Easter Bunny drives a Volkswagen

Our very own Easter Bunny this year is Paul Gouin, who served as a cheerful Greeter at our local McDonalds until the COVID-19 pandemic shut things down.

Paul writes: “Hi Bill. It’s Paul! That’s me, the Easter Bunny in my baby blue VW convertible! I read your column and love your pictures, especially that ’42 Lincoln Continental. I want one! I was born January 16, 1944.

“I had COVID-19 in late March. Very sick. I’m great today. Praise God! I’ll take a year off till things get better, we hope. I’m a great grandfather now, a boy (three). Got a new 2020 Kia. My Baby Blue still the best.”

Paul Gouin as Easter Bunny in his Baby Blue VW.

When Paul was born, no new cars were being built because of the war. But lots of Jeeps were in full production as a small light-weight military vehicle widely used during World War II and now often employed as a recreational vehicle.

Joe Frazer, president of Willys-Overland from 1939 to 1944 claimed to have coined the name from the initials G.P., a military abbreviation for General Purpose Vehicle.

Soldiers and test drivers had lots of names for it too (some of them unprintable), including Bantam, Blitz Buggy, Bug, Gnat, Midget, Pygmy, and Peep. Gradually Peep was elbowed out by Jeep, and when Washington Daily News reporter Katy Hillyer rode in one in February 1941, she asked what it was called.

Someone said “Jeep” and that’s what she put in her newspaper. The name stuck.

Leamington resident Herm Dick drives a modern Jeep and asked me if I knew why the Jeep has seven openings in its grille. When I was stuck for an answer, he said the seven openings are there to remind us that we can find Jeeps on all seven continents, even Antarctica!

I’m always looking for stories. Email billtsherk@sympatico.ca.