The Easter Bunny will soon be hopping through Swiss gardens and living rooms, hiding eggs for children to find. But how do their parents hide the eggs without getting caught? Because, in some cases, it really has been bunnies that bring eggs. No, we’re not talking about some kind of biological cross between a hare and a hen, but ingenious technical inventions from the early 20th century.
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Debunking the Easter Bunny
Warning: This article is not suitable for readers who believe in the myth of the bountiful Easter Bunny. If you don't want to be disillusioned, stop reading now. On the other hand, if you're interested in technology, we hope this Easter post will bring a smile to your face.
The Easter Bunny inspires inventors. Copyright: iStock
A bunny with a spring mechanism
The inventors of the various bunny devices took a lot into consideration: if the eggs were dropped from too high, they would be destroyed when they hit the ground, so they would have to be positioned carefully. The storage capacity of a rabbit's stomach is limited, so additional storage room would be needed for the eggs. Friedrich Reineke from Hanover found a solution to these problems back in 1929. His Easter Bunny was driven by a spring mechanism, as described in German patent specification No. 474 020. With its built-in coil springs and cogs, it neatly distributed Easter eggs as it walked. To ensure that it wouldn’t just stop after one egg, the inventor strapped a basket to the rabbit's back, which would guarantee an increased supply of eggs.
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In 1948, however, Fritz Kühne from Hamburg solved the capacity bottlenecks with an Easter Bunny on wheels, which left a trail of eggs that was easy for kids to follow (DE1622617U).
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Easter egg painting for the moderately talented
A 1984 invention by Heinz Land from Hennef, Germany, is particularly helpful for the moderately artistic: ‘A device for holding and turning decorative items, preferably Easter eggs’ (Utility model DE8402800U1). The egg can be turned and painted by hand or by means of a standard gear motor. So enthusiastic egg painters can say goodbye to the tedious job of removing paint stains from their carpets and furniture every spring.
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If all this technical information about Easter and the Easter Bunny has taken the magic out of it for you, we recommend writing to the Easter Bunny Post Office in Germany. If you send a letter to the address ‘Hanni Hase, am Waldrand 12, 27404 Ostereistedt’ by one week before Good Friday, you’ll receive an Easter Greeting from the Bunny himself.
Happy Easter!
