1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey 2 00:00:06,519 --> 00:00:10,160 Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren bog Obam. Here a quick content warning 3 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:12,840 Speaker 1: parents and guardians of kids who are maybe just about 4 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:15,240 Speaker 1: to start losing baby teeth. A heads up. This episode 5 00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:17,720 Speaker 1: talks frankly about the history of the tooth Fairy, so 6 00:00:18,040 --> 00:00:22,560 Speaker 1: choose your audience wisely. And that's the strangest content warning 7 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:26,239 Speaker 1: I've ever given, so let's dive right in. We spoke 8 00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:29,600 Speaker 1: via email with Christina Kilgrove, and anthropologist in science writer 9 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:32,800 Speaker 1: with a background in archaeology, so she's used to dealing 10 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:36,000 Speaker 1: with teeth and bones, but even she wasn't prepared for 11 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:38,720 Speaker 1: the site of her seven year old daughter extracting her 12 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:42,360 Speaker 1: own upper right central incisor and an effort to cash 13 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:46,320 Speaker 1: it in. Kilgrove said, I was initially inspired to track 14 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:48,360 Speaker 1: down the source of the tooth Fairy legend when my 15 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:51,120 Speaker 1: older daughter lost her first tooth. She knew the tooth 16 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:53,960 Speaker 1: Fairy wasn't real, but wanted to know when and why 17 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:58,040 Speaker 1: the story began. Even if you aren't familiar with the 18 00:00:58,120 --> 00:01:01,319 Speaker 1: tooth Fairies origin story, you've likely heard of her or 19 00:01:01,440 --> 00:01:04,720 Speaker 1: encountered a kid like Kilgrove's daughter who's perhaps a little 20 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:08,800 Speaker 1: overly excited to earn some dough. The folklore dictates that 21 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:11,080 Speaker 1: when a child loses a baby tooth, they should place 22 00:01:11,120 --> 00:01:13,080 Speaker 1: it under their pillow at night, and when they awake 23 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:15,520 Speaker 1: the next morning, they'll find their lost tooth has been 24 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:18,000 Speaker 1: replaced with a small amount of money, a courtesy of 25 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:23,800 Speaker 1: a magical and seemingly enamel obsessed sprite. Unlike Santa Claus 26 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:26,520 Speaker 1: and the Easter Bunny, the tooth Fairy has a somewhat 27 00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:30,839 Speaker 1: enigmatic history. Kilgrove said, I was surprised that the tooth 28 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:34,040 Speaker 1: Fairy is a comparatively new legend. She started to take 29 00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:36,520 Speaker 1: off with the boomer generation getting paid for their teeth, 30 00:01:36,760 --> 00:01:39,840 Speaker 1: and was cemented in encyclopedias and the media with gen 31 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:44,039 Speaker 1: x and While other childhood characters typically have roots in 32 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:47,880 Speaker 1: religious traditions, Kilgrove says, quote the secular tooth fairy is 33 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:53,440 Speaker 1: really a modern invention. So who is this mysterious mythical 34 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:56,280 Speaker 1: creature and why is she so dead set on swapping 35 00:01:56,280 --> 00:01:59,920 Speaker 1: baby teeth for cash. We also spoke by email with 36 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:02,640 Speaker 1: Dr Syle Colombo, d m d of the Little Royals 37 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:06,600 Speaker 1: Dentistry for Kids in Jupiter, Florida. He said some have 38 00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:08,880 Speaker 1: suggested that the story of the tooth fairy dates back 39 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:11,800 Speaker 1: to Norse traditions from the thirteenth century, when it became 40 00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:13,960 Speaker 1: a tradition for a tooth fee to be given to 41 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:16,840 Speaker 1: a child when they lost their first baby tooth. The 42 00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:18,920 Speaker 1: more modern tooth fairy as we know it was first 43 00:02:18,919 --> 00:02:21,600 Speaker 1: referenced in an editorial from the Chicago Daily Tribune in 44 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:25,040 Speaker 1: n eight, which at that time value the tooth fairies 45 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:28,639 Speaker 1: contribution at five cents compared to an average approaching four 46 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:33,400 Speaker 1: dollars a tooth today. So kill Grove pegs the popularity 47 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:35,440 Speaker 1: of the tooth Fairy to the childhood of the Boomers, 48 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:38,880 Speaker 1: and Colombo dates the character's birth back to the twelve hundreds. 49 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:43,280 Speaker 1: But there's a third possibility. Writer and publisher Michael Hingston 50 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:46,960 Speaker 1: explained in a piece for Salon that the legend really 51 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:49,560 Speaker 1: took off in the nineteen seventies when a woman named 52 00:02:49,639 --> 00:02:52,560 Speaker 1: Rosemary Wells took it upon herself to thoroughly research and 53 00:02:52,600 --> 00:02:57,160 Speaker 1: report on the tooth fairies saga. Kilgrove said. Dr Wells 54 00:02:57,200 --> 00:03:00,400 Speaker 1: was a professor teaching scientific writing at Northwestern unif City's 55 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:03,680 Speaker 1: dental School in the nineteen seventies when she realized there 56 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:06,440 Speaker 1: was little information about the origin of the tooth fairy legend. 57 00:03:06,919 --> 00:03:09,840 Speaker 1: She worked on tracking down the origin and surveyed Americans 58 00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:13,040 Speaker 1: on their tooth fairy practices for twenty years before starting 59 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:16,400 Speaker 1: a small museum in her home dedicated to the tooth fairy. 