Losing one's teeth, especially at such a young age, can be quite scary. It is believed the tooth fairy has remained in the popular zeitgeist for so long because of the purpose she serves. This lore mixed the rise of Disney in the mid-1960s and became a cultural explosion of the tooth fairy. First, the legend of a mouse that sneaks into a child’s bedroom and performs the cash-for-teeth swap - a legend that spans everywhere from Russia to Mexico. The second is the typical “good fairy,” a mainly European figure that crept its way over the Atlantic. Her origins are believed to be a cross between two myths. Although, of course, there is not much written record of it. However, there is some belief that she was mentioned orally as early as the turn of the 19th century. She is a character in a short, 8 page playlet for children by Esther Watkins Arnold. So, what year did the tooth fairy officially sashay onto the scene? According to the research of Wells and others, around 1927 is her first print appearance. She began what would become a career-defining search for the origins of the tooth fairy, going as far as opening a museum of the tooth fairy run out of her home and appearing on major entertainment programs like the Oprah Winfrey show. This same question - 'Where' and 'Why' boggled a professor at Northwestern University Dental School, named Rosemary Wells. Swallowed by the mother, child or animal. Placed in a mouse hole near the stove or hearth or offered to some other animal Thrown onto or over the roof of the house, often with an invocation to some animal or individual Townend, even distilled it down to 9 basic forms. These disposal methods, of course, was of interest to many cultural anthropologists and researchers and one such researcher, BR. According to Michael Higston, a reporter from Salon covering the strange history of the tooth fairy, 'Every recorded human culture has some kind of tradition surrounding the disposal of a child’s lost baby teeth.' The tradition of dealing with baby teeth is much older than the tooth fairy herself. Now that that has been established, let's get into where this strange tradition started. Finally, when the child wakes up the next morning there is a small token underneath the pillow, usually money and the tooth and the note are gone! The child may also include a note with the tooth, thanking the tooth fairy and asking for some sort of present or wish. The baby tooth is then placed under the pillow at night while the child sleeps. First, a child has to lose a 'baby tooth'. Let's first address what we know, more or less, about the tooth fairy today. In fact, it's a very recent mythical being with very American origins. But, where the hell did this strange myth come from in the first place? Does it have ancient roots, is it linked with Greek mythology, is it a wonderful myth as old as humankind? If you grew up in America, there's a pretty good chance you had at least one run-in with a tooth fairy.

Tooth fairy original story