How the Easter bunny got so soft

First a question: Do you know what you get when you pour host water down a rabbit hole? (see answer below)

Bloomberg View gives us the information we have been awaiting as it tells the history of the fierce competition to make the softest Easter Bunny:

Easter bunnies aren’t what they used to be.

The plush toys that line store shelves this time of year are cheaper, often safer, and much, much softer than in bygone days. They represent a small, squishy example of a pervasive phenomenon: goods whose quality has improved gradually but significantly over time, without corresponding price increases and with little recognition in the public imagination…..

Korean and Taiwanese toymakers introduced safety procedures, later copied in China, to assure that toddlers’ bedtime companions didn’t contain hidden hazards. “Every one of our toys is put through a metal detector before it goes into a box, and that’s because a little shard of a sewing needle can break off and go into the toy,” said Meyer. “We never thought of that when we produced in the United States.”

More immediately apparent is how the toys feel. A stuffed animal that would have delighted a late baby boomer like me now seems rigid and rough. Today’s toys are stuffed with soft, fibrous polyester rather than the foam rubber, sawdust or ground nut shells of the past. That makes them squishier, as do plush outer fabrics that no longer have stiff backings; the yarns are knitted to one another rather than attached to a rigid fabric like a carpet. As a result, said Meyer, “The whole stuffed toy feels softer and slouchier.” ..The real magic, however, is in that silky faux fur.

Read it all here.

What you get? Hot Cross Bunnies!

posted by Ann Fontaine

Image: By Lesekreis (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons