The Bunny hug was a dancing style performed by young people, in the early 20th century. It is thought to have originated in San Francisco, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 in the Barbary Coast

Barbary Coast, San Francisco, California

Barbary Coast was a red-light district in old San Francisco, California. Geographically it constituted nine blocks bounded by Montgomery Street, Washington Street, Stockton Street, and Broadway...

 dance hall

Dance hall

Dance hall in its general meaning is a hall for dancing. From the earliest years of the twentieth century until the early 1960s, the dance hall was the popular forerunner of the discothèque or nightclub...

s along with the Texas Tommy

Texas Tommy (dance)

After the great 1906 earthquake and fire in San Francisco, the Barbary Coast became more of a tourist attraction than its predecessor. Dance-floors and variety shows designed to shock the tourists replaced prostitution as the chief business and many of the dance crazes that swept America during...

, Turkey Trot and Grizzly Bear

Grizzly Bear (dance)

The Grizzly Bear is an early 20th century dance style. It started in San Francisco, along with the Bunny Hug and Texas Tommy and was also done on the Staten Island ferry boats in the 1900's. It has been said that dancers John Jarrott and Louise Gruenning introduced this dance as well as the Turkey...

.

The Bunny Hug was performed to the music of America's great Ragtime composers. The Bunny Hug, like other "animal" dances, caused a lot of uproar in polite society.

Noble Sissle

Noble Sissle

Noble Sissle was an American jazz composer, lyricist, bandleader, singer and playwright.-Early life:...

 has been quoted as saying that W.C. Handy's song "The Memphis Blues

The Memphis Blues

"The Memphis Blues" is a song described by its composer, W.C. Handy, as a "Southern Rag." It was self-published by Handy in September, 1912 and has been recorded by many artists over the years.-"Mr. Crump":...

" inspired Vernon Castle to create the dance when he heard James Reese Europe

James Reese Europe

James Reese Europe was an American ragtime and early jazz bandleader, arranger, and composer. He was the leading figure on the African American music scene of New York City in the 1910s.-Biography:...

 play the Memphis blues and Castle liked the rhythm. Apparently Castle later renamed the Bunny Hug the Fox-trot, hoping to convince the public that he invented the Foxtrot

Foxtrot (Dance)

The foxtrot is a smooth progressive dance characterized by long, continuous flowing movements across the dance floor. It is danced to big band music, and the feeling is one of elegance and sophistication...

 dance.

In 1914, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 introduced a dance entitled "The Rabbit Dance" which was said to be just like the American Bunny Hug.

The term 'bunny hug' is also used in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

 to refer to hooded sweatshirts or 'hoodies'.