I had a fairly strange childhood for an American kid in the 80’s, since my mother is from Europe and unfamiliar with a lot of American customs. No Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, or Tooth Fairy for me and my siblings.
So here’s my question.
I get Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, but where the heck does the Tooth Fairy come from? When did everyone collectively decide that children should leave their teeth under their pillow in exchange for coins? And do other countries do this as well, or is it just the U.S.? I’ve asked a couple of friends and my dad, but no one seems to know. Any help is appreciated.
I wouldn’t know where it comes from, but it’s definitely not a purely american thing. We don’t have the tooth fairy, here, but “la petite souris” (the little mouse) does exactly the same job.
At some point when I was a child I refused to let her took my teeth. I wanted to keep them as souvenirs in a little box. I still got the coins, though.
No idea where or exactly how it started, but it’s a nice way to deal with a somewhat traumatic event, at least the first time. After all, a piece of your body just fell out, might have hurt or bled a little. Ah, but if you hide it just here, you will get a present!
[QUOTE=clairobscur]
By the way, I’m extremely surprised that your mother was unfamiliar with Santa Claus. In which european country would he be unknown?
We had “Jule Nisse” instead, little gnome-ish creatures that you leave a bowl of porridge out for. If they eat it, you get good crops that year.
My dad’s backyard tomatos always did surprisingly well the years we left stuff out for the Nissemen…
When I was a child my parents used to leave me double the money if I had a filling - probably to get me to actually let the dentist use that awful drill.
When my daughter was very young she used to ask awkward questions about the tooth fairy - like “What do they want the teeth for?” I said the first thing that came into my head - that they used them to make tiny hatchets. This was OK until one day a tooth came out when she was eating and she swallowed it by accident. She got major hysterics - what happens now, when the tooth fairy couldn’t get the tooth??? I told her to leave them a note - which she made me sign - attesting to the fact that her tooth had really come out and asking could she have the money anyway. Needless to say - they paid up!!! One weapon less for the fairy army!!!
I told my children that she took them back to fairyland for the fairies to use to build their castles.
When I lost my first tooth, My Kentucky grandma said that if I could keep my tongue out of the hole, the new tooth would grow in solid gold! Of course no child could manage that - nor any adult, either I’ll bet.
