As Winnie-the-Pooh Turns 100, the Original Stuffed Toy Remains in New York. Will the Silly Old Bear Ever Return to Britain?
A century after A.A. Milne first published his classic children’s tales, British admirers and royal emissaries have made a polite push to bring Christopher Robin’s original toys back home, if only for a royal vacation
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The real-life stuffed animals that inspired British writer A.A. Milne’s beloved Winnie-the-Pooh stories have resided in New York City for nearly eight decades. But as the world marks the centenary of the 1926 publication of Winnie-the-Pooh, a renewed effort has emerged to bring the historic teddy bear and his companions back to Britain, even if only for a royal vacation.
The stuffed troupe comprising Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga and Tigger—the childhood toys of Milne’s son, Christopher Robin—were donated to the New York Public Library (NYPL) in 1987, where they continue to form a centerpiece of the NYPL’s “Treasures” exhibition at the flagship Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on Fifth Avenue.
Across the Atlantic, Britain celebrated the centenary with anniversary editions, special stamps, and local tributes. Near Ashdown Forest, the inspiration for the fictional “Hundred Acre Wood,” enthusiasts gathered at the Pooh Corner tearoom to bury a time capsule destined to remain sealed until October 2126, the BBC’s Hannah Gray and Josh McLaughlin report.
For some British fans, however, the toys’ continued residence across the pond feels like an unresolved exile.
The latest debate was sparked when Gyles Brandreth, a biographer of Milne and trustee of the Queen’s Reading Room, Queen Camilla’s literary charity, approached NYPL leadership as an “emissary” of the Queen to explore the possibility of a temporary loan to Buckingham Palace ahead of the 100th anniversary, the Washington Post’s Steve Hendrix reports.
Library officials rebuffed the request. According to Brandreth, talks with NYPL President and CEO Anthony Marx quickly unraveled over the practical complexities of moving the fragile, 105-year-old toy bear across the Atlantic. “How do you transport this toy, which could well be the most valuable toy in the world?” Brandreth tells James Barron of the New York Times.
When word of the talks circulated, New Yorkers were quick to push back. Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal declared on social media that “an international incident has ensued.”
“They are the property of the people of New York,” he added. “They are staying put.”
The British Embassy in Washington issued a lighthearted statement from its “adviser on bear-lateral relations,” dismissing rumors of a repatriation campaign as “unfounded” while noting that “there’s an open invite if Pooh ever wants to make a temporary visit to the U.K.”
Brandreth echoed that sentiment, telling the Times: “The long and the short of it is New York seems to be imagining stealing the bear when we don’t.” He added “A.A. Milne and Christopher Robin loved the bear being in America—that’s where the bear belongs.”
Did you know? Lost Roo
- While five of Christopher Robin’s original nursery toys made it to the United States, Roo, a miniature kangaroo, was lost in an apple orchard in the 1930s.
- This April, Queen Camilla gave the NYPL a 3.5-inch replica of Roo, custom-crafted by England’s oldest surviving teddy bear manufacturer using archival patterns.
The controversy over Pooh’s custody stretches back decades. Daphne Milne originally purchased the 20-inch Farnell teddy bear at Harrods in 1921 as a first-birthday gift for her son, Christopher Robin. Her husband drew inspiration from his son’s playtime and their rambles through Ashdown Forest as he built the fictional world of Winnie-the-Pooh.
In 1947, with the grown-up Christopher’s blessing, Milne sent the stuffed animals to the United States for a nationwide promotional tour organized by his American publisher, E.P. Dutton. The toys remained in Dutton’s New York City offices until 1987, when the publisher donated them to the NYPL.
British politicians have repeatedly challenged that arrangement. In 1998, Labour Member of Parliament Gwyneth Dunwoody demanded their return. “Just like the Greeks want their Elgin Marbles back, so we want our Winnie-the-Pooh back, along with all his splendid friends,” she said. “They plainly want to come home after 70 wasted years exile.”
That prompted then-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani to declare Pooh and friends immigrant success stories who came to the United States “to build a better life for themselves.”
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To celebrate the centennial, the library has mounted “Silly Old Bear! Winnie-the-Pooh at 100,” a special pop-up exhibition that displays rare editions, E.H. Shepard’s original sketches and the newly gifted Roo through November 30.
Library officials insist that the toys are inseparable from the institution’s historic heritage. “The New York Public Library’s holdings of rare Winnie-the-Pooh materials ... stand as an important cornerstone of our world-class collection of children’s literature,” Brent Reidy, the NYPL’s director of research libraries, says in a statement.
And so, for the foreseeable future, the world’s most famous bear will remain right where he has sat for decades, quietly contemplating life from a glass case on Fifth Avenue.
“Silly Old Bear! Winnie-the-Pooh at 100” is on view at the New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building until November 30, 2026.