60 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:21,040 Speaker 1: Kingston said, I love when people accidentally become world experts 61 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:23,880 Speaker 1: on something, and Rosemary Wells is a great example of this. 62 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:27,239 Speaker 1: She asked a simple question, followed her curiosity, and ended 63 00:03:27,280 --> 00:03:29,519 Speaker 1: up with a private museum in her home dedicated to 64 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:31,520 Speaker 1: the tooth fairy. How do you not root for that? 65 00:03:32,919 --> 00:03:36,400 Speaker 1: As Hingston writes, the tooth fairy is a relatively recent creation, 66 00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:40,800 Speaker 1: but quote rituals surrounding tooth loss date back much further 67 00:03:40,840 --> 00:03:44,400 Speaker 1: than that. He points out that every single recorded human 68 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:47,480 Speaker 1: culture has some sort of traditional practice centered around the 69 00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:50,840 Speaker 1: disposal of lost baby teeth, and researcher B. R. Town 70 00:03:50,920 --> 00:03:53,400 Speaker 1: End broke down the various rituals in an article in 71 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:57,000 Speaker 1: the British Dental Journal in nineteen sixty three titled the 72 00:03:57,080 --> 00:03:59,920 Speaker 1: Non Therapeutic Extraction of Teeth and its relation to the 73 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:04,560 Speaker 1: ritual disposal of shed deciduous teeth. Town And said that 74 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:08,040 Speaker 1: cultures tend to do one of nine things. Throw the 75 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:11,400 Speaker 1: tooth into the sun, into fire, between the legs, onto 76 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:13,600 Speaker 1: or over the roof of the house, place it in 77 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:16,320 Speaker 1: a mouse hole, bury it, hide it, place it in 78 00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:18,640 Speaker 1: a tree or on a wall, or have the mother 79 00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:23,599 Speaker 1: child or an animal swallow it. Americans, however, spun the 80 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:27,520 Speaker 1: legend in a unique way, blending and augmenting existing traditions 81 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:30,359 Speaker 1: to result in a benevolent fairy who rewards the dental 82 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:34,880 Speaker 1: milestone with money, and as Hingston points out, the tooth 83 00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:37,719 Speaker 1: fairy star rose at a time when Disney was introducing 84 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:40,839 Speaker 1: kind and cuddly characters who are perfectly in line with 85 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:45,359 Speaker 1: the tooth fairies sweet and supernatural image. If you're a 86 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:47,800 Speaker 1: parent and unsure of how to handle the tooth fairy 87 00:04:47,839 --> 00:04:51,479 Speaker 1: topic with your young tot, Colombo has a suggestion. He said, 88 00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:54,719 Speaker 1: we encourage parents to call tooth fairy hotlines for the 89 00:04:54,720 --> 00:04:57,160 Speaker 1: first tooth lost, as well as remind them to put 90 00:04:57,160 --> 00:04:59,280 Speaker 1: the tooth under the pillow so the tooth fairy can 91 00:04:59,400 --> 00:05:03,760 Speaker 1: work their mad check. And yes, googling tooth fairy hotlines 92 00:05:03,839 --> 00:05:06,960 Speaker 1: does turn up all sorts of helpful results, including apps 93 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:11,280 Speaker 1: and local dentist's office voice mailboxes, and if you're curious 94 00:05:11,279 --> 00:05:13,720 Speaker 1: how much the tooth Fairy is doling out nowadays. A 95 00:05:13,839 --> 00:05:16,240 Speaker 1: researchers found that the national average was up to four 96 00:05:16,279 --> 00:05:20,720 Speaker 1: dollars and sixty six cents as of almost higher than 97 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:23,280 Speaker 1: the average in eleven, which was around two dollars and 98 00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:26,760 Speaker 1: sixty cents. But if you're a freaked out and frugal 99 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:31,080 Speaker 1: parent in you can breathe a sigh of relief. Study 100 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:33,800 Speaker 1: found the national average had dipped back down to three 101 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:36,920 Speaker 1: dollars and seventy cents. So despite the impact of inflation, 102 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:39,919 Speaker 1: it appears even the tooth Fairy has her monetary limits. 103 00:05:40,760 --> 00:05:43,120 Speaker 1: And if you're wondering whether it's time to break the 104 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:45,279 Speaker 1: news to your kid that you're the one responsible for 105 00:05:45,279 --> 00:05:49,320 Speaker 1: that under the pillow cash reward, you can relax. Columbo said, 106 00:05:49,839 --> 00:05:52,360 Speaker 1: we don't have a timeline to discuss when we stopped 107 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:55,120 Speaker 1: talking about the tooth Fairy at our office. We love 108 00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:57,000 Speaker 1: to encourage kids young and old to think of the 109 00:05:57,000 --> 00:06:00,240 Speaker 1: tooth Fairy. It's positive reinforcement and it helps give the 110 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:02,479 Speaker 1: children something to look forward to during a part of 111 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:05,520 Speaker 1: their lives where things are changing for the better. We're 112 00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:08,279 Speaker 1: pediatric dentists and we revel in the mythology and the 113 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:11,560 Speaker 1: fun and whether you're five and losing your first tooth 114 00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:14,280 Speaker 1: or twelve and losing your last baby tooth, it's all 115 00:06:14,520 --> 00:06:22,239 Speaker 1: part of the experience. Today's episode was written by Michelle 116 00:06:22,279 --> 00:06:25,680 Speaker 1: Kanstantinovski and produced by Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is production 117 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:27,720 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radios How Stuff Works. For more on 118 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:29,760 Speaker 1: this and lots of other tooths and topics, visit our 119 00:06:29,760 --> 00:06:32,520 Speaker 1: home planet has stuff Works dot com and for more 120 00:06:32,520 --> 00:06:35,039 Speaker 1: podcasts for my heart Radio because the iHeart Radio app, 121 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:37,880 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.