antedating "Easter bunny/ rabbit"

[Joel S. Berson]

19th Century U.S. Newspapers has a slightly earlier rabbit from the
Daily Picayune:

1887 Apr. 10:  The heart of the Lily stirred and almost burst, for it
was the Easter Rabbit, and the Lily quite expected that the child
would clap her hands and cry out with joy."

Joel

At 4/5/2012 10:03 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>Both: 1900 OED
>
>1881 _Lebanon [Pa.] Daily News_ (Apr. 16) : Easter Eggs. ...In this
>instance the Easter rabbit did not pass us by.
>
>1888 _Daily Picayune_ (N.O.) (Apr. 1) 9:  The Easter rabbit and Easter nest
>bespeak to their childish imagination an agency as mysterious as the
>wonderful Santa Claus.
>
>1890 _Atchison [Kans.] Daily Globe_  (Mar. 21) unp: The Easter rabbit is
>getting the hunted look.
>
>NewpaperArchive  finds exx. of "Easter bunny" in the English _Westminster
>Budget_ in 1896 and 1898, but I cannot get either page to display.
>
>GB claims an "Easter bunny" from 1835, but a look at the snippet shows
>they're off by about 100 years. There's also an "1884" which is really
>"1984" and an "1887" which is really "1987."
>
>JL
>
>--
>"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org