LORRAINE AND SOOTY TEDDY BEAR

Sorting through some old photographs recently, Lorraine and I stumbled across one that she particularly liked, of herself and Sooty Teddy Bear (who she actually calls ‘King Of Bears’).

It was taken when she was 7 in one of very favourite places….Dorset.

She said she remembers it really well because that day she was allowed to wear her favourite dress (a dress she told me she wishes she had today).  It was taken not long after her 7th birthday and it was on a trip to a very special place called The Blue Pool.

Sooty Bear (who was then a pure white Teddy Bear and who now is a rather grey Old Teddy Bear) was always with her, whether it was on her birthday, at Christmas or on special days out and vacations.

When Lorraine first pulled out this photograph – and I was sitting next to her – she said it brought back so many memories and that she could even smell the sea air.

My Old Teddy Bear and Me.

By the way, Sooty Bear is still living with us,  He spends most of his time sitting on a very old chair (nearly as old as he is) as he is much too old to travel and have adventures any more.

Written by…….Gino Bear

 

Vintage Teddy Bear Called James

James is a very Old Teddy Bear who, without a shadow of a doubt, must have tons of wonderful memories from his past life.

I fell in love with James as soon as I saw him, even though he had lost most of his fur coat and he was half blind.  He called out to me and luckily for us both, I think, I was there.

Recently, I took James to Gloucester Cathedral, the reason being, there is an exhibition of sculpture going on.  Many of the pieces exhibited were modern art sculptures and I wanted to take some interesting photographs of new and old (of course, poor old James Bear was the ‘old’  bit, but I don’t think he minded one bit).

James poses for a photograph at Gloucester Cathedral

At the front of the Cathedral was this very interesting piece of sculpture.  I loved the way Old James Bear looked.

Old Teddy Bear / Modern Sculptures

As he was having his photograph taken, many people came up to him and asked if they too could take his photograph, so I think there could be a lot of James photos around right now.  Of course, they couldn’t leave without giving him a cuddle.

James meets a hog.

Inside the Cathedral we came across the Cathedral gardens and we found some very delightful pieces of art work there. Again, Old James Teddy Bear met loads of people.

We both had a very good day there and hopefully, we are hoping to return during the next week or two to take a look at some of the other pieces of art work.

James is already waiting to go !!!!

 

 

 

 

TEDDY BEAR STORIES

Ever since I was a child, I have loved hearing stories about Teddy Bears, from a very young age I even wrote some of my own.

As a very sensitive child, I always hoped for a happy ending and most of the time the stories I read did, one of my favourite stories being Goldilocks and Three Bears, but sometimes, just sometimes, a sad story would come along and tears would flow.

Now then, I have to admit something to you now..here goes….when I hear a sad story today I still cry only much more.

Think of the story attached to this little girl….Her name is Stella Knobel.  During World War 2 her family was forced to flea from Poland (in 1939).  The only item the seven year old was allowed to take with her was her Teddy Bear.  Today that Bear lives at The Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem.

So very sad but also so very poignant.  It also just goes to show what I have always said that your Teddy Bear is always there no matter how tough life gets.

A young girl who cannot be separated from her Teddy Bear.

 

 

Collecting Antique Teddy Bears

This is what collecting Old Teddy bears is like.

Taking some photographs of just a ‘few’ of my Old Teddy Bears (and some of their old friends, including some Old Stuffed Dogs and Rabbits), I thought I would share one or two.

Just thought I would let you know what actually happens when you start collecting Old Teddy Bears!

Your house will never be the same again !!!!!

Teddies Everywhere

Old Chad Valley Teddy Bear Named Sunny

I remember the day I brought Sunny Bear home with me.
It was many years ago.
I was visiting an Old Teddy Bear Fair not far from where I live.
I went into the Fair with a very strong mind that day, as I knew what kind of Teddy Bears I wanted to buy, both to find new homes for and to add to my collection, but as I walked through the door, I spotted this Old Chad Valley Bear looking at me and I swear to you he smiled at me.
I wandered around the Fair and I actually found the Bears I as looking for.
On my way out of the Teddy Bear Fair, I stopped at the stand that was selling the old smiling bear, with no intention of buying him, but I did make a mistake, I asked the girl who was selling him what his history was.
It was a sad tale I’m afraid. She said her car needed a lot of work to get it through MOT and so she had to sell a couple of her Old Teddy Bears, the Teddy Bear in question here, actually once belonged to her Mom.
Anyway, I don’t think I have to tell you what happened next.
I named him Sunny Bear almost immediately, because he seemed to bring sunshine into my world.
A couple of days after he came to live with me I took him to Italy for a holiday – he especially loved Capri – just like me.
Sunny spends much of his time lazing around on sun loungers when the sun is shinning, which is not that often sadly in the UK, otherwise he likes sitting with the other Old Chad Valley Teddy Bears who live here and reading some of the old books I also collect.
He is such a bright and happy Old Bear, I am so glad I brought him home with me.

