Where did the tooth fairy come from?

Photo credit M. Archibeit (1)

Whether you picture the tooth fairy as a bubbly fairy princess in a flowing dress or as Dwayne Johnson in a tutu and tights in Walden Media's 2010 movie Tooth Fairy, the tooth fairy has been increasing the bankroll of children worldwide for generations.

In fact, even in the midst of a recession, the average American child nets $3.70 per tooth.  Cheryl Chumley, reporter for the Washington Times says "at current rates, the Tooth Fairy will be paying $74 for a full set of 20 baby teeth in today’s market" (2). 

Long before there was a tooth fairy, disposing of baby teeth was a major cause for concern for parents.  Not wanting witches to curse their children by getting access to their teeth, baby teeth were often buried in garden plots or open fields around the child's home.  It was also believed that by burying baby teeth in the ground would encourage adult teeth to grow (4).  As people moved out of the country and into more industrial areas open fields weren't as plentiful, so tradition was changed to planting baby teeth in planters.  Finally, burying teeth was eliminated and teeth were placed in pouch or pocket and placed under the child's pillow (3).  By placing the baby tooth under a child's pillow a midnight visitor, the Tooth Fairy, would enter the child's room to take the baby tooth and replace it with a token or monetary gift.

Traditions behind what is left as token gift varies from region to region, but in originally in Europe money was only left after the sixth tooth was lost.  Depending on the area, the tooth is sometimes left behind or taken back to the Tooth Fairy's tooth covered castle where it is filed away for each individual child.  In the 2012 movie, Rise of the Guardians, Toothiana works as the Queen of the Tooth Fairies who scoured the world every night collecting baby teeth and leaving money behind.  The teeth are then stored in individual capsules for each child as each tooth contains precious childhood memories (5).     



We at Feelgood Falls love the tradition of the tooth fairy and wanted to create a special keepsake for your and your child to use to celebrate the magic. We created two adorable tooth fairy pillow styles for you and your child to love.  Shop now in our Etsy store.

   

Basic Tooth Fairy Pillow $15

 

Personalized Tooth Fairy Pillow $25

Bibliography

1.  Arbeiter, M. (2012, April 11). Pain and Gain: Mark Wahlberg the rock play dress up pics . Retrieved from Hollywood : http://www.hollywood.com/news/movies/23698872/pain-and-gain-mark-wahlberg-the-rock-play-dress-up-pics

2.  Chumley, C. (2013, August 30 ). Tooth Fairy pay-outs on the rise, as inflation meets poor parenting. Retrieved from Washington Times : http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/aug/30/tooth-fairy-pay-outs-rise-inflation-meets-poor-par/

3.  History of the Tooth Fairy . (2013). Retrieved from History of the Tooth Fairy : http://www.thesmilestones.com/toothfairyhistory.htm

4.  Toothiana . (2013 ). Retrieved from Rise of the Guardians Wiki : http://riseoftheguardians.wikia.com/wiki/Toothiana

5.  Warner, D. R. (2013, November 13). The History of the Tooth Fairy . Retrieved from Warner Family Dentistry : www.warnerfamilydentistry.com/Warner_Family_Dentistry/Tooth_Fairy_history.html