Good Friday Means The Easter Bunny Is On The Way!

Stikins ® Name Tags Presents: Why Do We Celebrate Easter With A Bunny?!

The origins of the Easter Bunny are something of a mystery, although there are a number of theories.

• A GERMAN JUDGE. In German folklore, the “Osterhase” (Easter Hare) would judge the behaviour of children and reward those who had been good with gifts of Easter eggs.
• A FERTILITY SYMBOL. Rabbits and hares are traditional symbols of fertility and of spring as a time of new life. They give birth to multiple litters each year, with each litter made up of an average of 4-6 young.
• THE GODDESS OSTRE. According to some scholars, the Anglo-Saxons worshipped Eostre, a goddess of fertility and spring. The hare was her sacred animal. In some stories, Eostre had a pet bird that she transformed into a hare with the ability to lay coloured eggs.
• CHRISTIAN ICONOGRAPHY. Some ancient cultures believed that hares were hermaphrodites and could self-fertilise. This created a Christian association with virgin births and the Virgin Mary. In other ancient traditions, rabbits were associated with death and rebirth, creating a connection with the resurrection. Many sacred sites across the world (including Christian churches) feature a symbol known as the “three hares”. In it, three hares (or rabbits) chase each other in a circle. While the original meaning has been lost, the symbol has come to be associated with the Holy Trinity.

Stikins ® Name Tags Presents: Facts About Easter Alternatives!

While we are familiar with the Easter Bunny as the traditional Easter gift-bringer, there are many alternative traditions including:

THE EASTER BILBY

Also known as rabbit-bandicoots, bilbies are desert-dwelling marsupials native (and unique) to Australia. They have blue-grey and white silky coats, pink pointed snouts, large ears, and black tails with a pure white tip. They are excellent burrowers and are omnivores – eating seeds, spiders, insects, bulbs, fruit, fungi, and other small creatures.

Bilbies were were once found across approximately 70% of Australia. They are now completely extinct in a number of states and have Vulnerable or Endagered status elsewhere. This decline is due to an extensive loss of habitat, predation from species such as foxes and feral cats, and competition for food with non-native species like cattle and sheep – and rabbits.

Rabbits are considered something of a pest in Australia – hence the introduction of the Easter Bilby. Many companies and organisations now use Easter as an opportunity to raise awareness of the bilby’s vulnerable status.

THE EASTER BELLS

In France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, church bells are silenced in the days before Easter as a sign of mourning. This tradition created the story of the Easter Bells, which says they leave their steeples to visit the Vatican. The bells return on Easter morning with coloured eggs and chocolates in the shape of eggs and rabbits.

OTHER EASTER ANIMALS

In other parts of Europe, there are a number of local alternatives for the Easter Bunny including: the Easter Fox, the Easter Cuckoo, the Easter Chick, the Easter Rooster, and the Easter Stork.

Order Extra Stikins ® Name Tags This Easter And Get Organised For The Summer Term

The Easter break is the perfect time to take stock of your children’s school uniform and equipment before the summer term begins.

Our name tags are the perfect school labels because you can use one pack of sticky name tags to label school uniform AND all of the essential extras that your children absolutely have to have with them at school. You simply peel each name tag off its backing sheet and then apply it onto the wash care label (of clothing and fabric items) or directly onto the item (personal items only; in shoes, you should apply your name tags onto the side wall or beneath the tongue – and not beneath the heel).

We supply our name tags in four pack sizes (of 30, 60, 90, or 120 name tags) and you can order online or by phone. We make and despatch name tags every day (Monday to Friday, up to 3pm) with orders being sent via Royal Mail’s first class service as standard.

Happy Easter From Stikins ® Name Tags

We will be taking a short break for Easter. We will re-open on Monday 9th April at 9am.

Any orders placed between now and then will be printed and posted when we return on Monday. If you have any questions or queries in the meantime, you can leave us a message by emailing [email protected]. We’ll do our best to reply as quickly as we can when we return in April.