Easter Finery, the Easter Bunny, Eggs and Ahnapee/Algoma

www.hollywoodsgoldenage.com

As early as 1870, there were Easter parades in New York City, the most famous of which is remembered yearly in the 1948 film by the same name. Judy Garland was beaming, wearing her Easter bonnet, strolling down New York’s 5^th Avenue with Fred Astaire, smiling and ready to be photographed for the rotogravure. The Record/Record Herald never had a rotogravure, but it doesn’t mean the city was lacking Easter bonnets. Papers before 1900 advertised spring bonnets while Kohlbeck’s was advertising Easter finery – spring suits and Stetson hats - for men.

Well before World War l, Algoma youngsters looked forward to the Easter Rabbit and Easter candy. Children in the primary grades usually found candy in a nest at school. Often there were egg hunts and contests – such flash card math drills – for candy and egg prizes. The papers admonished boys and girls to get their nests ready. Nests? One hundred years ago, Algoma boys and girls left nests to be filled, not a basket.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pysanka

Where did it all come from? History tells us Easter eggs date to the early Christians in Mesopotamia who used eggs to symbolize the empty tomb. The early eggs were dyed red, signifying the blood of Christ at the crucifixion. The custom spread into Russia through the Orthodox Church and later through Europe. Pysanka  (the Ukrainian wax batik)  Easter eggs are the subject of classes. Faberge’s jeweled eggs created for the Russian tsars are known to most only because of photos.  The church – Pope Paul V - adopted the egg custom as an emblem of the resurrection in 1610.

Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, Pancake Day, Shrove Tuesday are names for the day before Ash Wednesday and and the beginning of Lent. It was a time to clean up all the eggs which, in the early church, were forbidden during Lent. However there was no way from stopping hens from laying and at the end of the 40 days, there was a huge supply of eggs. Early Christian traditions celebrating the resurrection were no doubt connected with the Lenten regulations. Symbolism remains and many of today’s Christian churches have Easter egg hunts for the children, reminding them of the empty tomb.

Early Christians didnt' have a rabbit delivering eggs, but rabbits are known for their fertility and eventually Peter Cottontail found his way into Easter. The website www.compelling truth.com says, "As hares and rabbits are extremely fertile, it's easy to see why they would become symbols of the season. But the Roman Catholic Church may have had another motive. Ancient legend claimed that hares are so fertile they can propagate asexually. The idea of an entire species that is prone to virgin births would be intriguing, and carvings of hares on various Catholic cathedrals led to speculation that the rabbit was a symbol of the Virgin Mary". Googling the hares indicates they are not only used in carvings on Catholic churches, and the formation of the ears of three hares in a circle can actually represent the Trinity.

History tell us that just as the Germans gave us Christmas trees, it was probably the Germans who brought their egg-laying rabbit called "Osterhase" to America. Their children made nests in which the animal could lay its colored eggs. Discovery.com tells us, "The first Easter Bunny legend was documented in the 1500s. By 1680, the first story about a rabbit laying eggs and hiding them in a garden was published. These legends were brought to the United States in the 1700s, when German immigrants settled in Pennsylvania Dutch country, according to the Center for Children's Literature and Culture. The tradition of making nests for the rabbit to lay its eggs in soon followed. Eventually, nests became decorated baskets and colorful eggs were swapped for candy, treats and other small gifts."

Blessings of Easter baskets is found in early church hisotry. Polish Catholics in Pulaski keep the Holy Saturday custom of their ancestors when they bring decorative baskets containing eggs and food to church. The blessed food is part of the Easter Sunday dinner. No doubt the parishioners at St. Hedwig's at Krok also took part in the time-honored tradition.

Brightly colored baskets have replaced nests made by children generations ago, but today’s children still wait for the Easter Bunny and the candy and eggs he will bring. If the kids – or even the adults - see the egg representing Jesus’ tomb, it could be because of the eggs the pastor brought for the children’s sermon.

Ahnapee/Algoma stores as Katches, Gamble Store, Joanne’s, Wiese, Lucille’s Danek, Brey-Leischow. Brey-Zander, Bach-Dishmaker and more joined Kohlbeck’s in offering Easter finery. For over 100 years Rineharts had the shoes to go with the new outfits. Milliners such as Melchior, Barnes, the Hunsader sisters and  others were there to design the new hats. Some years folks wore their new clothes to the Easter balls. Holub’s Band played at Ed Mauer’s Bruemmerville hall for a 1908 Easter dance. Mauer even offered free transportation between the city (Algoma) and his establishment. Frelich’s Band played at Leonard Meunier’s Alaska House the same year, but Meunier did not offer transportation.

 In a time when folks kept chickens in town, having enough eggs was not a problem, and there were always the grocery stores to provide them. F & A Market had them. So did Katches, the Farmer Store, Cashway, Foteys, Arndts and the Piggly Wiggly. The grocery stores sold candy that could also be found at confectioneries such as Warners, Tietz, Ponaths and more. Only the Piggly-Wiggly remains.

Looking around at Easter this year, one realizes it is a time when the more things change, the more they stay the same. 

Sources: Rev. L. Swenson's Easter sermon; Ahnapee Record/Algoma Record Herald; Black, Vicki K. Welcome to the Church Year: An Introduction to the Seasons of the Episcopal Church, July 2004; Commercial History of Algoma, Wisconsin, Vol 2, c. 2012. Three Hares as a Representation of the Trinity, Threeharesblogspot.com, Aug. 2010.