Happy Easter.

Back in 1957, Western Union was attempting to produce a goodwill gesture & make a few extra dollars, for their corporate coffers. The company wanted to connect their corporate moniker with the secular part of Easter, which would be the Easter Bunny. They also had a desire to use the BIGGEST TV star, at the time, to do the connecting. Western Union produced an advertisement for Bunny-Grams, with a photograph of the "I Love Lucy" TV characters, Lucy Ricardo & Little Ricky, seated in the Ricardo's living room. Actress Lucille Ball is holding actor Keith Thibodeaux (stage name, Richard Keith), with the advertisement suggesting parents should send a Bunny-Gram to their child. It would be a personal message from the Easter Bunny to your child, via a Western Union telegram.



Before the internet and before cheap long distance phone rates, the cheapest way to send an important message was by Western Union telegram. I'm betting Western Union telegrams was not a growth service, in 1957. They wanted to push their service, by any means possible.

As a side note, when Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, he offered the invention to Western Union. The company declined. BIG CORPORATE BLUNDER. Granted 20/20 hindsight is easy, I just can't grasp how they couldn't see that the spoken word would be an improvement over the written word.

Once again, HAPPY EASTER. 

DON"T FILL UP ON JELLY BEANS. 









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