08/22/2025
🧚♀️ THE HISTORY OF THE TOOTH FAIRY ⬇️
Today, August 22, is NATIONAL TOOTH FAIRY DAY (also celebrated Feb 28). Many of us grew up excited to lose our baby teeth so we could leave them under our pillow and awake to a treat in the morning. But what’s the history of this legend?
There are subtle nods through history to the origin of the tooth fairy legend. An old Irish folk tradition tells of fairy “changelings,” where a tooth placed near a sleeping child would protect them and fool any nearby malevolent spirits. There’s also a Venetian version of the Italian Befana, who acts as Santa Claus, giving presents or a coin to a child who has lost a tooth. And in late 19th century France, one tradition tells of the Virgin Mary exchanging a coin or presents for a tooth left under a child’s pillow.
But the closest parallel to the American Tooth Fairy is an 18th century French fairy tale called La Bonne Petite Souris-but it’s not exactly kid-friendly. A good queen is imprisoned by a bad king and enlists a mouse for help. The mouse turns out to be a fairy who frees the queen and knocks out the king’s teeth. The fairy-mouse then hides the teeth under the king’s pillow, before eventually having him assassinated (yikes). Finally, In the 13th century, there was a Norse tradition called “tand fe`” which means “tooth fee.” Parents gave children a small fee for their first lost tooth, which was thought to be good luck.
A more modern explanation emerged in 1908. A Chicago Tribune article suggested parents tell their kids of a Tooth Fairy who leaves five cents per tooth to make them less afraid of losing them. Later on in American history, just as Clement Moore created the modern American version of Santa Claus in the previous century, so too did the idea of good fairies and fairy godmothers run rampant on 1950s American childhoods thanks to characters like Tinkerbell and Cinderella.
Other countries, of course, follow slightly different traditions. In Sweden and Argentina, the tooth is left in a glass of water. A Magical Mouse takes the tooth, drinks the water, and leaves behind money.
Source credits:
CBS
Forbes Magazine
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