Teddy Bear Tuesday

For once I can read the label on the bottom of this quite tiny teddy.  He was bought in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, though exactly when I cannot tell.  I spent a weekend there in the early 1990s and then lived near there from 1994 - 1999.  I remember it very fondly indeed.

Vital statistics - he is nearly 3 cm tall and 2cm wide at the widest point (which includes the dog).  The dog must be meant to be a Scottie or a Westie or something, though proportionally he would be the size of a dalmatian I think!  Unless teddy is a toddler :)

Lots of nice places to walk a dog in Cirencester.

Teddy Bear Tuesday

OK IT'S NOT A FLIPPING TEDDY BEAR!!!!!!!

Right, now we've got that out of the way.

This is at once the oldest and the newest addition to my display tray. I've had him since I was quite young, about Grade 4 or Grade 5 I think. I loved him to death - he is made out of squishy rubbery plastic and used to live on my desk in my bedroom. Goodness knows where he came from, I think they were quite popular in those dim distant days (in the 1970s - for the historically minded!)

I found him when I was going through my father's place in June/July. He immediately came home with me and went into the display tray. Even though he reminds me of my father, which isn't necessarily a good thing, he reminds me of rare happy moments as a child, too. And look at that face - who couldn't love him!

Vital statistics - 4cm tall, nearly 6cm from elbow to elbow.

Next week will be a more conventional teddy bear, promise!

Teddy Bear Tuesday

Do any Australian readers remember Viva La Wombat?  Until I googled them I had assumed they had gone out of business years ago, but apparently not.  Though their website is a good way NOT to encourage business because I could not find a single stockist properly mentioned.  It sounds like they might have gone into selling stuff overseas more than here.  Maybe not.  The website isn't very helpful.  But it has some good pictures on it suggesting that they have moved with the times and kept on designing fun stuff.

In the late 1980s I loved their stuff and collected various bits and pieces.  I still have a T shirt, I think, and a coffee mug.  When my kids were little my mum bought them stuffed toys and sent them to England.  And I collected a few figurines like this one.

Vital statistics - 4cm tall, 3cm wide, bright and cheerful and not at all like a real koala!  He also appears to have dog fur on him.  No great surprise there!  I bought him in Melbourne , though I can't remember if it was before we went to England in 1990 or on a visit back here in 1994.  I have another couple of figurines that will show up eventually, though they won't be teddy bears - a kangaroo, a wombat and a crocodile, I think!

Teddy Bear Tuesday

Ok, so this is an actual BEAR!!! And a big one at that. He measures about 4cm tall and nearly 3cm wide at his widest part (well, a bear's got to sit on something!)

Unlikem ost of my other bears, this one is handcarved from wood. I bought him at the Gippsland Field Days either last year or the year before, I can't remember when I went there, near Warragul. There was a stall selling a whole variety of wooden things carved by the proprietor, who was busily engaged in carving as you watched, and he uses the offcuts of wood to make little animals. There were animals of all sorts of descriptions, but I particularly loved this bear (and a dingo, who will appear later in this series). Despite being much bigger than most of the collection, he is very light, being wood instead of ceramic as most of them are. He has a rustic charm and definite gravitas.

Teddy Bear Tuesday

The observant among you will notice that this is not a teddy bear. But I don't just keep teddies in my display case. It is, obviously, a frog. Bought many years ago somewhere in Australia, goodness knows where. He is made out of clay, by hand (not mine!) and Ilove the extremely goofy expression on his face. He is about 2.5cm long and nearly 2cm tall and always looks as though he is going to jump sideways off the display case into some froggy Nirvana.

Teddy Bear Tuesday

Yet again the location written on the label underneath this tiny chappie has worn or smudged or something so I cannot read it.  There is an 'ing' in it - Reading perhaps?  I lived near Reading for a couple of years in the early 1990s.  But then there are rather a lot of places in the British Isles with an 'ing' in their name!

He is one of my tiniest teddies. 2cm tall and rather petite.  And nekked except for his natty red bow tie!

Teddy Bear Tuesday

I can't tell you anything about where this little bloke comes from. There is nothing written on his label (or not by me, anywhere, there is some maker information that appears to be in Chinese characters). Again I expect I bought him in England in the 1990s. He is 3cms tall and warmly dressed, obviously for a Northern Heminsphere winter. I love his blue coat with the yellow trim, I guess his mum didn't want him to get cold! Again I love the raised arms and the expression, saying 'pick me up Mum, I need a hug'. So much cuteness in such a little package!

Teddy Bear Tuesday

There is a place name written on the sticker on the bottom of this tiny teddy, but it must have got wet at some point because it is too smeared to read. But that most likely places it as having been bought in England in the 1990s. He is 3 cms tall and the scooter is 3cms long, making him perfectly proportioned!

I love the air of innocent childhood about him. He is playing and having fun. The scooter is nice and colourful (good visibility - a thoughtful safety feature!) and he has such a natty green scarf around his neck.

Teddy Bear Tuesday

This little chap is only 2.5cm tall. The picture is bigger to show off his details. According to the sticker I put on the bottom, I bought him in Salisbury, in England. I should have dated them too! But there isn't much room on the bottom of a tiny bear. It would have been some time in the 1990s, as that's when I was living in England and collecting bears.

I love the wistful expression on his upturned face. He looks as though he is saying 'pick me up, mum, and give me a cuddle!'

Teddy Bear Tuesday

I have decided to start a new regular posting thing.  So welcome to Teddy Bear Tuesday.  I have been collecting little bear figurines for years.  Sometimes I have bought them in places I have been visiting and putting stickers on the bottom to remind me where I bought them.  George found this old printers' block tray in an antique shop in England and gave it to me to display them in.  Over the years some non-bear items have been added.  I thought I would write about one per week.  That will keep me going for a long time!