In 1948 Irving Berlin wrote.
In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it
You'll be the grandest gal in the Easter parade.
I'll be all in clover, and when they look us over
We'll be the proudest couple in the Easter parade.
--Irving Berlin's "Easter Parade" (1948)
It is believed that the Easter Parade had its beginning in the 1870s, in New York. The Easter Parade in New York was and still is extremely popular event. Originally the church would carry Easter flowers from St. Thomas Church to St. Luke's Church. In this one block parade it became a traditional rite of spring to be seen in your new spring fashions which included hats. The hats were getting larger and larger and with the larger and were decorated with more and more. Flower, lace, ribbon, and birds nest were all used to decorate an Easter bonnet. The parade route then extended from Madison Square to Central Park.
The first Easter bonnets were worn before we even started celebrating Easter. The first bonnets were not even bonnets but were a circlet or wreath of leaves and flowers to celebrate the coming of spring. Today the Easter bonnet is typically round and still filled with leave and flowers. The round shape is to think to symbolize the shape of the sun and the cycle and path the sun takes abound the earth. The days get longer and the plants bust into life after the cold darkness of winter.
Just after the Civil war Easter was known as “Sunday of Joy,” Mother and daughters who had worn the dark colors of mourning for such a long time decided to start wearing the wonderful colors and flowers of spring. Their hats were adorned with the latest flowers. If the flowers were not blooming they would make them from paper, fabric, ribbon, hair, feathers or sea shells.
This Easter start your own tradition of wearing a hat on Easter you make it your self , with beautiful flowers, take the time to celebrate the rebirth of spring and relax in a fun and gentle way.
24th MARCH 2010 at school Let's celebrate Easter in a creative, funny and colourful way
Happy Easter!
