Collecting Teddy Bears

Hickory Dickory Dock Bears Clock
J. Vale
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Actor, Peter Bull, was one of the most prominent Arctophiles (teddy bear collectors) and probably one of the people who helped to make collecting bears as popular as it is today. He toured the U.S.A. with his collection of bears and the teddy bear that appeared in Brideshead Revisited belonged to him. Sotheby's held the first teddy bear auction in 1982 and the world record price for a bear is £110,000 at Christies South Kensington paid for a bear belonging to Colonel Bob Henderson and bought by a Japanese collector who is said to have booked the bear his own first class seat to fly back to Japan.

In the collecting of teddy bears authenticity, provenance and condition is of paramount importance. First of all you need to identify your bear. Take a good look at him and carefully examine all his parts. Feel him too so that you can identify the stuffing. The first bears were stuffed with wood shavings (wood wool), then in the 1930s kapok and wool waste began to be used although wood wool was often still used for the head. Because of this, a bear with a softer body is unlikely to be pre-1930.

A label on the bear is a good clue to its maker but not an infallible one! The most valuable and desirable bears are those made by the German company Stieff. They have a small metal button in the left ear and the design on the button can identify the period of manufacture. Other desirable manufacturers include Ideal, Bruin, Chad Valley, Farnell, Merrythought and Chiltern.

The fur on early bears was usually mohair fabric, later, other fabrics were used: in the 1930s, fabrics like silk or cotton plush and, after the 1950s, synthetic materials. The paws on early good-quality bears were made from felt, or on cheaper ones, brushed cotton. From the 1930s some bears had paws made from a leather look cotton fabric, velveteen or just from using a different coloured plush.

Early bears had boot button eyes, from the 1920s these were changed to glass ones. Some post Second World War bears were given plastic eyes. Originally teddies had quite long snouts and the nose was usually stitched on with silk thread. The snout because progressively shorter until it became the relatively flat one we see today on modern bears. The original bears also had a pronounced hump, mimicking a real bear's hump. This has also gradually disappeared.

With the increase in the value of teddy bears, the production of fakes has become a lucrative business. How can you be sure that the bear you buy is genuine?

Do not buy a collectable teddy bear without seeing a lot of bears first. Go to specialist fairs and auctions and to toy and teddy bear museums.
Make sure you are familiar with the overall look of bears of different periods and types then, when buying a teddy, check that the distinctive features like the length of snout, type of eyes, hump (or lack of hump) are all consistent with its supposed age and manufacturer.

Also check that the fabric is right for the period and that any wear is in the logical places. One would expect wear to occur where the bear is held or cuddled so any on the top of the head or the front of the face, for example, would be quite suspicious.
Another tip is to smell the bear. Does it smell as fresh as if it was made yesterday? If it does, perhaps it was! An old bear usually has a fusty dusty smell of age and without that, perhaps you should think twice before spending too much money.

Copyright © 2002 by Carol Fisher

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