Today’s National Tooth Fairy Day.
The mythos of the tooth fairy dates back to the 1920’s. A group of healthcare folks wanted to encourage kids to better oral hygiene and used various advertisements and health classes to do so. Part of the ads were created by Esther Watkins Arnold through a playlet called The Tooth Fairy.
There are also rumors that during the same year Sir Arthur Conan Doyle published photographs of two girls surrounded by faeries as “evidence” that faeries like the tooth fairy actually existed.
In 1942, the tooth fairy even got involved in the war. Columnist Bob Balfe wrote in the Palm Beach Post about the fairy and gave his kids War Stamps to put in their books every time they lost a tooth. This became popular when rations and money were short.
As someone who writes fantasy, I love studying the evolution of myths and mythical creatures. I think that’s part of my intense fascination with dragons. Many think the unicorn came from someone seeing a rhino for the first time. I wonder what they saw to think up a dragon? O_O