Chad Valley Teddy Bear Named Sunny

Antique Teddy Bear – Mitch

One of my Old Chad Valley friends called Mitch.
Mitch came to live with me some time ago. Before living with me he belonged to a lady who was an Artist, her favourite thing to paint was Old Teddy Bears. I have heard that she painted every bear in her collection, although I have never found a painting of Mitch.
When she became too old to care for her large collection of Teddy Bears, she decided to find some of them new homes and that is how Old Mitch Bear came to live with me.
This morning we went for a walk along the canal path together (not far from where we both live). It was a glorious sunny morning and it did both Mitch and I good.
He is such a good looking Old Teddy Bear!

A Teddy Bear Dealer

Many people seem surprised when they ask what I do for a living and I tell them I’m a Teddy Bear Dealer.
When the initial shock wears off, however, they are usually very interested and ask me loads of questions or they tell me about their childhood Teddy Bear and I always enjoy hearing their stories.
Ever since I was a child I have always adored Teddy Bears, my childhood Teddy Bear was a Pedigree Teddy Bear called Sooty, who by the way I still have, he is known in my collection as ‘King of Bears.’
Sooty was given to me by my Father when I was just a day old and I have loved him ever since. He has travelled everywhere with me and although he is now a little worn and tatty, to me he is still my closest friend.
When I grew up, I discovered a love of Old Teddy Bears, I am especially intrigued by the history which they carry with them.
Soon I started a collection, collecting as many Old Bears as money and space would allow. In some ways it started to become a bit of an obsession. I always warn people when you buy your first Old Teddy Bear it won’t be your last and I am very rarely wrong. Old Teddy Bears tug at your heart strings and warm the very cockles of your heart.
For many years, I shared my passion with other Teddy Bear lovers by giving ‘talks’ to local groups on the history of the Teddy Bear etc. However, working as I did day to day in an office, it began to become less desirable as the weeks went on and, at the back of my mind I had thought about starting a specialist Teddy Bear Website so that I could deal with lovers of Teddy Bears all around the world.
In 2009, Ginos Bears was born.
Of course, I had an awful lot to learn both about the business and indeed about running an internet website. Like all other jobs it has its ups and downs. The good side being that I get the chance to spend lots of my time around OldTeddy Bears and I get to hear lots of wonderful stories from people about their Teddy Bears and all the adventures they had growing up together, but dealing with Old Teddy Bears can also break your heart. Let me explain.
Sometimes, whilst out sourcing Old Bears you come across a Teddy Bear which is so badly damaged that he really is way beyond any kind of restoration or repair, sometimes it is just a heap of old stuffing with just small signs of what was once a much loved Teddy Bear. Even in this state though the Old Bear seems to have some kind of karma about him and he cries out for help. I am not too proud to admit that sometimes I shed a few tears for an Old Teddy Bear that has lost his life.
Then you come across an Old Teddy Bear story that will pull at the strings of your heart, for example, a few years ago I was approached to buy an old blonde Teddy Bear who, during the start of the Second World War was given by a soldier called Joe to his sweetheart. Joe was leaving from a Gloucestershire Railway Station to fight abroad, he gave his sweetheart a Teddy Bear and said the bear would remind her of him whilst he was away. He told her the Teddy Bear would also keep her safe. Both the young girl and the Bear waited for Joe to return but sadly he never did. The young girl called the Teddy Bear Old Joe and sat him on her bed, where he reminded her of Joe every day. Old Joe stayed on her bed until she was an old lady. She began to wonder what would happen to Old Joe when she died and decided to find him a new home where she knew he would be looked after and loved. He now lives with me and he always will.
However, as much as I love Old Joe, I cannot help but think that the magical link was broken when the old lady handed him over to me, but what really breaks my heart is when I wonder how that old lady felt when, after all those years, she handed him over to me. She probably would never see him again. How did she feel that night when she went to bed and Old Joe had gone? It breaks my heart it really does.
People often ask me how I can bear to part with these Old Bears and my answer is, if I kept every Teddy Bear that I came across, I would not only need to be a millionaire but I would also need a mansion or even a warehouse to keep them all. Dealing in Old Teddy Bears gives me the opportunity to search out, meet and help Old Bears find a new and loving home where they can hopefully, spend the rest of their lives bringing much love and friendship, which is what the Teddy Bear is designed for.
The very best part of my job, however, is when I send out a Teddy Bear to a customer and when they receive him they get in touch with me and tell me how much they love him. This is what makes me want to carry on finding homes for Old Teddy Bears forever and ever.

