Photos from the real Winnie the Pooh’s 100th anniversary

The bear that would become Winnie the Pooh. Photo: provided

Winnie the Pooh’s story actually began in Canada.

Harry Colebourne was a Canadian soldier a veterinarian in 1914 when he bought a small bear cub in White River, Ont. He named her Winnie, after his home town of Winnipeg. He paid $20 for her, which is about $450 in today’s money.

Winnie went to war with Harry and never saw Canadian soil again. She was a mascot for the Second Canadian Infantry Brigade and was donated to the London Zoo when the war was over.

That’s where British writer A.A. Milne found her. Winnie became the inspiration for Winnie the Pooh, first published in 1925, after his son Christopher Robin named his stuffed bear Winnie.

Since then, the four pooh books (When We Were Very Young, Winnie-the-Pooh, Now We Are Six and The House at Pooh Corner) have become literary classics and been translated into 46 languages. With their wild popularity, Disney acquired the rights to the character in 1961 and produced ten films and featurettes with the crew from the 100 acre wood.

So on the 100th anniversary of Harry Colebourne’s purchase of the now-famous bear, Toronto’s Ryerson University is hosting an exhibit of the bear’s history, featuring rare photographs and artifacts from Winnie’s life. The show will run from Nov. 6 to Dec. 7. In 2015, Harry’s great granddaughter, Lindsay Mattick, will release a children’s book about the history of Harry and Winnie’s time together.

Here are a few samples of what you can expect to see at the Toronto exhibit: