From 1800Flowers.com

"Historians believe that the word “Easter” derives from “Eostre,” the pagan goddess of spring and fertility. Drawings of Eostre often depict her holding a woven basket on her arm. Eggs, which have been considered a sign of new life in many cultures, were eaten and even buried as part of the Eostre festival.

The hare or the rabbit also is a symbol of fertility in Western culture. By the early 17th century, some German parents began telling their children stories of the Osterhase (Easter Hare) delivering colored eggs to the baskets of well-behaved children. As part of this tradition, children left small nests or baskets lined with grasses to look like nests left outside overnight for the Osterhase.

Another theory of the origin of the Easter basket comes from the early medieval Catholic church. Worshipers brought baskets of food with them to church to be blessed by the priest as part of the celebration of the end of Lent.

Many of the other secular traditions connected with Easter – such as candy eggs, the Easter egg hunt, the Easter parade, and sending Easter cards – began in earnest in the Victorian era."