Bunny Bread Sign, a Marquette Icon
Earlier today I was talking with my friend Kevin in Marietta, GA. I met Kevin for lunch there over a year ago (where I had a very tasty calzone at the Marietta Pizza Company just NW of Atlanta).
Kevin, having spent time in Marquette years ago and being a generation older than me, has done a great job of informing me of what Marquette used to be. He’s mentioned a few things that have gone missing over the years and what he educated me about this afternoon was Bunny Bread.
Kevin told me about a sign that was once famous in Marquette… a sign for Bunny Bread. And apparently the sign was taken down several years ago (it outdates my young memory, I’m only 25). Kevin inspired me to do a little research and find out where the sign went to.
After a little research I have an answer for my friend Kevin, and hopefully for some of you out there who may have been wondering whatever happened to the sign. (The sign is even mentioned in Marquette’s Wikipedia entry, so you know it has to be an icon then.)
Though I haven’t been able to find an old photo (yet) of the Bunny Bread sign in Marquette, here is a duplicate one that is in Anna, IL.
*This sign matches what used to be right here in Marquette.
There was another Bunny Bread plant with a sign in Marquette, MI. The sign came down in 1990 and went into storage. In 1996, it was installed at the Upper Peninsula Children’s Museum in Marquette. The entrance lobby, partly designed by children, was built high enough to include the bunny’s ears. The sign’s neon tubing was replaced with blue rope light.”
Yes! The sign still exists today, and absolutely everyone is welcome to come and see it at the Upper Peninsula Children’s Museum.
Though it’s a small photo you can see the bunny just inside the entrance, facing out of the large window.
In addition there has been some great dialogue on Pasty.com about the old Bunny Bread sign. To sum it up best Ed C. wrote the following…
“The Bunny Bread sign was the signal to our three kids that we had “arrived” in the U. P. after a long trip from Detroit to the Copper Country.”
It’s signs like these that often make towns unique (I should know as apparently I’ve become some sort of hometown expert). What is ironic is that day I met Kevin he made sure I got a photo of another famous sign right there in Marietta. Marquette used to have it’s Bunny Bread sign, Marietta has it’s 30-foot tall Kentucky Fried Chicken sign.
*If anyone has an old photo or has seen one of the old Marquette Bunny Bread sign please let me know.
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“We have a bunny bread pen. Also, I used to ride in the back of Bunny Bread Truck when it left Marquette at 4 in the AM to head for L’Anse on the weekend. Free Ride….and no, I never snuck any rolls. I was student at NMU and we were desperate for rides back then. I would either walk from NMU or hitch a ride downtown to Bunny Bread factory, to ride on the truck home. Crazy…crazy. The aroma was unbelievable!! I can still smell the raspberry rolls, strawberry rolls and fresh baked “Stuff”. What memories! Barb Johnson Hanshaw NMU “1963″
when i was 7-12 yrs old we lived downstate for a while till we moved back to L’anse in ‘76. I always remember seeing the bunny bread sign and knew we were almost to L;anse coming from Westland. I remember those trips well and i loved seeing that sign and often wondered what ever became of it. Great memories and that sign was a part of it. Can’t believe i wasn’t the only one!!
We had a Bunny Bread in the Sault, too! Some of my earliest and best memories are of trips with my mom to Bunny Bread, just the two of us… I, too, can still smell it :-)