Easter Memory from 1977: The Saga of Yakety Jack

Yakety Jack the chocolate Easter bunny

On Good Friday, 1977 the man I would later marry gave me a chocolate rabbit for Easter. His name, Yakety Jack, was on the box he came in and the packaging looked like a telephone booth.

The chocolate bunny had a telephone to his ear and I thought this was fantastic. I tried very hard to find an image of Yakety Jack on the internet but was unsuccessful.

I was 19 years old at the time but excited like a young girl in love because my sweetie had chosen this gift for me. Necause the chocolate Easter Bunny came in such a nice package and had a name, I did not want to open the box and eat him right away.

At that time I was in college and staying with my great aunt and uncle during the week. I placed Yakety Jack in the back of their refrigerator before going home for the weekend.

Off with his head!

When I returned to my aunt's house on Easter Sunday evening, I still could not bring myself to eat my chocolate bunny. I took him out of the fridge and admired his package that resembled a telephone booth.

Children today have no memories of stepping into the glass cage and turning the old rotary dial to place a call. I put Yakety Jack in the back left side of the refrigerator and went on my way.

On Wednesday evening I decided that I would have to eat the chocolate bunny before he went bad. I took him out of the box and got the shock of my life because his head and shoulders were missing.

On this day I was disappointed but later, I would laugh and think of the Queen of Hearts in the Disney version of Alice in Wonderland, when she screamed, "Off with her head." Someone had made off with Yakety Jack's head.

The end of Yakety Jack

When I got over my shock, I asked what had happened and my uncle James said that he ate my bunny because I left it sitting for so long. At that point, I gave him the rest of it. What else could I do?

My aunt Gladys laughed about it for a long time, often referring to "Ol Yakety Jack." When I process it now I have conflicting emotions regarding what my uncle did.

It was his house and refrigerator, but I don't believe he had the right to take what belonged to another. If I had left my bunny until the next Easter, it was my right. It was also a gift and for that reason, uncle James should have left my chocolate rabbit alone.

Mixed emotions about Yakety Jack

I would have preferred that he had asked me how long I was going to let the chocolate Easter bunny sit in the fridge, or if I intended to eat it. The idea of my uncle salivating each time he opened the refrigerator and imagining how delicious that bunny would be is pretty funny now.

His decision to finally go for it and take a bite is a fond memory, now that uncle James has been dead since 1984. I relieve the saga of Yakety Jack's end practically every spring as Easter/Resurrection Sunday approaches.

For years I would mention Yakety Jack to my spouse and he would say I should have eaten it and we both would have a good laugh. It means so much more to me now since my husband died in 2021. Fond longterm memories are the best.