Easter collectibles include everything from cardboard bunnies to eggs fit for a Tsar. Here's what's out there, and how much you will pay to make it yours.
Collectors look for symbols of Easter such as eggs and lilies, and of course, bunnies & baskets, and these collectibles can be had for prices ranging from pennies to millions.
The Easter Egg
Eggs have been part of the Easter tradition for thousands of years, and the Christian tradition may have its roots in an earlier Judaic one, where eggs as a symbol of new life were a symbolic part of the Passover Seder. Numerous ancient cultures adopted the egg as part of the Easter holiday tradition. Greeks exchange red ones that symbolize the blood of Christ; Germans and Austrians green ones. Armenians decorated theirs with holy pictures, and Slavic people adorn theirs with silver and gold. The Romanovs took this a step further, adding precious metals, enamels, precious and semi-precious gems, and clocks and mechanical toys as designed by court jeweler, Peter Carl Fabergé.
Egg collectibles are available in a variety of shapes and materials, including paper décor, chocolate molds, wind-up music boxes, papier maché, plastic, glass, porcelain, tin, crystal, cardboard and honeycomb crepe paper, and even real eggs. A new Swarovski crystal egg on a stand recently sold on eBay for $27. A lot of six lithographed tin egg-shaped candy containers from the late 1950s or early 1960s decorated with lambs, chicks, bunnies and ducks brought $30. A new Limoges egg-shaped trinket box made $11.
Easter Bunny Origins
As spring is a time of rebirth; it’s not surprising that animals, especially baby ones, are an easily recognized symbol of the holiday. Lambs, chicks, ducklings, and especially bunnies are the Easter ambassadors of the animal world. It is thought that the pagans worshipped the Goddess Eastre, who was symbolized by a rabbit and, like so many Christian traditions, was co-opted from earlier cultures. The Germans brought the tradition of the Easter Bunny to the new world, exchanging the bonnet in which the bunny brought colored eggs for the basket.
Collectible Easter Baskets
Both vintage and contemporary baskets are popular collectibles, and baskets are available in an range of materials including wood, wicker, sea grass, plastic, fabric, glass, and metal, precious or otherwise. A Fenton Glass Easter basket in yellow opalescent with a twisted handle and pearled brim sold on eBay for $56.
Longaberger is by far the most well known and prolific of the contemporary basket makers, and eBay offers hundreds of examples. A 1994 basket with liner, protector, and hand painted lid with bunnies recently sold for $33. A 2003 whitewash and aqua with liner brought $45, and a 1993 JW series with liner and protector made $51. With some exceptions, prices for Longaberger on the secondary market remain weak, as prices realized are below original cost.
Collectible Plates go Unsold
As in other areas, the secondary market for mass manufactured collectibles is weak. In the last month or so, of the 20 collector plates by Avon, Knowles, and Schmid offered on eBay, none were sold. The same held true for Precious Moments decorated eggs.
REFERENCE: Official Guide to Christmas and Other Holiday Collectibles by Dawn Reno Langley House of Collectibles 2006
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