The Easter Bunny

I always thought that the Easter Bunny was a marketing scheme made up by some chocolate manufacturer to turn a Christian celebration into a profit making occasion. Maybe it's been exploited to be such in modern times but I found out that the original tradition dates back as early as the 1600's and was founded in German folklore. There were stories of The Easter Hare, who acted as a sort of judge, deciding which children had been bad or good and giving gifts of coloured eggs to those who had behaved well. Sounds a bit like Christmas and St. Nick, doesn't it, and I suppose parents were always looking for a way to get their kids to behave or to have a little 'magic' in their lives.
Hares may have been celebrated as part of Spring, with large litters of kits born in the early months of the year, typically around Easter time.

The Window Of Three Hares at a 13th Century cathedral in Germany