How My Mother added Extra Sweetness to an Easter Tradition

A snail-mail letter tells the story

My mother was known to many people as ‘Grandma Bobble Hat’ in honor of the headgear she often wore; especially when she went to Church.

So recognized was my mum (as Grandma Bobble Hat) that at her funeral service, the minister placed her bobble hat on top of the coffin.

Some 30 years ago one of my mother’s letters would add extra sweetness to Easter-time festivities. In that letter, she inadvertently created a new two-word phrase that could transform Easter-giving traditions.

What could that new two-word phrase be? How could just two words possibly change Easter traditions?

This is the story of how she did it (and she didn’t even know!):

Grandma Bobble Hat always lived in England; always in Lancashire; rarely venturing far from her home and never going overseas. Yet without knowing it (partly because of one word that was misunderstood in a letter she received from me), she inadvertently contributed a new two-word phrase to the Easter Lexicon; and one that could well start a new commercial tradition.

The unique phrase emerged after I had emigrated to Australia in the 1980s. My mother and I would regularly exchange letters sharing news from England and news from Australia.

This was a time before emails, before the internet, and before texting.

It was the Snail-Mail Era. The era of handwritten letters!

Though I had access to a typewriter, I wrote long-hand letters to mum. She, of course, replied similarly.

All letters were exchanged via snail-mail. All in cursive writing (we used to call it ‘joined-up writing’).

It was just before Easter-time that one such letter-exchange would create the unique phrase that would be added to the Easter Lexicon.

In that pre-Easter letter from Australia to mum in England, I tried to explain one aspect of Australian Easter celebrations that doesn’t feature in English celebrations, and therefore might not have been known to her.

In England, as in many parts of the world, modern Easter celebrations involve the giving of Chocolate Easter Eggs to children and often, Chocolate Easter Bunnies too (that’s Easter ‘Rabbits’ if you didn’t know!).

In my letter, I told mum that in Australia, some people give, instead of a chocolate Bunny, a chocolate Bilby.

The Bilby is a small Australian marsupial animal (an endangered species). It has long ears and is quite cute.

Macrotis lagotis is a desert-dwelling marsupial known as the bilby or rabbit-bandicoot. It is known as the greater bilby. Another species, the lesser bilby, became extinct in the 1950s. The greater bilby survives as an endangered species.

As previously noted, our snail-mail letters were written in old-fashioned joined-up writing and the letter that was sent to mum mentioning chocolate bilbies would have looked something like this:

The sentence to focus on in the above letter reads:

“Sometimes at Easter-time, kids are given Chocolate Bilbies.”

Now, perhaps you are wondering: “where is the mysterious, unique two-word phrase that mum created for Easter?”

Well, the phrase is contained in mum’s reply letter.

Look at her reply letter, below:

In this letter, I’ve picked out two sentences for you to focus on:

“I particularly liked the bit about Easter gifts for children,”

and

“What a lovely idea, to give the children Chocolate Bibles,”

Have you spotted the new two-word phrase; the new Easter item that might even start a new Easter tradition?

Had mum read my letter without putting on her reading-glasses, or was my writing style a bit too sloppy?

Whatever the reason, Grandma Bobble Hat had created a new two-word phrase that can now enter the Easter Lexicon.

The phrase:

“CHOCOLATE BIBLES” *** “CHOCOLATE BIBLES”

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So, there you have it. It’s ‘BILBIES NOT BUNNIES’:

BILBIES not BUNNIES ********* or is it ‘BIBLES’!!?

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“How My Mother added sweetness”: by Fred: Almost Famous * * * * * © Fred Ogden 2021 * * * * *

Thank you for reading … Hope you enjoyed the read.

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I’ve also written another ‘Easter’ story that includes the above tale, but also has another one too. If you enjoyed the first one, try this one too:

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