The History of the Easter Bonnet

Carol asks: How did the tradition of wearing an Easter Bonnet begin?

The Easter Bonnet was first worn at what was to become the traditional Easter Parade. The Parade began in New York City in the 1870s, on the first Easter after the end of the Civil War. The event was celebrated with crowds carrying flowers, clothed in uplifting pastel colors to signal the “renewal of life”. Eventually, the Parade became a yearly ritual for the social elite to attend Easter church services and afterward parade down 5^th Avenue in hopes of onlookers, and each other, to be granted a chance to show off their new Easter hats and bonnets.