There is a ton of reference in our society for storks as the deliverers of newborns. It was how all the baby animals including Dumbo was born and is a popular icon that can be found in a multitude of designs at showers and in stationery. But how did two things that seem so completely different become associated with one another?
Although they mean vastly different things depending on what part of the world you are in, in European countries they have symbolized springtime and childbirth. These ideas merged when parents attempted to address children’s curiosity about where babies came from. Rather than get into the uncomfortable details, they answered in a conservative way appropriate during Victorian times. In addition, based on a superstitious belief that storks were omens for good luck and prosperity and seeing storks nesting atop chimneys, the idea was formulated that storks dropped off babies to new parents this way.
Whatever the reason, we’re glad this stork story was born. They make our birth announcements so cute!
Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stork
