Why does Winnie the Pooh's house have "Mr Sanders" written above the door?

I believe Mr Sanders was the previous occupant.

http://www.lavasurfer.com/pooh-faq2.html

In the book Winnie the Pooh where we are introduced to Pooh we are given the following explanation why he is sometimes called Mr. Sander.

Winnie the Pooh Chapter 1
Winnie the Pooh and Some Bees
Once upon a time, a very long time ago now, about last Friday, Winnie-the-Pooh lived in a forest all by himself under the name of Sanders.
What does "under the name" mean? asked Christopher Robin.
'It means he had the name over the door in gold letters and lived under it.'

https://www.babelmatrix.org/works/en/Milne%2C_A._A.-1882/Winnie-the-Pooh

Right, I wondered that too when I was a kid.


I think this is simply a joke. It is not about the meaning of the name Saunders, but that this is an adult trying to explain to a child what "under the name" means - in other word an alias. So in the book, instead of explaining what an assumed name is, the narrator explains to Chris that it is an actual name plate that Pooh is living underneath.

To quote the book itself when the narrator asks what the name Winnie-the-Pooh means.

"He's Winnie-ther-Pooh. Don't you know what 'ther' means?"
"Ah, yes, now I do," I said quickly; and I hope you do too, because it is all the explanation you are going to get."

What a delight AA Milne was.

J