The tooth fairy, her story and the idea behind the custom
When children lose their baby teeth, they are collected, put under the pillow and, with a bit of luck, the tooth fairy comes by at night to collect the teeth and put money under the pillow. It's quite clear, isn't it? But where does the custom actually come from and is it followed the same way all over the world?
The tooth fairy has been around for over 200 years. In France, the tooth fairy brings a small gift at night and puts it under the pillow. In Poland, children plant their fallen tooth in the garden. This will help the new teeth grow faster.
However, it is not clear where the story of the tooth fairy actually comes from. A story from France or a play from the USA is reported. In all the stories, the milk teeth that are collected are considered very valuable and should therefore always be taken good care of by the children. So the message of the story is clearly about taking care of your teeth.
It is common for the tooth fairy to exchange the tooth for a coin or a gift, but why? The custom of the tooth fairy is said to go back to the story “The Good Little Mouse”. The 17th-century French fairy tale was written by Madame d'Aulnoy and tells the story of a fairy who transforms into a mouse to save the queen from the evil king. To do this, the mouse hides under the king's pillow and breaks all his teeth. That's why children in France are not visited by the tooth fairy, but by the little mouse.
According to other sources, the story of the tooth fairy originated from the play by Esther Watkins Arnold in 1927 . Lee Rogow is said to have picked up the story in his 1949 book “The Tooth Fairy” and thanks to Disney, the whole thing sparked a real hype. The money is intended to motivate the children to take good care of their teeth so that they put healthy teeth under the pillow and the tooth fairy is happy to collect them. If you don't take care of your teeth, you won't get a gift. At the same time, the custom is intended to ensure that children do not have to worry about their teeth falling out.
The tooth fairy is therefore the perfect educational method to reward children for their behavior and a nice custom to make the change of teeth as pleasant as possible. Since the Tooth Fairy was made into a film by Disney, she has remained a popular film character to this day, featured in costumes, cuddly toys and children's books.
If you carry out the custom with your children at home, you can keep the teeth in a small box and play the tooth fairy yourself. You can find a suitable milk tooth box here in our online shop.
Written by Catherine
