[blparent] Origins of the Tooth Fairy

[Veronica Smith]

My oldest brother told us when he was young he was told if he threw his 
teeth to the sun, they would come ot straight.  So he did so and he said he 
got crooked teeth and no money for his troubles. (lol) V
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jo Elizabeth Pinto" <jopinto at pcdesk.net>
To: "NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, February 16, 2009 4:27 PM
Subject: [blparent] Origins of the Tooth Fairy


Here's some info I found about the Tooth Fairy on the Internet.


In early Europe, it was a tradition to bury baby teeth that fell out. Some 
believe that the Tooth Fairy evolved 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 torture him and knocking out all his teeth.

This combination of ancient international traditions has evolved into one 
that is distinct Anglo-Saxon and Latin American cultures among others.

Tooth 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, or just "ratón de los 
dientes" (Tooth Mouse). The "Ratoncito Pérez" character was created around 
1894 by the priest Luis Coloma (1851-1915), a member of the Real Academia 
Española since 1908. The Crown asked Coloma to write a tale for the 
eight-year old Alfonso XIII, as one of his teeth had fallen out. A Ratón 
Pérez appeared in the tale of the Vain Little Mouse. The Ratoncito Pérez was 
used by Colgate marketing in Venezuela and Spain.

In Italy also the Tooth Fairy (Fatina) is often substituted by a small mouse 
(topino). In France, this character is called La Petite Souris (« The Little 
Mouse »). From parts of Lowland Scotland, comes a tradition similar to the 
fairy mouse: a white fairy rat which purchases the teeth with coins.

In some Asian countries, such as India, Korea and Vietnam, when a child 
loses a tooth the usual custom is that he or she should throw it onto the 
roof if it came from the lower jaw, or into the space beneath the floor if 
it came from the upper jaw. While doing this, the child shouts a request for 
the tooth to be replaced with the tooth of a mouse. This tradition is based 
on the fact that the teeth of mice go on growing for their whole life, a 
characteristic of all rodents.

In parts of India, young children offer their discarded baby tooth to the 
sun, sometimes wrapped in a tiny rag of cotton turf.

Jo Elizabeth
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