Easter at the Estate

Where:Billings Estate National Historic Site

When: Saturday, April 19 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Cost: $6/person, $10/pair, $16/family.

One of our most popular events, Easter at the Estate has all the things you’d expect– egg dyeing, egg races, an Easter egg hunt, and of course the Easter Bunny himself is there to visit with families and he loves to have his photo taken! But did you know we take Easter to another level with our depictions of rabbits throughout popular culture (think Bugs Bunny, the Velveteen Rabbit, Peter Rabbit, and more) and our custom Elmer Fudd “shooting gallery”? 

Ever wonder why bunnies are an iconic image for Easter? Since rabbits were associated with goddesses of spring and fertility in 13^th century Teutonic culture and because the date of Easter was traditionally chosen based on the date of the spring equinox, rabbits and Easter became linked.

The first known record of the Easter bunny tradition occurred some 200 years later in 15^th century German literature. German settlers brought the Easter bunny tradition with them to Pennsylvania another 300 years later, in the 18^th century.

Similar to leaving out cookies for Santa Claus, German children would leave out carrots for the Easter Bunny in hopes he would leave them extra special candy.

Our event explores the images of bunnies and rabbits through the course of modern history, focusing on the images present in popular culture. Children will learn-age appropriate information about these popular bunnies like Bugs Bunny, Peter Rabbit, the White Rabbit (from Alice in Wonderland), Thumper (from the movie “Bambi”), and several others - including the Duracell and Energizer bunnies. Adults might learn a thing or two about these images while they’re on site, too!