Winnie-the-Pooh was the name for a black bear called Winnie. The name was short for Winnipeg, my hometown. And get this – Winnie was a GIRL! Here’s the scoop:
During the First World War, troops from Winnipeg (Manitoba, Canada) were being transported across Canada on their way to Europe. When the train stopped at White River, Ontario, Lieutenant Harry Colebourn bought a small female black bear cub tied to a string for $20 from a hunter who had killed its mother. He named her ‘Winnipeg’, after his hometown of Winnipeg, or ‘Winnie’ for short.
Winnie became the mascot of the Brigade and went to England with the unit where both the unit and Winnie underwent some training. In December of 1919, when the Brigade was posted to the battlefields of France, Colebourn took Winnie to the London Zoo.
Winnie the Bear became a big attraction, capturing the hearts of many visitors to the Zoo, among them A.A. Milne and his son Christopher Robin Milne. It was Christopher who added “Pooh” to Winnie’s name. He got the name from his pet swan Pooh. Christopher had been given a stuffed bear on his first birthday which he first dubbed Edward Bear, but soon changed the name to “Winnie-the-Pooh” after the playful Winnie at the London Zoo.
In his first edition in 1926, A.A. Milne mentioned that his stories were about this bear and his son as well as his son’s stuffed animals. Winnie lived a long, full life in the zoo. She died on May 12, 1934, when she was 20 years old. She was so loved that the London Newspaper ran her obituary. There are statues of Winnie on the grounds of the London Zoo and in Winnipeg’s Assiniboine Park. Who would have thought that the rescue of an orphaned bear would lead to one of the most endearing characters of all time.