More trivia showed up in my email, and I had to share it with you since it is about my favorite Disney character.
Since birth, I have liked Winnie the Pooh (possibly before since Mom got her picture taken with the silly old bear at a mall while she was pregnant with me.) I like both E. H. Shepard’s and Disney’s pooh bear and have many items decorated in all things Pooh.
Did you know Winnie the Pooh was named after a real bear? This bear traveled more than most bears. Her name was Winnepeg, but everyone called her Winnie. (Check out the entire article here.)
Harry Colebourn was a Canadian soldier during World War I. While on his way to meet his troop in Quebec, he bought a bear cub for $20 at a train station in Ontario. (This seems bizarre to me, but perhaps it was a common practice to buy a bear in Canada back in the day.) Harry named the bear Winnepeg after his hometown, and she was nicknamed Winnie.
Winnie became the mascot of Harry’s troop, and when they headed to England, Winnie came along.
The little bear was very popular and quite tame, but when Harry’s unit was sent to France, he couldn’t take Winnie with him. Luckily, the London Zoo agreed to keep Winnie. This temporary situation became permanent because Winnie was so popular with the children who visited the zoo.
One child who visited the zoo and Winnie was Christopher Robin. When A. A. Milne wrote about his son’s stuffed animals, Edward Bear became Winne the Pooh in honor of a sweet Canadian bear who found a home in London.
Where did the name Pooh come from? That is a story for another day.