was recorded in
a German newspaper. The first known incarnation of an edible
Easter Bunny was made out of pastry and sugar in the 1800s.

The Easter Bunny was introduced to North America when
German settlers entered the Pennsylvania Dutch country. The
Osterhase or Easter Bunny was compared to Kriist Kindle or
Santa Claus and was supposed to be one of childhood'’s great-
est pleasures. The children would get to build brightly coloured
nests in secluded areas of their homes and, if the children had
been good and listened to their parents, the Osterhase would
lay brightly coloured eggs in the nests.

The reason eggs and rabbits have become synonymous

with Easter is twofold. First, Easter occurs during the

‘ spring which is traditionally associated with new life and birth.

Second, both eggs and rabbits have been associated with fer-
tility and success. The hope is that these symbols will bring
good fortune and success during the coming months when the
weather changes and crops need to be harvested and new
livestock is being born.

Similarly, the bright colours associated with the holiday
originate from the “new life” that comes with spring. Colours
appear everywhere as new flowers blossom and the days be-
come longer. These flowers when boiled with the eggs allow

the shell to change colour. Eastern Orthodox Christens often
dye their eggs red in recognition of the blood spilled by Jesus
Christ during the crucifixion, while others use the colour green
to symbolize the new foliage emerging from months of snow .
and dreary grey days. Moreover, during Lent eggs are forbid-
den to Catholic followers and an abundance of them can be
seen at Easter as the period of fasting comes to a close.

In 1835 Jacob Grimm formally wrote down the tradition of
Easter. Grimm suggested that the tradition stemmed from the
goddess Ostara, but also tried to link the tradition to Christian
beliefs. i

Since the 1800s Easter has become a staple of Western
society celebrated by both Christian and non-Christians alike
because it has taken on a more commercial meaning than re-
ligion. Seldom do children make their own eggs or baskets, in-
stead having their parents purchase for them manufactured
plastic baskets and chocolate bunnies. Moreover, malls across
Canada and the United States set up large displays with some-
one dressed as the Easter Bunny for children to get their pic-
tures taken with. Like Santa Claus, there are several TV shows
and movies dedicated to the Easter Bunny and the different
adventures he is prone to participate in. However, the Easter
Bunny has thrown discretion to the wind and no longer strictly
visits well behaved children, instead spreading joy to all chit-
dren good or bad.

Haakon Sullivan
Columnist

April Fools is all about playing practical jokes on friends
and loved ones but across history some people have taken the
occasion too far by making shocking public announcements
and doing the unbelievable. We had an interview with April
Fool's day expert Dr. William Gorgordia to help explain how

“such ‘misunderstandings from these pranks helped shape the
world we live in today.

Maple Syrup News: Hello Dr. Gorgordia...or can | call you

‘Willie?

Willie G: Well, | hardly think...

MSN: Ok Willie, what in your opinion is the most interest-
ing event that happened on April’s Fools?

WG: In 1970 Congress was trying to pass that law that
puts warnings on cigarette boxes. Nixon definitely wouldn't sign
such a document since he enjoyed his free Marlboros so Con-
gress put it in front of him as an April Fool's joke. He thought
the idea of cigarettes harming people was a hilarious hoax and
he signed it thinking that he was leaving people in hysterics.
Who the hell are you anyway?

MSN: That's a very interesting story. Got anything other in-

Stephanie McCullough
Managing editor

1. _ Nail Polish. | love painted nails. | also love the act
of painting my nails. | also supremely enjoy painting other
people’s nails. It really is a hobby of mine, in the most dis-
turbing way..There’s something about choosing a colour for
your nails that can really define your mood for the next cou-
ple of days. There's also the fact that with enough time, you
can give yourself a fantastic and long-lasting manicure, mak-
ing you look polished for a, week or so with minimal one-time
effort. | love the fact that my nails grow relatively quickly.
Meaning, every week pretty much is a new week. | can start
fresh. And maybe, if you did a good enough job, they will
‘continue to grow from that sassy and short length to a long
luxurious French manicure. How classy and attractive. Bright
or dark colours on short nails, sparkly (within reason) and
lighter colours for longer nails. One trend | really want to try
is the coloured tips, but there are many obstacles in my way.
| first have to grow them out (and | am not the biggest fan of
long-term long nails as they get in the’ way and then | might
cry when they break), then | have to change polish (which

teresting stories?

