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House of Hawthornes

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Mutilated Bunnies And Other Easter Whimsy

By 33 Comments

I was so excited when my niece recently gave me some Easter postcards that my sister had collected over the years. Since my sister died last year, I have enjoyed having things around me that she cherished. I had almost forgotten about this particular Easter postcard that she had bought on ebay a few years ago. She was fascinated with it, because it’s a little quirky. We shared the quirkiness gene, I guess.

But it is a little gruesome for an Easter postcard though, don’t you think?

You have a bunny on crutches with a mangled leg, another bunny with a bandage on his head (is he missing an ear?), a bunny pushing a wheelbarrow (hurray, he appears not to be hurt!) filled with his bunny friend that is profusely gushing blood from a wound in his chest, a bunny with his arm in a sling and walking with a cane (behind the wheelbarrow) and then you have a very tired bunny leaning his head on what appears to be a tombstone. What the heck?

I know it can’t be easy to deliver eggs to all the kids of the world, but seriously, who knew it would leave the bunnies fighting for their lives.

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The card is postmarked March 20, 1910 (Easter was March 27th that year) and it says “Hope the bunny is good to you” on the back, so I’m pretty darn sure it’s an Easter card. You might think it was a reference to soldiers returning from war, but WWI was from 1914-1918, so this card is prior to that. So I can’t figure out what the wounded bunny theme is all about. Any thoughts?

BTW, you’re welcome to use this postcard in your Easter crafts. You know, if you want to really scare the kiddies on Easter morning. It will give a whole new meaning to biting the ears off the chocolate bunnies.

Other Easter postcards can be found:

Vintage Easter Images: Adorable Free Printables

Vintage Easter Postcards

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mark

    It’s creepy alright.
    The little white bunny is leaning on a tombstone that reads 14K. Could there have been a major loss of gold that year?
    Your Friend, who is too lazy to google it, m.

    Reply

    • SARAH CRACKNELL

      It is not a tombstone, it’s a milestone telling you how many more miles to the next villiage or town. 14k miles in this case which is presumably why he is about to expire

      Reply

  3. Tricia

    Well, my first thought was that it must have been produced during a war, but then you shot that idea down so now, I don’t know. By the way, catchy post title 🙂

    Reply

  7. GinaE

    Wow, these bunnies have really been to war in some way! It really is a funky card. May be worth something, as surely there aren’t many of those left. As, always, your post made me laugh. Cheers to an Easter with no poor bunnies like these.

    Reply

  9. TARYTERRE

    Looks like a mile marker, not a tombstone to me. The whole thing is macabre, regardless. In LA at the LA TIMES there was an explosion and people died. also in England there was a coal mine explosion that year. Do not know what time of year these events occurred. Looks like you have an interesting piece of memorabila. Maybe it’s worth something.

    Reply

  11. suzieQ

    My sympathies on the passing of your sister. Given the youthfulness of your picture, I can assume she died too young.
    The marker seems to be a mileage marker, the type that is used in Europe, have seen them in the game, Mile Bourne (not going to bother to check the spelling, sorry). Other than knowing that bit of trivia, I have no idea who beat up this troop of bunnies. At first I wondered if they might be victims of the lucky rabbit foot desire, but no. They are prey to so many animals and man, perhaps this card just acknowledges that fact. Boo-hoo, for the poor bunnies, sniff.

    Reply

  13. NanaDiana

    Okay-That is the weirdest Easter card I have ever seen! I am definitely saving it for future use. Do you know Tete? She will love this and I am going to post it to her. xo Diana

    Reply

  16. Julie

    Maybe it’s a reference to rabbit racing, since that does seem to be a mileage marker? It certainly is odd, though.

    I can understand how you want to keep it, as it belonged to your sister. I have kept all sorts of odd things that belonged to my mother, because I just can’t bear to part with them. My condolences on the loss of your sister.

    Reply

  20. Pamela

    Could it be a religious theme? You know how Jesus suffered for us? That’s what popped into my mind.
    Weird but the illustration is beautifully done!

    Reply

  21. Ida

    Oh my gosh that has got to be the strangest Easter themed card I’ve ever seen. Is there any identifying marks on the card as to who the artist was? This would certainly be fun to research.

    Reply

  26. Keetha Broyles

    I have to join the chorus of “I’ve never seen anything like that.”

    Maybe it was an effort by an early PETA group to discourage the use of Easter Bunnies.

    HA – – – that’s my irreverent sense of humor at work again.

    Reply

  30. NanE

    Oh my gosh, that is hysterical! I have never seen anything like it, what were they thinking? But you know what, I love it too, I must have that quirkiness gene too, lol! Have a great weekend, Nan

    Reply

  31. Jesper

    I know I’m very very VERY late to the game, but I just found this post by accident while searching for different types of wheelbarrows, and thought I would chime in on the possible origins.
    Could these cute little furry fellows be refugees from the Adana massacre, where 20.000-30.000 Christian Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks in April one year earlier (the lead-up happened over Easter)? I’m thinking it could be a commemorate card or a collect card, to raise money for the many refugees.

    Reply

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