WHERE IS THE EASTER RABBIT? 



E5 



He set out to portray to the child's mind 

 these fundamental principles of Easter — 

 love and a sudden, miraculous renewal 

 of life. As emblems he selects their 

 dearest pets for the love, eggs for life, 

 and the many colors of the flowers for 

 newness. But the parent cannot preach 

 a juvenile sermon in a solemn way. He 

 must get fun for himself as well as for 

 the young' folks. And he fully succeeds 

 in the ludicrous, incongruous mixing of 

 things, in association with the mysteri- 

 ous, and with a lively game of "hide and 

 seek." 



The unfortunate phase of it, especially 

 for. American children, is that the cus- 

 tom was brought to this country by toy 

 makers and confectioners instead of rab- 

 bit breeders. When the real, live rabbit 

 is left out, the essential part — -love — is 

 no longer represented. This is as ab- 

 surd as would be a w r ooden image of St. 

 Nicholas for Christmas. 



There is still another unfortunate 

 thing about it. When the custom ar- 

 rived in this country, it got entangled in 

 a rabbit myth, originating among the 

 ignorant and superstitious negroes of 

 the Southern States. As most of our 

 readers probably know, the claim of the 

 colored man is that there are peculiar 

 talismanic virtues in the left hind foot of 

 a rabbit killed in a graveyard on a moon- 

 less night. Ough ! As if there ever 

 lived a superstitious negro who would try 

 to capture a rabbit in such circumstances. 

 As well might one give a receipt for 

 flying, Pick up a pebble on Mars and 

 carry it in your pocket ; or this infallible 

 remedy for keeping cool on the hottest 

 days in summer, Carry in a locket a sliver 

 cut from the North Pole. 



But unfortunate as it is, the foot of 

 the weird graveyard rabbit has become 

 associated at the stores with stuffed 

 images of rabbits and with monstrous 

 compounds of rabbits and eggs made of 

 colored candy. Away with all this de- 

 generate, silly trash. Let us come back 

 to a real, live, lovable rabbit and to fresh, 

 wholesome, hens' eggs well boiled, and 

 colored by a variety of suitable dyes. 

 These are not only harmonious and ap- 

 propriate, but, as Easter emblems, they 

 are excellent, aesthetic and enlivening. 



Eggs are usually plentiful and lower 

 priced at Easter. A few cents' worth 



of dye will color a bushel, if you want 

 so many. A little care and slight ex- 

 pense will readily provide the rabbits. 

 As with Lowell who would rather have 

 one live bobolink than a square mile of 

 printers' ink, so to my mind a hutch with 

 one or two live rabbits in it is worth 

 more than a whole show-window full of 

 the ordinary, Easter desecrations and 

 misrepresentations. To care for one 

 live rabbit will inculcate active, unselfish 

 love in a child, and do it vastly better 

 than will heaps of toys and hills of candy 

 trash. The rabbit will require regular 

 but not tiring nor extended care. The 

 rules are extremely simple. Water 



once a day ; remove the water after the 

 rabbit has had all it wishes to take ; put 

 a little salt in the water once a week ; 

 keep a supply of good hay in the hutch 

 all the time. After watering, put in a 

 small supply of oats or a little bread. 

 Once a day give some form of vegeta- 

 bles or some green grass (without dew 

 on it). Carrots are the favorite. Veg- 

 etables and apple parings are relished. 

 So are celery leaves, lettuce, corn husks 

 and cobs. 



Yes, the Germans and the Dutch are 

 right. The rabbit is the best pet for the 

 "kinderkins" at Easter — or at any other 

 time. 



Tf you think the prospects of your 

 rabbits really laying eggs are not prom- 

 ising, try a hen. That, of course, will 

 lead to chickens — the most lovable, 

 squeezable (but do not do it) birds in 

 existence. Then complete the outfit 



with a few plants for the young folks. 

 What a lovable combination of life — 

 "bunnies," "chickies" and flowers. These 

 are the ideals for Easter — love and life. 



P. S. Special information regarding 

 rabbits will lie given by the writer, if 

 inquiry is accompanied by stamped and 

 self-addressed envelope. Address Ed- 

 ward F. Bigelow, Stamford, Connecticut. 



