The Goldilocks Story Was Popular Before Teddy Bears Arrived
Posted By admin on September 14, 2011
While Goldilocks wasn’t always Goldilocks, the story of The Three Bears was in circulation long before the teddy bear appeared in 1902. It’s believed the tale started in an oral tradition, passed on that way until it was published anonymously by British poet Robert Southey in 1837.
In Southey’s version, the story featured three bachelor bears and a nosy old woman, described unflatteringly. With Southey’s approval, another British writer, George Nicol, published a rhyming adaptation that same year, also with an old woman breaking into the home.
In 1849, the old woman became a young girl, and over time, the bears became who we now know as Mama Bear, Poppa Bear and Baby Bear. The name “Goldilocks,” took longer, though. Although the girl in the story had many names over the years, it wasn’t until the early 20th century that Goldilocks stuck.
What was once, like most folktales, a scary, cautionary story, has changed over the years. The unsetting tale of an elderly, unlikeable woman trespassing and taking liberties in the home of three bachelor bears transformed, becoming a story fit for a nighttime cuddle with a favorite teddy, just about the same time that teddy bear itself was born.
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