From Easter bunny to Oma Rāpeti
Rabbits are small, curious and cuddly, much like children, for whom they can make excellent pets. Rows of chocolate bunnies gracing the shelves of local stores hint at the enduring connections between rabbits and children.
Although, with a 100 gram Lindt Gold Easter Bunny priced at upwards of $8, many people may need to carefully consider what treats they offer their children and grandchildren this Easter.
Pet-keeping by children has expanded since the 19th century – capped by a much-noted increase since Covid.
While cats, dogs, fish and birds have long been popular companion animals, pet rabbits have also found an enduring place in many households.
Figures collected by Companion Animals NZ in 2020 showed that 2.8% of households had a pet rabbit.
Mary Morgan Richards, a Massey University ecologist, says rabbits make great pets because, as herbivores, they are safe for wildlife and have much lower carbon emissions than carnivorous pets such as cats and dogs.
She notes they are easily housetrained, quiet and friendly, with soft fur and minimal shedding. Even better, they do not get fleas or lice; nor do they smell.
However, as children outgrow pet rabbits, the animals can become lonely, especially those without a mate, and according to the SPCA they are often badly neglected in older age.
In the 19th century adults viewed pet-keeping as a means to teach children basic domestic skills, appropriate moral and social behaviour, and empathy and kindness towards other creatures.
Similar ideas about the socialisation of children through animals continue to this day.
Despite intermittent plagues of rabbits – the first Rabbit Nuisance
Act was passed in 1876 – they became increasingly popular pets for children, with or without government permits, from the 1900s.
A rare local photograph, dated to about 1920, shows a group of eight children of varying ages with six white rabbits that belonged to young Harry Whibley of Shannon.
The children are in green fancy dress costumes, which were made by Harry’s dressmaker mother to represent Ireland, featuring a waistcoat and top hat for Harry and a dress and shamrocks for Gwen.
They are dressed for Empire Day, which began in New Zealand in 1903 to celebrate the ties between the countries of the British Empire; it became Commonwealth Day in 1958.
Pet rabbits were typically gifted to children and there is some evidence children in residential care had rabbits too.
For instance, children who lived at the All Saints Children’s Home were given a pet rabbit by Mr Dale of Palmerston North in October 1927.
The majority of donations to the children’s home were food items such as cakes, scones, dripping, meat, milk, eggs, fruit and vegetables, but a number of people like Mr Dale also considered the children’s compassionate needs.
Many local children sent lively letters about their pets to ‘‘Hub’’, who ran a children’s column variously known as ‘‘The C.O.Gs’’ or ‘‘Happy Cogs’’ – short for ‘‘Companions of Gratitude’’ – in the Manawatū Times from the late 1920s to the early 1940s.
‘‘Disraeli’’ told Hub that, ‘‘Yesterday I was given a little puppy, and it is a dear. I have a pet rabbit, three pigeons, two lambs, a black kitten and the puppy, so I have a lot of pets to look after.’’
Among other recent activities, ‘‘Rising Sun’’ reported, ‘‘We did not go to Sunday School last Sunday, but went instead to visit my cousins at Kairanga. We had a nice afternoon and had great fun with a lovely pet rabbit.’’
And ‘’Funny Bunny’’ explained, ‘‘Dear
Hub, I have a white rabbit. It is Fluff. I play with it. I like it. It is a good rabbit. I give it rauraki to eat. It likes rauraki.’’
At this time, pūhā was commonly known as rauriki, which means small leaf.
Distinctions had emerged between wild rabbits, as nuisances to eliminate and utilise as food and fur, and pet rabbits, as creatures to care for and have fun with.
On one hand this eased the element of necessity when rabbit meat was the basis of everyday meals, like pies and stews, and on the other it made elaborate rabbitshaped confections for special occasions all the more festive.
Historic jelly moulds in Te Manawa’s collection evoke a tempting 20th century party treat for children.
Home-made jellies were a popular sweet pudding set with gelatine or starch and they were often shaped in moulds of varying designs and could be variously flavoured, coloured and include fruit.
Jelly moulds have been made from many materials, primarily tin, copper and earthenware, in the 19th century, glass in the early years of the 20th century, and plastic from the mid-20th century.
The popularity of homemade jellies was tied to the development of gelatine in packets.
Gregg’s, one of New Zealand’s oldest companies, began selling powdered gelatin in 1861 and instant flavoured jellies in 1925; these products rose to iconic status in the 1960s and 1970s.
Viewed up close, the clear glass and red plastic rabbit jelly moulds in Te Manawa’s collection are compellingly lifelike.
The rabbits have characteristically large, bright, all-seeing eyes; their ears lie flat along their backs as if in a state of contentment; and their front paws are close to their mouths as if they are about to lick them clean.
When set as a white, pink or browntinted blancmange, the rabbits would have quivered gently before being scooped into the bowls of eager children.
Rabbits are a staple of our culture, from retellings of Br’er Rabbit tales that are hundreds of years old, to Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit (1902), Margery Williams’ The Velveteen Rabbit (1922), Dick Bruna’s Miffy (1955), and Richard Adams’ Watership Down (1972), to more recent books, such as Sam McBratney’s Guess How Much I Love You.
At the first public holiday to mark Waitangi Day, in 1974, Howard Morrison sang Oma Rāpeti (originally a World War II song) accompanied by a group of children.
It can be heard on Anika Moa’s awardwinning 2013 Songs for Bubbas album.
Real or imagined, friend or foe, children still have close relationships with rabbits.
Fiona McKergow is an independent historian and editor of the New Zealand Journal of Public History.