Origin of the Tooth Fairy
Origin of the Tooth Fairy
Most kidlets know what happens when they lose a tooth – they place it under their pillow and the tooth fairy will come in the night and replace it with some money. Like many childhood “visitors,” the tooth fairy seems to have evolved from different folklores and cultural rituals. A quick browse of the topic online sheds some interesting light on where the Tooth Fairy came from.
Many folk cultures have for centuries marked the loss of a child's baby or milk teeth
- In Europe it was a common practice to bury the baby tooth in the garden or in the fields surrounding the child's home. One reason was to ensure that a new tooth (permanent tooth) would grow in its place. The other reason for this ritual was superstition. Supposedly, witches and/or evil spirits could place curses on a child if they had its tooth (as with fingernail clippings and/or hair), so burying the teeth prevented this unfortunate curse. As people moved into towns and cities where bare land wasn't as plentiful, they began placing the teeth in small flowerpots, planter boxes, or bedside chests.
- In some Asian countries, the usual custom was for the child to throw a lost tooth onto the roof if it came from the lower jaw, or into the space beneath the floor if it came from the upper jaw. While doing this, the child shouts a request for the tooth to be replaced with the tooth of a mouse. Apparently, the teeth of mice go on growing for their entire lifespan which is a good thing.
- In parts of India, young children offer their discarded baby tooth to the sun, sometimes wrapped in a tiny rag of cotton turf.
- The Vikings believed that the power of the children’s teeth would aid them in battles. They used to pay their children a “tooth fee” so they could string the teeth onto necklaces and other jewelry.
- Many historians believe the Tooth Fairy evolved from the tooth mouse depicted in an 18th century French language fairy tale. In "La Bonne Petite Souris," a mouse changes into a fairy to help a good queen defeat an evil king by hiding under his pillow to torture him and knocking out all his teeth.
- No one seems to have a solid story about what the tooth fairy does with all those teeth. (Anecdotal evidence indicates that parents generally make something up on the spot…)
This was compiled through information found on various websites and google searches.
