Easter Rabbit 1946

Chuck The Easter Rabbit Trauma
by
Charles Walter Buntjer
1940 to 1946
Chuck

1940 - A Farm Boy is Born

I was born on a farm and for many years did not have many friends until I went to a one room school in northern Illinois. My sister was eight years older than I was but we were very close.
I only saw other children my age when we visited my cousins or at family reunions. There were on the average, 14 students in the one room school and I was in the biggest class, first grade with two girls. Yes, the three students in first grade were the largest class, others had one or two students!
So, for the first ten years of my life I was mostly on the farm working and only had the radio to listen to and my National Geography, Look and Colliers magazines to read.
This is the only photo of my mother, sister and me taken in the spring of 1940. Holidays for the family were very important as we could take some time off to enjoy the family, relatives, and friends!
Of course, the cows had to be milked morning and night, seven days a week. And the pigs and chickens had to be fed and eggs picked up. Sometimes that was my job at five years old. That was the main reason I did not want to end up on a farm, tied to milking cows 365 days a year.

1944 - Fashions by Yvonne

I think you will get a kick out of the following story about my sister, Yvonne, eight years older than I was. She told everyone she loved me as I was like a doll but a real live one that she could take care of. She taught me my numbers and alphabet and I could read a little by the time I was five years old, she gave me a head start in school. I did have to laugh though, for some reason she liked to dress me up in strange outfits and take photos with our box camera. As you can see, I did go along with her fashion designs.

One time my favorite cousin's family was visiting us and I could not believe she dressed both of us up. My cousin years later told me to burn that photo, he was devastated, I, of course, had a good laugh. Years later I told my sister I ended up being a mess because she "made" me dress up when I was so young. She believed me and had a fit, I, of course, cracked up and told her that was just a joke.

1944 - First Easter Basket

After the cows were milked and we could relax over breakfast, I would be excited because it was Easter. I was four years old and we all sat down for breakfast. My father had a strange look and I wondered what was up.
He said he was milking the cows and looked out the barn door. The barn doors were split, upper and lower. The upper could be open for fresh air and lighting, the bottom shut to keep in any loose animals!
He said he thought he saw a rabbit run by the door and into the hayloft. The cows and horses were in the bottom of the barn and on the second floor was a huge haymow with bales of straw and hay stacked up to 25 feet tall!
As soon as I heard my father say that I rushed out the door. Down the gravel path to the haymow. I looked all over and there was a big nest made out straw, full of colored eggs, chocolate bunnies and those yellow chicks and candies!
Wow, what a load of goodies. I gathered up a big armful and rushed back to the breakfast table and announced I had made a haul and the Easter Rabbit was wonderful and I could share all the eggs and candies with the family!
Of course, at that time I didn't realize with all the hard work my family had to do on the farm, they still found time to dye the eggs and so on and even make nests for all the goodies!

1945 - Second Easter Basket

Now I am five years old and we are at the Easter morning breakfast and as we were eating my mother said it was strange, as she was making breakfast, she thought she saw a rabbit run by the kitchen window and go to the front yard where there were a bunch of lilac bushes.
I flew out of the kitchen and over to the lilac bushes. The dogs and cats, when it was hot, crawled under the bushes and made an area to lie in as it was cooler for them. I got down on my hands and feet and crawled into the bushes.
There was a nest made of colored strips of paper and it was again, full of goodies. That Easter Rabbit was certainly good to me!

1946 - Easter Basket Mishap

Now I am six years old and in first grade, still believing in the Easter Rabbit! The night before Easter my mother told me to go to bed and have a good sleep as tomorrow was Easter and everyone was going to bed early so we could all relax the next day.
I put on my pajama bottoms and off to bed around 9 p.m. I woke up around 10 p.m. because I heard laughing and people talking. I wondered who was making so much noise and laughing so much. I remember I walked to the kitchen and the door was shut and a light was coming out of the bottom.
I was rubbing my eyes, trying to wake up and opened the door and my sister, then she was 14, and our mother, both got mad and said I was a bad boy and should be in bed. So back to bed I went but after getting in bed I realized there was a big basket of eggs and glass bowls with various colored dyes in them.
Wait a minute, eggs, dyes, a bunch of chocolate bunnies and yellow chicks. Uh oh, I realized the Eater Rabbit was my parents and my sister.
The next morning there was a big basket of eggs and goodies but this time in the middle of the breakfast table. No middle man this time, and no Easter Rabbit. So, I would not be too devastated, they said next year I could help dye the eggs.
They said maybe I could take wax and make decorations on the eggs so the dyes leave those areas clear of the dye. Now I had something to think about for the next year, I would be the Easter Rabbit's helper!

1946 - First Grade - Easter Rabbit Update by Carol & Marilyn

A few weeks after Easter I was walking to my one room school about two miles away from our farm. The gravel road ran south and another road bisected it east and west. Carol and Marilyn lived down one way and sometimes we met at the cross roads and walked the rest of the way to school. We were in first grade. They were going on about Easter and I was walking a few feet behind. Carol said to Marilyn, parents must think we are so dumb. A rabbit hops around delivering eggs to children all over the world. How dumb do they think we are? They suddenly stopped and asked me what I thought. Since I wanted to be thought of as in the know, I agreed and said that parents were very dumb to think we believed in the Easter Rabbit. Good thing I found out on my own the truth. But sadly, things were going to get worse!

1946 - First Grade - Santa Claus Update

We continued to walk a little further and then Marilyn said to Carol that it was the same story as the Easter Rabbit. Did parents really think they believed in Santa Clause. Reindeer flying around the world, Santa bringing presents to all the children in the world. Carol said parents were so silly.
I had a trauma, not only no Easter Rabbit, but no Santa Claus, all withing one week. They again turned to me and asked my opinion. I had to think quickly, then said of course we all knew there wasn't an Easter Rabbit or a Santa Claus.

1946 - First Grade - Santa Claus Update

This photo was taken during the First Grade, as we were asked by our teacher Miss Irma Myers, how big did we think Peter Cotton's tail was. This was before the big awakening as to the facts of life, no Easter Rabbit or Santa Claus. We sure did look serious! I was already thinking about being a tech analyst as I compared my bunny tail size to Marilyn and Carol's sizes!

1946 - Facts of Life and the Holidays

I figured even if there was no Easter Rabbit or a Santa Claus, we had a wonderful time creating the Easter baskets and trimming the tree and getting present for everyone for Christmas so all was not lost! Wonderful memories from olden days on the farm! How lucky I was to live with and have such a good family.

Created on: 2024.07.08 Updated on: 2024.07.22