January 18 – Winnie the Pooh Day

This day has my sister Erin’s name all over it! She LOVES pooh. Above you can see her collection of Poohs. She has a little Pooh that goes on all her adventures with her…much like my hippo she has her Pooh. (The travelling one is the one in the fron row with the little red shirt on.)

Here is the history of Winnie the Pooh: (I wonder if Erin even knows this!)

During the First World War troops from Winnipeg (Manitoba, Canada) were being transported to eastern Canada, on their way overseas to Europe where they should join the 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade. When the train stopped at White River, Ontario, a lieutenant called Harry Colebourn bought a small female black bear cub for $20 from a hunter who had killed its mother. He named her 'Winnipeg', after his hometown of Winnipeg, or 'Winnie' for short.

Winnie became the mascot of the Brigade and went to Britain with the unit. When the Brigade was posted to the battlefields of France, Lt. Colebourn took Winnie to the London Zoo for a long loan. Formally Colebourn presented the London Zoo with Winnie in December 1919 where it became a popular attraction and lived until 1934.

The bear was also very popular by Christopher Robin, son of author A.A. Milne. It was his favorite at the zoo, and he often spent time inside the cage with it. The bear was Christopher Robin's inspiration for calling his own teddy bear Winnie.... Winnie the Pooh (this teddy bear started out with the name of Edward Bear). The name of Pooh originally belonged to a swan, as can be seen in a poem from Milne's When We Were Very Young.

A.A. Milne started to write a series of books about Winnie the Pooh, his son Christopher Robin, and their friends at 100-Aker-Wood. These other characters, such as Eeyore, Piglet, Tigger, Kanga and Roo were also based on stuffed animals belonging to Christopher Robin. Other characters as Rabbit and Owl were based on animals that lived, just like the swan Pooh, in the surrounding area of Milne's country home Cotchford Farm in Ashdown Forest, Sussex, on which 100-Aker-wood was based.

(Source: www.winniethepoohbear.net)

Today is Winnie the Pooh Day because it is the birthday of A.A. Milne.

So enjoy your cuddly bear today…and sing along…I know you know the words…