Winnie the Pooh — 100 Years. The Story of the World's Most Famous Bear

Photo: Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images

The first story about the bear, titled "The Wrong Sort of Bees", was published by the London newspaper London Evening News on December 24, 1925, writes the BBC.

The bear quickly became a global favorite, along with Tigger, Christopher Robin, and the fictional Hundred Acre Wood, which is in reality Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, where the author of the books, Alan Alexander Milne, had a country house.

Pooh's enormous fame still brings significant income to the region today: £450,000 ($600,000) has been allocated from the state budget to fund the anniversary celebration program.

The events of the Winnie-the-Pooh stories take place in Ashdown Forest – an open area on the highest sandy ridges of the High Weald region, renowned for its outstanding natural beauty.

In 1925, Londoner A. A. Milne bought a country house one and a half kilometers north of the forest, at Cotchford Farm, near the town of Hartfield.

The book "Winnie-the-Pooh", which tells of the fictional adventures of Milne's son Christopher Robin and his toy bear, was published in 1926, and its sequel "The House at Pooh Corner" in 1928.

Two poetry books featuring these characters were also published. The bridge where Milne and his son Christopher Robin invented "Poohsticks" became unsafe in the late 1990s. It was dismantled and a replica was built, which still stands in Ashdown Forest today.

The original structure was sold at auction in 2021 for £131,000 ($177,000).

The little bear gained a new wave of fame when Disney acquired the rights to Milne's books in 1961.

Pooh Corner is a gift shop and tea room that has been operating since 1978 near Pooh Sticks Bridge in Hartfield.

"It's amazing that people from all over the world come to our tiny village, hidden in the English countryside, to connect with the history of Winnie the Pooh," says its owner, Neil Reed.

"We really enjoy hearing why he is so loved and why people come to Ashdown Forest from so many different places," he adds.

Since 2018, Pooh Trek Tours has been organizing guided forest walks to the locations mentioned in the books. The company's founder, Gerry Mantzer, reported that about 90% of clients come from outside the UK, predominantly from North America.

"The 100th anniversary is an extremely important event for the forest," he says. "Without Pooh, one of Britain's most enchanting landscapes would not be as famous."

As part of Pooh's 100th-anniversary celebration, an installation is expected to be set up in Ashdown Forest, transforming the forest visitor center into a giant book.

New walking trails are also planned to be created, bypassing protected areas.

Five years ago, for the 95th anniversary, the Royal Mint released a series of collectible coins dedicated to the characters from Milne's books.

In the USSR, an adaptation of the book was released without permission or regard for copyright, based on which a good animated film was later made.

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