{"id":1923,"date":"2013-03-29T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-03-29T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=1923"},"modified":"2014-12-24T14:21:19","modified_gmt":"2014-12-24T14:21:19","slug":"easter-in-pittsburgh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/03\/29\/easter-in-pittsburgh\/","title":{"rendered":"Easter in Pittsburgh"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Bunny <\/a>
Bunny Business on Boulevard of the Allies (Andy Starnes, The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div>
\"Filipino <\/a>
Filipino Feast for Easter, March 19, 1978 (Photo by Michael Chikiris, The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Breakfast <\/a>
Breakfast basket blessing for Easter, April 22, 1973 (Photo by Howard Moyer, The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div>
\"Jenn <\/a>
Jenn Lawson, 3, waiting on Swienconka at St. Adalbert’s Church in South Side (Pittsburgh Press photo) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Easter <\/a>
Easter Bunny visit, March 28, 1979 (Marlene Karas, The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

1970s:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

For Easter, Pittsburgh reporters used to go \u201chopping down Bunny Trail\u201d in Downtown Pittsburgh, dressed as Easter bunnies. We kid you not! There is evidence in our archives from 1979.<\/p>\n

What do people say when they see the Easter Bunny? Well, Joe Bellmont, a traveling salesman, called out: \u201cHey, Easter Bunny, come over here and I\u2019ll give you a big smoocher.\u201d And he did.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody in Pittsburgh loves The Easter Bunny,\u201d wrote Pittsburgh Press reporter Ann Butler, who dressed as The Easter Bunny that year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was walking down the Boulevard of the Allies, and people started beeping their horns and waving \u2014 especially the bus drivers,\u201d Ms. Butler reported in her personal narrative.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome people are kidders,\u201d Ms. Butler wrote. \u201cOne guy kept asking, \u2018Are you the Playboy Bunny?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSal Slyman of Downtown was on her way to work at Westinghouse when she called out, \u2018Happy New Year!\u2019 Because it\u2019s so cold \u2014 it feels like New Year\u2019s Day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some things don\u2019t change, including a chance of spotting an Easter Bunny in Pittsburgh on Easter, though it may not be a reporter.<\/p>\n

Other things that have not changed, as we realized browsing through photographs in a folder labeled \u201cEaster,\u201d are traditions, Easter traditions have traveled to Pittsburgh through generations, from other continents.<\/p>\n

There was a 1978 photograph of Filipino women putting together an Easter feast. The Pittsburgh Press article said, \u201cOn Easter Sunday, the approximately 200 Filipino families living in the Greater Pittsburgh area help celebrate Christ\u2019s resurrection with banquet tables befitting a prince.\u201d One family, the Palileos, came to the United States in the late 1960s when former President Lyndon B. Johnson eased immigration quotas. In Pittsburgh, they established the Samahang Pilipino Sa of Pittsburgh, a social club through which they hoped to preserve the customs they brought to their adopted homeland. Most of club members were Roman Catholics. They raised money for social causes by cooking and baking. And for Easter, they served their traditional dishes, although they expressed regret in the article, saying that their children had become so Americanized that it was a challenge to make them eat traditional Filipino cooking.<\/p>\n

Easter customs of Pittsburgh\u2019s Polish community also had been captured in our photographs from the 1970s. There was The Rev. Walter S. Mroz performing the old Polish tradition of blessing food for Easter breakfast at a century-old St. Stanislaus Church at the Strip District. Parishioners took the baskets to the church, placing them in the center aisle. The food covered by a white linen or lace napkin was then sprinkled with holy water. The tradition dates to the seventh century and emphasizes the place of faith in the family. It is called \u201c<\/strong>\u015awi\u0119conka<\/strong>,\u201d the blessing of food on Holy Saturday for Easter morning.<\/p>\n

Here at The Digs, we wish all of you a Happy Easter!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For Easter, Pittsburgh reporters used to go \u201chopping down Bunny Trail\u201d in Downtown Pittsburgh, dressed as Easter bunnies.<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesEaster in Pittsburgh<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1927,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[946],"tags":[963,970,972,982,1025,1033],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/tumblr_mkej4kzQjs1rr5swxo2_1280.jpg?fit=1280%2C1088&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1394,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/09\/16\/joseph-horne-co-department-stores\/","url_meta":{"origin":1923,"position":0},"title":"Joseph Horne Co. department stores","date":"September 16, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Many residents still reminisce about the first department store in Downtown Pittsburgh.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/tumblr_mt34d2OVP21rr5swxo3_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C846&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2244,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/11\/29\/christmas-shopping-in-1972\/","url_meta":{"origin":1923,"position":1},"title":"Christmas Shopping in 1972","date":"November 29, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Pittsburgh\u2019s Downtown sidewalks were bustling and dressed in holiday style on December 22, 1972.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/tumblr_mdr8mukqGt1rr5swxo1_500.jpg?fit=500%2C413&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2173,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/12\/31\/pittsburghers-party-on-new-years-eve\/","url_meta":{"origin":1923,"position":2},"title":"Pittsburghers party on New Year\u2019s Eve","date":"December 31, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Remember December of 1985?","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/tumblr_mfcjqdSChO1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C791&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8421,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2018\/02\/14\/porcelain-door-sleds-uncle-zeus-and-other-stories-of-mine-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":1923,"position":3},"title":"Porcelain door sleds, uncle Zeus and other stories of Mine 3","date":"February 14, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"For those living in a cluster of \"company\" houses along Route 88, life was colorful and sometimes thrilling.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Digs.Mine3Guys-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C905&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1832,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/05\/01\/pittsburghs-liberty-avenue\/","url_meta":{"origin":1923,"position":4},"title":"Pittsburgh\u2019s Liberty Avenue","date":"May 1, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"In Amsterdam, it\u2019s called De Wallen. 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