We love our teddy bears

I was given a teddy bear either when I was born or on my first birthday; my god-mother gave him to me and I have him still but he is suffering somewhat, battered by love. He has lost all his hair, his eyes were replaced long ago, his fabric is deteriorating, and his stuffing (straw) is leaking away) For some reason his name is Mr Wilson, although I can call him by his first name, Ted.

It surprises me that teddies have such a recent history, as teddies, I am sure there were stuffed bears along with the other stuffed animals which were given to children. However, as most people know, the idea of a ‘Teddy’ bear came from the American president, Theodore Roosevelt who had been hunting bears but refused to shoot one which had been captured, beaten and tried to a tree because it was ‘unsporting’… it was killed anyway. This story is utterly repellent to us today, but the beloved stuffed bear was called Teddy after the president – the fact that he hated the nick-name is a sort of poetic justice

It seems that the idea of stuffed bears with movable limbs arose in the USA and in Germany with the Steiff company at a similar time; teddies have been described as iconic, and they are. When they were first made, they looked much more like real bears than some of them do now, although Mr Wilson, my bear does have a proper snout nose and realistic eyes. Gradually though, teddies have become more and more human in their expression and shape and through literature, and then film they have become characters in their own right.

Like many people, I grew up with Winnie the Pooh, by A.A.Milne, which was first published in 1926, but also with Rupert bear, a cartoon bear who had adventures with his friends in the small fictional town of Nutwood. There were also other character bears such as Sooty and Paddington, who came from darkest Peru and had a penchant for marmalade sandwiches.

When I was in hospital having my first child, as he came into the world a radio was playing and it happened to be ‘The Teddy Bears’ Picnic’… how nice!

http://http://youtu.be/dZANKFxrcKU