Unique Teddy Bears

A child’s relationship with his Teddy Bear is something very special,unique infact.  The constant play together and the never ending cuddles takes away the Teddy Bear’s stiffness that he was born with.  Very soon the Teddy Bear becomes worn almost smooth by all the love and affection the child gives him.  Teddy soon loses his original looks, especially after his ears have been sucked off and his nose which has been pushed and pulled so often that it completely changes shape.  His body starts to lose his fur and sometimes tiny holes appear that can even leak some stuffing (but never love!!!).

Because of these changes the Teddy Bear’s body becomes quite flat and limp and the child companion finds it hard to cuddle at night and it is when this happens that Mother usually steps in.  She looks around for any kind of soft fabric that she can use to re-stuff the Teddy Bear (sometimes even her old nylons or tights).

The change in Teddy’s looks sometimes makes it very difficult to realise who actually was his original creator, but never mind, because this is what a Teddy Bear does, it is his aim in life, to be loved and to be a comforter.  Unlike humans, Teddy has no vanity.  When he looks in the mirror or indeed when his best friend looks at him, all they see is memories, times gone by that may bring back a smile or even a tear.

Sometimes too,quite alarmingly, the Teddy Bear will have taken so much loving, squeezing, kissing and cuddling that his looks have become quite strangely amusing or even horrific.

Working every day, as I do with Old Bears, I see everything from bears literally held together with string to bears that have had new parts created for them (like Old Percy).  I have found all kinds of things tucked away inside them (but so far I have not come across any precious jewels).

All these things make Teddy Bear unique.  Something that we all seem to find very attractive in a very Old Teddy Bear,

Teddy Bears In Blue

When I was a child,my collection of Teddy Bears consisted of nothing but bears who were ‘Teddy Bear Coloured’.  I don’t think I even imagined a Teddy Bear could be anything but ‘Bear’ Coloured, although I do remember a hand knitted Teddy given to me by an Aunt who was actually multi-coloured (I didn’t like him much, but that had nothing to do with his colour as much as his scary looks, he could easily have been a vampire bear).

When I grew up and started to take an interest in seriously collecting Teddy Bears and finding out more about their history, etc. I started to get introduced to Coloured Teddy Bears.  However, the first Coloured Bears I saw was actually not ‘new’ bears but very Old Bears who were made by the famous Schuco Company in the twenties.

Pretty soon, I owned some gorgeous Coloured Bears.

My favourite colour is red, everyone knows this, and so Red Teddy Bears actually became my favourite but I also seemed to be collecting a number of Blue Bears.  My very first Artist Bear was blue.  I named him Elliot.  He was a gift from someone rather special. It was not long after he came that I found out that he was very interested in trains and anything to do with the railways.

Not too long after Elliott arrived, another rather large Blue Teddy Bear also came to live with us, I called him Blue Boy (for very obvious reasons).  Blue is made by one of my favourite Old Bear makers – the Dean’s Rag Book Company.

This morning, I thought about Blue because, after a very long winter with bleak skies and tons of rain here in the West Country, the sky is blue, very blue, the colour of Blue Boy.   I found him sitting by a vase of daffodils.

 

Coloured Teddy Bears, like Blue Boy and Elliott add a lot of colour to my life.  I have long ago shed any doubts I once had about Coloured Bears being slightly odd and not desirable.  Now…..I love them all.

Old Teddy Bears Are Always There

When your sun no longer shines on your face,
When your heart feels to heavy for your body to bare,
When you need love but there is no-one there,
When walking this planet makes you weary,
And the sound of the earth is no longer a melody,
When you need love more than food and water,
When all around you turns to stone,
Cling on tightly to your Old Teddy Bear
Always true and always there.

……………………………………………….Lorraine Hitchings