Who invented the toothfairy/toothfairies and in what year did she/they come about?

Question

This is not a joke. This is something I really need to know about.

Answer 1

The Tooth Fairy is a folklore character in modern Western culture said to give children a small amount of money (or sometimes a present) in exchange for a tooth when it comes out of a child's mouth.

The Tooth Fairy is an example of folklore mythology which adults know is fiction, but which is sometimes presented to children as fact. Other prominent examples are Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. The realization or discovery that such stories are make-believe is considered a part of the child's growing up. Such realizations can also cause significant emotional pain in some children due to feelings of betrayal, while other children regard it as a small matter. Many adults remember clearly for their whole lives when and how they discovered the truth.

Many families participate in the roles of this myth even when the children are also aware of the fictionality of the supposed supernatural entity, as a form of play or tradition.

This tradition is present in several western cultures under different names, for example in Spanish-speaking countries, this character is called Ratoncito Pérez, a little mouse with a common surname. In Italy also the tooth fairy (fatina) is often substited by a small mouse (topino).

The Tooth Fairy calls upon the European folklore of House Elves or Brownies who will often perform useful tasks or exchange valuable treasures for things humans view as mundane or useless.

Cultural historians say that superstition has always surrounded teeth and these valuable tokens have been used to ward off witches and demons in the past. Vikings were even supposed to give kids a "tooth fee" for using children's teeth.

Some sociologists however doubt this origin as the ritual is relatively new, coinciding with the appearance of Santa Claus, and the Easter Bunny. The act of exchanging a used up tooth for money, from a child, is analogous to purchasing sex from a used up prostitute. Sociologists speculate that the first tooth ferries were also pedophiles.

In a variety of primitive cultures, the shedding of the first baby tooth became a kind of ritual. This rite of passage has been documented numerous ways. Many of these ceremonies included verbal incantations and wishes, along with actions. Variations on this custom were most likely passed along through oral communication.

The most commonly accepted belief by academics is the fairy's development 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 torment him and knocking out all his teeth. Also, in Europe, baby teeth used to be fed to rodents and other animals in the hopes of getting sharper, more rodent-like, teeth in the future.[citation needed]

This combination of ancient international traditions has evolved into one that is distinct in the United States. Folklorist Tad Tuleja suggests three factors that have turned this folk belief into a national custom: postwar affluence, a child-directed family culture, and media encouragement.

Pioneering scholar Rosemary Wells, a former professor at the Northwestern University Dental School, found archival evidence that supports the origin of different tooth fairies in the United States around 1900, but the first written reference to one specific symbol in American literature did not appear until the 1949 book, "The Tooth Fairy" by Lee Rothgow. Considered the world's tooth fairy expert, Dr. Wells even created the Tooth Fairy Museum in 1993 in her hometown of Deerfield, Illinois. But according to the local library, it evaporated after her death when her husband liquidated all her memorabilia.

In some Asian countries, such as Japan and Korea, when a tooth falls out of a child, usually he or she should throw it by himself/herself, to the roof when it came from lower jaw or to the space beneath the floor when it came from upper jaw, shouting "please replace it with the tooth of mouse." This is also based on the fact that teeth of mouse go on growing for its whole life, a coincidence with "tooth mouse" superstitions in Western countries.

Answer 2

The Tooth Fairy is a folklore character in modern Western culture said to give children a small amount of money (or sometimes a present) in exchange for a tooth when it comes out of a child's mouth.

The most commonly accepted belief by academics is the fairy's development 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 torment him and knocking out all his teeth. Also, in Europe, baby teeth used to be fed to rodents and other animals in the hopes of getting sharper, more rodent-like, teeth in the future.

Answer 3

I don't know sorry but when my kids went to their grandmothers house they saw When Darkness Falls and were trying to keep all of their baby teeth!I didn't really teach them about the tooth fairy.If I did they would probably knock out all their teeth for a dollar per tooth since they alway want money.Maybe in the 1800's,maybe the same one's who invented santa claus.

Answer 4

Origin Of The Tooth Fairy

Answer 5

I don't know but I do know of a guy who makes jewellery from kiddies' teeth as mementos.....

Answer 6

whoever it is needs shooting,this tooth thing is costing me a fortune!