Hoppin’ Into the Spirit of Easter Collectibles

All-out decorating for Easter is starting to play catch-up to Christmas decorating. Yep. It’s an egg-cellent way to welcome Spring. Easter egg lights, bunny-themed pictures, figurines, cards, candles, bunny salt-and-pepper shakers … it’s all out there. In the late 1890s, Easter cards, postcards and décor gained in popularity. The common theme is renewal, symbolizing the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The themes of rebirth include green grass, flowers and baby animals (think bunnies). European immigrants brought their traditions to the United States in the 18th and 19th centuries, including the concept of an egg-laying rabbit. By the late 1800s, the tradition of children hunting for hidden Easter eggs had been hatched (so to speak). President Rutherford B. Hayes hosted the first official White House egg roll in 1878. Easter postcards, vases, plates, candy containers, toys, baskets, puzzles, and decorative eggs typically featured children, rabbits, chicks, flowers, and other themes of springtime.

Victorian era Easter cards, some of the most collectible of vintage Easter items, are full of baby bunnies, chicks and pastel flowers. In the United States, the heyday of lithographed and colorful Easter postcards was from about 1910 to 1920. Collectors drawn to the images and colors of these postcards can still find deals at flea markets and garage sales if they don’t mind rummaging through the shoe boxes full of postcards. Look for the images from the artists like Fitz Baumgarten, Ellen Clapsaddle and H.B. Griggs. Top publishers included Raphael Tuck and Gibson Art Company. We also suggest looking for ceramic or papier-mâché eggs and figurines with images of the season, such as Royal Doulton Bunnykins.

1954 Fisher Price Easter pull toy, Chick Cart, 9 ¼ in long, $96
Photo: Fox and Crane Online Auctions

 

Louis Vuitton purse, Easter, pink, Felicie, 2000s, leather and metal, 8.5 x 1 x 5 in.,  $2,375
Photo: Bidhaus

 

Easter mechanical postcard, marked D.R.G.M. No 404704 by International Art Publishing Co.,  $123
Photo: Matthew Bullock Auctioneers

 

 

Hippity Hop Hop! Vintage Easter Postcards 

In the late 1890s, some 50 years after Christmas cards gained popularity, Easter cards and postcards started attracting attention with their themes of rebirth, chickens, eggs, rabbits, children, birds, flowers and religious subjects. Victorian-era postcards often feature newly hatched chicks, children and women dressed in Easter Sunday finery. The heyday of lithographed and colorful Easter postcards in the United States was from about 1910 to 1920. Easter collectibles can still be found for good prices at flea markets and garage sales. Also look for candy containers, decorated ceramic or papier-mâché eggs and figurines.  

Happy Easter! 

 

 

 

Easter: A “Hoppy” Time of Renewal, Family

Easter observances began hundreds of years ago to commemorate the rising of Jesus Christ from the dead, its associated spiritual renewal and a celebration of spring’s arrival. In the 18th century, the Easter egg, a symbol of eternal life, became part of the celebration. As years passed, cardboard and papier-mâché eggs were used, then real eggshells with the liquid egg blown out through a small hole. All eggs were decorated. Soon there were Easter egg hunts and Easter egg rolls. In the early 18th century, the Pennsylvania Germans suggested that, in spring, the Easter Bunny would hide eggs or perhaps put them in an upside-down hat that was left out overnight. That custom soon grew to use not just a hat, but a basket to be filled with eggs, candy and fake green grass. By the 20th century, there were stuffed toy Easter bunnies, porcelain figurines of bunnies and an international business in papier-mâché and cardboard Easter bunny candy containers from Germany that were filled with candy and sold in the U.S. By the 1920s, there were tin and glass candy containers shaped like bunnies and other Easter symbols and, of course, toys. Holiday collecting is becoming more popular. Easter items include religious pictures and memorabilia, baskets, bunnies, chicks, ducks, nut cups, place cards, postcards and store advertising featuring Easter themes. Prices have gone down and up since 1980.

 

Other Holidays

One can never tire of Christmas and Valentine’s Day, but there are other holidays, each inspiring its own range of collectibles. Today collectors look for collectibles from Halloween (candy holders, costumes, masks, decorations, jack-o-lanterns) and Easter (eggs, papier-mâché bunnies, candy containers), as well as Thanksgiving decorations, Fourth of July postcards, and hundreds of other holiday-related […]

Toys

Toys can often tell you when and where they were made. A recent sale of Easter toys included a tin rabbit that was marked “Germany … Made in U.S. Zone.” Country names in the marks on toys, figurines, dishes and other collectibles may tell the exact time the piece was made because boundaries and names […]