Today is the birthday, in , of Christopher Robin Milne, only child of author A. A. Milne. As a child, he was the basis of the character Christopher Robin in his father’s Winnie-the-Pooh stories and in two books of poems.
Christopher Robin Milne was born at 11 Mallord Street, Chelsea, London , on 21 August 1920, to author Alan Alexander Milne and Daphne Milne. On his first birthday on 21 August 1921, Milne received an Alpha Farnell teddy bear, which he later named Edward. Eeyore was a Christmas present in 1921 and Piglet arrived undated. Edward, along with a real Canadian black bear named Winnipeg that Milne saw at London Zoo, eventually became the inspiration for the Winnie-the-Pooh character.
An early childhood friend was Anne Darlington, also an only child. Several poems by Milne’s father, and several illustrations by E. H. Shepard, feature Darlington and Milne, notably “Buttercup Days”, in which their relative hair colours (brown and golden blond) and their mutual affection is noted (the illustration to this latter poem, from Now We Are Six, also features the cottage at Cotchford Farm).
The first collection of stories about the character is the book Winnie-the-Pooh (1926), and this was followed by The House at Pooh Corner (1928). Milne also included a poem about the bear in the children’s verse book When We Were Very Young (1924) and many more in Now We Are Six (1927). All four volumes were illustrated by E. H. Shepard. The stories are set in Hundred Acre Wood, which was inspired by Five Hundred Acre Wood in Ashdown Forest in East Sussex—situated 30 miles (48 km) south of London—where the Londoner Milne’s country home was located.
Christopher Robin Milne (21 August 1920 – 20 April 1996), son of author A. A. Milne and the basis of the character Christopher Robin in his father’s Winnie-the-Pooh stories. Photograph by Marcus Adams, 14 March 1928.
Signsses…
On this day in 1961, Tamla Records released the Marvelettes first single, ‘Please Mr. Postman’. The song went on to sell over a million copies and become the group’s biggest hit, reaching the top of both the Billboard Pop and R&B charts. The song is notable as the first Motown song to reach the No.1 position on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=425GpjTSlS4&list=RD425GpjTSlS4&start_radio=1
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