The Three Bears Sans Goldilocks

The Three Bears celebrate after throwing the old woman atop St. Paul's Cathedral in The Story of the Three Bears (1831).

The original Three Bears Fairy Tale was written by Eleanor Muir in 1831. The bears were three friends who “fancy a home amongst the dwellings of men.” Instead of Goldilocks, the Bears’ house is invaded by an old woman. Like many old fairy tales this one is gruesome enough to give little children nightmares. As punishment for housebreaking, the Bears try to burn and drown the old woman. When nothing works, they “chuck her aloft on St. Paul’s church-yard steeple.”