The history of Winnie the Pooh

Winnie the pooh originated from White River, Ontario, where lieutenant Harry Colebourn bought the little bear cub for $20 from a hunter. He named her 'Winnipeg', after his hometown of Winnipeg, or 'Winnie' for short.


Winnie was taken to the London Zoo on loan when Lt. Colebourn was posted to the battlefields of France. Afterwards, Colebourn presented the London Zoo with Winnie in December 1919 where he became a popular attraction and lived until 1934.


The Pooh we know and love came about when Winnie caught the attention of a visitor to the zoo, named Christopher Robin. The beloved bear was the inspiration for the re-naming of Christopher Robin's teddy bear, formerly known as Edward Bear. Christopher Robin named the toy bear Winnie.

Christopher Robin's father, 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. And the rest as they, is history !

Here is a picture of the original Winnie the Pooh toys!

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