The Bunny Museum, in Altadena, California, began with a spontaneously uttered pet name. “I started calling him my honey bunny,” says Candace Frazee of her partner and museum co-founder, Steve Lubanski. “You know, you’re just kissing away, and you just come out with it.” Because of the nickname, Lubanski got Frazee a plush bunny for Valentine’s Day. In return, Frazee bought Lubanski a ceramic bunny for Easter. Then things escalated, and the couple – who got married in a bunny-themed ceremony – started exchanging bunny gifts on a daily basis. Now their collection contains over 40,000 bunny items and is housed in its own museum.
Candace Frazee and Steve Lubanski.
The museum isn’t quite the Natural History Museum for bunnies. It’s more of a tribute to consumer culture, seen through the lens of bunnies. If an object has been manufactured in the last half century and it had a bunny on it, there’s a pretty high chance it’s in the collection. Antiques, toys, art, boxes of Annie’s macaroni and cheese, White House Easter egg roll eggs, promotional figures of the Noid, Bugs Bunny Christmas decorations. It’s all there, sorted by theme and densely packed from floor to ceiling.
In the first of an occasional series celebrating offbeat museums, I took a guided tour with Frazee and talked to her about the collection.
What’s the most interesting thing you could tell me about bunnies?
That they have two uteruses.
I guess that’s why they breed like rabbits.
The mother can get pregnant just after giving birth because she’s using a different uterus. In nature everybody’s eating the bunny. Coyotes, foxes, hawks, humans. So they have to multiply.
Top: An inflatable bunny on the museum’s roof. Bottom: The Chamber of Hop Horrors exhibit, which shows ‘the abuse of bunnies throughout history’.
Is there anything about bunnies you’ve been shocked to find out?
That they eat their poop. Did you know that?
I didn’t.
When it first comes out, it’s soft and it looks like a bunch of grapes and then they eat it. So they’re eating their food twice. When it comes out the final time, it’s hard brown marbles.
A selection of bunny planters and coin banks.
Some of the stuff I’ve seen online [about your museum] seems kind of intentionally angled to make this place seem a bit creepy.
They call me the crazy bunny lady. And I’m not a crazy bunny lady. Sometimes the interviewers or guests will come and say, “What? You’re not wearing any bunny stuff.” Like right now. I’m not wearing any bunny stuff. Well, actually, my watch. But I’ve seen people come with their shoelaces and their sneakers and their shirts and it’s fun that they dress up to come. I love that. But I’m not doing that every day. But when I went to get my vaccine this morning, I wore ears just for the photo. Because it was fun.
Clockwise from top left: a bunny wine decanter, two bunny ornaments and a bunny snow globe.
Do you know how many items are in your collection right now?
43,700 and something.
Do you have any idea how much has been spent on it?
It’s worth $1.9m.
A bunny jigsaw puzzle.
Do you have a personal favorite object?
The first and second ones we acquired. If there was a fire or earthquake we’d run out the door with those.
Is there an item that you would say is the weirdest? An item where you’re like: “I can’t believe this exists”?
Pretty much all of the things.
Top: Various bunny ornaments, snow globes, and music boxes. Bottom: A warning sign.
Do you know what the oldest item you have is?
Yeah, they’re antiquity. 300 BC.
Are there any misconceptions about bunnies that you would like to clear up?
Yeah. People assume that they only really like carrots. That’s because of Bugs Bunny. And, unfortunately, makers of plush and porcelain items always stick a carrot with it. That’s not true. They like carrots, but you can’t eat carrots every day. It’s like you, yourself, aren’t going to eat a bologna sandwich every day. The bunny will eat a carrot but it’s not an everyday staple. People will bring carrots to feed the babies and I don’t mind. That’s great. But one open house we got thirty bags of carrots. The sink was a mound of carrots.
A display case containing the museum’s smallest items.
Do you have a favorite fictional bunny?
I like Lola Bunny, Bugs Bunny’s girlfriend. I’m curious to see how they changed her for the next one.
I saw some people were upset that she’s less sexy.
She’s not so sexy. Which is fine. But I like her because she’s blonde and she looks like me. And she was, like, the only girl bunny until Judy Hopps with Zootopia. All the famous bunnies are boy bunnies. Peter Rabbit. Brer Rabbit. Uncle Wiggly. Peter Cottontail. Even the Easter bunny is a boy. People say “What about Peter Rabbit’s mother?” I’m like, “What’s her name?” She’s C-list.
Top: Real bunnies among the fake ones. Bottom: Some of the museum’s many Bugs Bunny items.
Do you have a least favorite use of bunnies in popular culture?
Least favorite, no? Because they’re all cute. Donnie Darko is pretty creepy. Stuff like that, that they use in horror movies. Even using cute little bunnies in the movie Us. It’s like, really?
Are there Playboy bunnies in here?
They’re in the Chamber of Hop Horrors exhibit because Hugh Hefner took the bunny and abused it. The Chamber of Hop Horrors is the abuse of bunnies throughout history: experimenting on bunnies, lucky rabbit foot keychains. I got a QAnon mug on Amazon. They use the bunny. We don’t approve of it. When I saw the QAnon posters and stuff I was like, “No way! They’re using a bunny!” It’s terrible.
A QAnon mug in the Chamber of Hop Horrors exhibit.
Do you ever think about what might have happened if you’d gone with a different nickname?
We always talk about that. I could’ve said, “Oh my little froggy,” and this would be the frog museum. I could have called him my “big gorilla” and he would have given me a big stuffed gorilla and we would’ve had gorillas.
This interview has been condensed and edited
