The magical day has arrived… Happy Halloween to those who are dressing up and celebrating today! I’m taking a break from putting the finishing touches on my costume to give some thought to the Tooth Fairy. Why? Because that’s what I’m going to be for Halloween!
For many people, teeth are a milestone. When are the baby teeth coming in? When are the baby teeth falling out, to be replaced by adult teeth? The change from infant to child to adolescent can be measured in our teeth.
In the days when superstition was strong, teeth falling out could be bad news. Dark forces could take teeth (or hair clippings, or fingernail parings) and use them to work evil magic upon us. Teeth (and other human shed) had to be disposed of so they couldn’t be used for curses or hexes. One option was to feed the tooth to an animal — in return the child’s new tooth would grow to be like the animal who had eaten the baby teeth. (And the animal’s tooth could be a talisman of strength or good luck.) Perhaps a shark, for sharpness? Or a mouse, because mice (and some other rodents) have teeth that never stop growing. Wouldn’t you want strong, growing, healthy teeth for your child?
Out of this, perhaps, we get the Tooth Mouse. An old French folktale tells of a mouse who changes into a fairy (or vice versa) to help defeat an evil king. In the course of things, the mouse hides under the king’s pillow and knocks out all the king’s teeth as a punishment.
Hmm. Pillow… teeth… any of this starting to sound familiar?
The early 1900s brought us the Tooth Fairy herself — a good fairy with the task of collecting teeth (for safekeeping, I suppose). Leave your lost teeth underneath a pillow at night, and the Tooth Fairy will exchange tooth for coin. That’s a pretty sweet deal! The Tooth Fairy soon appeared in plays, stories, and other entertainment. By the 1950s, she took on a new role as a spokesfairy for dental health.
Personally, I’d rather have a fairy break into my bedroom to retrieve teeth — mice kind of make me freak out, jump on a chair, and scream. Though at this age, I mostly hope my teeth aren’t falling out at all!