When did Catholics in the US start using the Easter Bunny?

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The Easter Bunny was actually a Protestant creation (I believe it started in German areas in the 17th century), which is why traditionally Catholic countries (i.e. Latin America in general, France, Italy, etc.) don’t really make much use of it. The countries where it’s used are ones with a Protestant tradition, like the US or Germany. Ireland also, but Ireland was also ruled over by Protestants for a good while even if the population in general was Catholic, which could have had an influence. However, the Easter Bunny is often used by Catholics in the US. I expect it was originally a Protestant thing in the US that Catholics later adopted as well. Does anyone know–at least in the United States–Catholics started generally making use of it?
 
May 12, 1954 at 2:54 p.m. 🙃

In all seriousness, I always viewed the Easter Bunny like Santa Claus. While both are attached to a “Holy” day, neither are religious icons for a particular sect. They are cultural figures and their attributes and origins, mostly Northern European, even predate Christianity. These older cultural traditions were just grafted and repurposed to fit into emerging Christian religious traditions.
 
Not sure what you mean by “using” the Easter Bunny. I seem to remember reading that in the past during Lent even eggs were abstained from, so that by the time of Easter, there were a whole lot of eggs available. That could explain a cultural connection between Easter and eggs. Now, how a bunny got into the mix, I have no idea.
 
humbleseeker said:
May 12, 1954 at 2:54 p.m. 🙃

In all seriousness, I always viewed the Easter Bunny like Santa Claus. While both are attached to a “Holy” day, neither are religious icons for a particular sect. They are cultural figures and their attributes and origins, mostly Northern European, even predate Christianity. These older cultural traditions were just grafted and repurposed to fit into emerging Christian religious traditions.
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Well, here’s the reason I asked.

The Catholic Encyclopedia has an odd statement on the Easter Bunny in its article on Easter. It claims “The Easter Rabbit lays the eggs, for which reason they are hidden in a nest or in the garden. The rabbit is a pagan symbol and has always been an emblem of fertility.” This statement is a favorite of those who try to claim that Easter is pagan, pointing to the quote to say that even Catholics admit it.

The Catholic Encyclopedia doesn’t explicitly say there is a pagan connection for the Easter Bunny, but it obviously implies it heavily. While the Catholic Encyclopedia’s statement that the rabbit could be used as a pagan symbol or symbol of fertility is technically true (just about anything has been a pagan symbol sometime in history, though), the fact that the Easter Bunny clearly has no connection to such usages–it was first used in the 17th century, far too late to be related to paganism–means this point is kind of moot in regards to the Easter Bunny. So why does it say this? Why would it make an implication that’s both apparently anti-Catholic and incorrect? One or the other makes perfect sense, but both?

One possibility I thought of is that, since the Easter Bunny was a Protestant invention, the implication of a pagan connection in the Catholic Encyclopedia was being used to attack Protestants who used it. After all, it was a Protestant invention and one far more popular in Protestant or Protestant-influenced countries than Catholic countries. If at the time of the Catholic Encyclopedia (early 20th century) it was a Protestant symbol for Easter in the US, but rare among Catholics, this would explain its statement. But I’m not sure when the Easter Bunny spread as an Easter symbol to Catholics in the US, hence my question.
 
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It spread when chocolate bunnies came into vogue. The ears are delicious and are a high point of a pre -Easter Service liturgy.
 
I vaguely remember my mom telling me that she never paid attention to Easter Bunny traditions and was mostly unaware of it until one day, when I was very young, I told her how I was happily expecting the Easter Bunny to visit. This would’ve been around 1970.
 
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