1.   An analogy would be chocolate Easter bunnies, Laczko pointed out, or a candy Santa.

2.   As soon as I wake up, early on Easter, I retrieve the small chocolate bunny that I hide in my night stand every year on this occasion.

3.   A chocolate Easter bunny has melted in its wrapper.

4.   But Tom Ward, president of Russell Stover Candies in Kansas City, said most consumers still choose customary items such as jelly beans or chocolate bunnies.

5.   Consumers buying chocolate bunnies during the early arrival of Easter also contributed to sales, they added.

6.   Every Easter morning, the Easter Bunny delivers millions and millions of chocolate bunnies, chocolate eggs and marshmallow Peeps to children around the world.

7.   Let us begin with the chocolate bunnies.

8.   Once they had selected their winner, they decided if they preferred their favorite chocolate bunny to the peanut-butter version.

9.   Others were grateful for the food, the first chocolate bunnies at Easter, or the flour with which to make their first peace-time cake.

10.   The bunny just had to come up with a few colored eggs, a hollow chocolate bunny and some marshmallow chicks, and everyone was satisfied.