When did fairy tales and folk tales become "for children only"?

In my ongoing obsession with folk and fairy tales, I have often asked myself this question. Surely the Grimm brothers, Hans Christian Anderson, and Perrault are now marketed more for a juvenile audience. And yes, many tales are marketed more towards younger people, but so many times the beauty of these tales is lost on them.

Take the Selkie myth, for example. There is such a conflict, a tragedy of loss and a weighing of the possible gains. Can you imagine having children you love but also knowing you cannot live unless you are once again one with the sea? Yes, children can tell that this is a tale of loss, but I'm sure the right storyteller could bring grown people to tears at the recounting of this story.

Then the Wild Swans/Six Swans tale. The sacrifice the girl goes through for her brothers, the fear, the pain. Of course, Juliet Marillier did a very good job of telling this in a more adult way in "Daughter of the Forest", the first of a trilogy. And then there of course is the Donkeyskin/Allerleiraugh story in which such mature themes as insanity and incest are discussed. Again, this was recounted very well in Robin McKinley's "Deerskin"

Note: both of these books mentioned have rather graphic and upsetting scenes. So I REALLY mean it when I say mature audiences. Like maybe upper level of high school at the youngest.

Let me also just say that as soon as I take a figure drawing class I'm going to do justice to the picture of the selkie that is in my head. This is so frustrating! The same with Allerleirauh.

Anyway, I think that folklore and the importance of it has been lost to the general public. Children read them and sometimes adults (like me) get fascinated with them, but other adults write them off as new agey freaks who belong more at rennaisance fairs than in the real world.

Truth be told, folk tales, in my opinion, give us a strong view into our culture, and the tales that certain people like will tell you a LOT about that person. It is a shame that so few put a strong emphasis on these, and allot them to nothing but childhood fancy.

There is such beauty in these tales that they have been echoed and re-told for years. They belong in more than single-shelves in bookstores, all mixed in with mythologies of different countries, not one country having a complete or sufficient collection.

Now I REALLY want to run away and be a storyteller. Too bad there's not much market for them these days.