Christopher Robin Milne’s original Pooh toys were donated to the New York Public Library in 1987.
The toys inspired several characters in A. A. Milne’s stories, including Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga and Roo. Christopher Robin originally owned the bear later associated with Pooh, while other toys supplied the personalities and names of additional characters.
The toys reached the United States in 1947 in the custody of Milne’s American publisher. They remained there until 1987, when the publisher donated them to the New York Public Library. They have since been displayed at the library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building in New York.
A frequent mix-up is confusing the toys’ arrival in the United States with their donation to the library. The first date is 1947; the New York Public Library donation occurred four decades later, in 1987.