# Today is Winnie the Pooh’s 100th birthday **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [October 14, 2026, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-winnie-the-pooh-s-100th-birthday/1033843 "2026-10-14T23:26:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Oly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oly/32/8255_2.png) [@Oly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oly)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2026, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-winnie-the-pooh-s-100th-birthday/1033843/1 "2026-10-14T23:26:50Z")
Silly old bear [https://www.nypl.org/spotlight/winnie-the-pooh-100](https://www.nypl.org/spotlight/winnie-the-pooh-100) ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2026, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-winnie-the-pooh-s-100th-birthday/1033843/2 "2026-10-14T23:47:22Z")
> “Pooh, _promise_ you won’t forget about me, ever. Not even when I’m a hundred.” > > Pooh thought for a little. > > “How old shall _I_ be then?” > > “Ninety-nine.” > > Pooh nodded. > > “I promise,” he said. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2026, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-winnie-the-pooh-s-100th-birthday/1033843/3 "2026-10-15T00:07:13Z")
Happy Birthday Winnie the Pooh. 🍯 ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2026, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-winnie-the-pooh-s-100th-birthday/1033843/4 "2026-10-15T00:24:55Z")
My inner Owl feels compelled to point out that it’s “Winnie-the-Pooh.” (Disney dropped the hyphens.) ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2026, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-winnie-the-pooh-s-100th-birthday/1033843/5 "2026-10-15T00:28:07Z")
I loved Pooh as a kid, and my kids like him too, although not nearly as much as I did. But they’re spoiled for choice; they have Netflix and Amazon and Peacock and… All I had was a few Winnie The Pooh cassettes. Still, maybe we will have to bring him around again. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2026, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-winnie-the-pooh-s-100th-birthday/1033843/6 "2026-10-15T00:28:16Z")
Well, if we’re nitpicking, I think Winnie is 105ish. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2026, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-winnie-the-pooh-s-100th-birthday/1033843/7 "2026-10-15T00:47:53Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > My inner Owl feels compelled to point out that it’s “Winnie-the-Pooh.” (Disney dropped the hyphens.) It’s "Winnie-_ther_-Pooh. Don’t you know what _ther_ means? ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2026, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-winnie-the-pooh-s-100th-birthday/1033843/8 "2026-10-15T00:48:07Z")
Celebrate by dressing Pooh-style: red t-shirt, no pants! ETA: I just realized I don’t have a red t-shirt. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2026, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-winnie-the-pooh-s-100th-birthday/1033843/9 "2026-10-15T00:50:19Z")
And a smackerel of honey. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2026, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-winnie-the-pooh-s-100th-birthday/1033843/10 "2026-10-15T00:56:04Z")
I certainly didn’t, until I understood the difference between rhotic and non-rhotic English. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2026, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-winnie-the-pooh-s-100th-birthday/1033843/11 "2026-10-15T01:06:16Z")
“A fly can’t bird, but a bird can fly.” “Why does a chicken? I don’t know why.” (The Muppets’ Rowlf the Dog playing and singing Pooh’s song when Pooh’s mind felt fluffy). [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KJ\_07C89Tp0&ra=m](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KJ_07C89Tp0&ra=m) ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2026, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-winnie-the-pooh-s-100th-birthday/1033843/12 "2026-10-15T01:13:41Z")
Yes, absolutely. Spend as much time as you want face first in a hunnypot. ---
**Author:** ![Oly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oly/32/8255_2.png) [@Oly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oly)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2026, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-winnie-the-pooh-s-100th-birthday/1033843/13 "2026-10-15T01:21:56Z")
When I was a little boy my mom made me a stuffed Pooh. I carried him everywhere and slept with him at night. Then one day while on a long car ride - pickup ride really, while my parents rode on the bench seat in the cab, me and my two older brothers were in the canopy covered bed, where it often became a lord of the flies on wheels - my brother and I got in a fight and he shredded my beloved Pooh. I cried and cried. My brother felt bad and apologised. This happened not long before my birthday, and when I came to breakfast that morning, sitting in my chair was another Pooh! I called him Pooh Two. He’s still with me - not my brother, who passed away several years ago. But Pooh Two abides. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2026, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-winnie-the-pooh-s-100th-birthday/1033843/14 "2026-10-15T01:31:20Z")
Beautiful- thanks for sharing. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2026, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-winnie-the-pooh-s-100th-birthday/1033843/15 "2026-10-15T03:39:23Z")
He’s Edward Bear and, no, not the singer of, “Last Song.” Bother. ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2026, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-winnie-the-pooh-s-100th-birthday/1033843/16 "2026-10-15T05:14:04Z")
Hipy Papy Bthuthdth Thuthda Bthuthdy, Pooh! ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2026, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-winnie-the-pooh-s-100th-birthday/1033843/17 "2026-10-15T05:53:59Z")
Interestingly, Winnie the Pooh (the fictional character) was inspired by a real orphaned bear cub (named “Winnipeg,” shortened to “Winnie”) from Northern Ontario, adopted by a Canadian serviceman in WWI, taken to the UK during that conflict as a unit mascot, and left in the care of the London Zoo, while the unit left to fight in Europe: > **[Winnipeg (bear)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnipeg_(bear))** > > Winnipeg (1914 – 12 May 1934), or Winnie, was the name given to a female black bear that lived at London Zoo from 1915 until her death in 1934. Purchased from a hunter by cavalry veterinarian Harry Colebourn, Winnie is best-remembered for inspiring the name of A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard's character, Winnie-the-Pooh. Upon the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Lt. Harry Colebourn of The Fort Garry Horse, a Canadian cavalry regiment, volunteered his service. On 24 August, while en route to... I’ve been through White River, Ontario. They make the most of their Winnie the Pooh connection, with a big statue of the character in a park, and various Winnie the Pooh souvenirs for sale. And the train station from which Colebourne and Winnie departed on the long journey to the UK is still there. The station is still in use today. Kind of interesting to stand on the White River train station platform and imagine an Army unit and their new mascot boarding a train from that platform ninety years prior. ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2026, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-winnie-the-pooh-s-100th-birthday/1033843/18 "2026-10-15T05:55:35Z")
Classic Pooh is much better than Disney Pooh. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2026, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-winnie-the-pooh-s-100th-birthday/1033843/19 "2026-10-15T09:23:01Z")
Disneyfication is a well-known detrimental effect. They managed to ruin Thomas the Tank Engine as well. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2026, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-winnie-the-pooh-s-100th-birthday/1033843/20 "2026-10-15T09:52:56Z")
> [@rsat3acr](#): > > Classic Pooh is much better than Disney Pooh. You’re not wrong, but I think the original adaptations from the 60s-70s were reasonably faithful. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-winnie-the-pooh-s-100th-birthday/1033843.md?page=2)