WG: In Bosnia, an unnamed farmer managed to phone the
president of Yugoslavia while pretending to be a prominent
Serbian politician. No one is sure of the details, but it can be
safe to say that the tanks were roiling in after the umpteenth
“You got Serbed!” which came after calling his wife a 'goulash
dumpster’. Seriously, who the hell are you? How do you know
where | live?

MSN: It sounds like the region had a rough time after that.

“Like a war or something. Got anything else to say Willie?

WG: There was this other time that Margaret Thatcher was
kidding about imposing a tax on the Scottish on this day. She
said something about those men in kilts making her look bad
in a dress. It seems that Parliament took her seriously and
threw the tax on the Scots: On the same day sales of swords,
kilts, and body paint in Scotland went through the roof. Okay,
you got what you wanted now leave me alone before | call the
cops.

MSN: Ha ha, that's a good one. | heard that the Nether-
lands were big on having pranks such as announcing that they
are.marrying same sex couples and killing sick people. That
was hilarious! Anything to say about those hoaxes getting out
of control?

can be rough on a nail), then | have to decide on a dark
colour and THEN | have to apply it perfectly. Plus, after all
this is over | look like one of those girls that has no job/life or
anything because | am rocking long nails with coloured tips,
so obviously a big whoore . Right now | am fabulously
decked out with a light, subtly shimmering coral gloss. | did
two coats this morning and I’ve been admiring it all day. |
also look at my hands when | type so my nails are something
| notice often. Pius, with this tan I've been developing a nice
bright pseudo-Easter orange that’s complimenting me well. |
seriously can’t come up with a quality of nail polish, or an ac--
tivity that isn’t truly sensational and positive.

2.  freetypinggame.net. | seriously need to get better
at typing, so I’m going to do it. | started at lesson 1, and |
ain’t good. Plus the fact that | don’t practice is probably
screwing me into the ground. As it stands, it is more efficient
for me to use about 5 fingers to get all my typing done than
to set up my hands on the home row. Hopefully that
changes.

3. Easter is my favourite holiday because it centers
around eating and family. There is no pressure for presents.

WG: Uhhh...no. They were serious about those things.
They. were very necessary and progressive! :

MSN: Seriously? | mean, what kind of stupid oddball...

WG: When are you leaving? Soon right?

MSN: Just one more. Then | promise I'll leave you alone.

WG: Last year the NATO countries sent a joke invitation to
Croatia and Albania asking them to become members of their
organization. The two countries immediately said that they
would be honored but the NATO members laughed in their face
and told them to go home to their strategically insignificant
countries. They left sulking and almost in tears. It was France's
Nicolas Sarkozy and United States’ Barack Obama that said
that the joke went too far and they had to let Croatia and Al-
bania play in their war games. Now | held my part of the bar-
gain...

MSN: What? You're not even offering me a coffee before |

go Willie?

Maple Syrup News would like to thank Willie Gorgordia for
his time and accepting the generous settlement package we
offered him for the potential lawsuit. We would also like to wish
you had a happy April Fool's day and that you didn't take any
of the mischief going on too serious!

A four day weekend is also much appreciated. It also gives
us religious try-hards some opportunity; we can attend mass
on Friday and then we can also chase bunnies for chocolate
on Monday.

4. Rihanna. Has a sweet new CD out that | have been
groovesharking for quite a while now. Her main hits are for
sure the best on the album, but the rest is pretty good. | like
how coarse she has become. She might be a little too sexual
for my preferences on mainstream TV, but she definitely isn’t
purely slutty. | like her image right now. Yeah, so she’s wear-
ing pasties, but she isn’t wearing a thong and gyrating on a
pole. Yeah, she is letting the camera emphasize her butt, but
it is clothed and she isn't gyrating on a pole. Sweet beats,
dancehall, Spanish, hip hop... Pure dance music. | can’t wait
for it to be played in the clubs.

5. Road trips. So much fun, and genuinely North
American. Europeans would look at us strange if we were to
explain the young person’s road trip premise: pile 2-4 people
into a car for 9 or so hours, eat a lot of junk food, sleep, talk,
and arrive at some destination when really the trip was the
journey, the destination wasn’t import