RHYS BOWEN:
Just before Christmas I noticed it was National Teddy bear Day. This was celebrated in our household because I happen to love teddy bears. It started because I was a deprived child. I didn’t own a teddy bear until I turned twenty-one. I was born in the middle of WWII when it was impossible to buy toys. I had home made stuffed animals but never a real teddy bear. So for my twenty-first birthday I asked for one.
My mother, always wanting to do things properly, went to Hamleys on Regent Street (The FAO Schwartz of Britain) to choose a teddy bear. The assistant showed her one after the other. She rejected them all. In the end he said, trying to hide the exasperated tone, “What exactly are you looking for, madam?”
“One with a nice face,” my mother replied indignantly. “These ones aren’t smiling.”
So in the end she found the perfect bear. I named him Henry, after an American student I’d met in Germany who looked just like that—friendly, chubby, understanding. I still have Henry, now rather the worse for wear after having been played with by my own children, but he’s packed away in a trunk somewhere in the attic. My more recent teddy bears are more compact. Their names are Sophie and Alexander and they come with me on book tours to cheer me up after a long day. (Alexander is the one with the more mischievous expression. Sophie is long-suffering.)
During the pandemic I made them a house. The visiting bear is Sophie’s grandfather (whose hair is turning white and who has to sit down). I’ve always loved small things—I used to have a fabulous doll house, made for me by an old man my father knew. And I need toys around me, to distract me when I’m working. I keep a variety of amusements in my office. Edgar Allen Poe bobblehead is rather the worse for wear. The cube is all Monet seascapes. I love them all. The wind-up hamburger makes me laugh and is good for morale.
So, dear Reds, who else still plays with toys? Who else has stuffed animals? Is there something wrong with me? The Peter Pan syndrome perhaps? Who else has distractions in their office?
Sophie and Alexander are so cute! I adore teddy bears and, although I don’t remember having one as a child, we are a teddy-friendly household with lots of stuffed animals, including a star-struck Teddy and Snoopy [dressed as an astronaut] to keep my Cabbage Patch astronaut doll company.
ReplyDeleteThe Saturn V LEGO rocket my grandsons and I built proudly sits in our living room where you’ll also find magnetic marbles, a Celestial Moon Buddy, and The Child . . . .
I love this, Rhys!
ReplyDeleteIn my office I have a windup scorpion (I'm a Scorpio), my childhood dog, Topsy, a knitted Crime Bake lobster (complete with handcuffs on its claws), a wild-haired dammit doll, and my son's childhood dog.
Right now they are all cuddling up in the lap of a scarecrow Quaker midwife I made for a downtown festival in October - scarecrows adorn all the lampposts, and I thought it was high time Rose Carroll joined in the fun. After I brought her home, I couldn't bear to dismantle her, so she sits on the futon in my office. I wish I could post a picture of her rather beatific expression and the straw poking out of her bonnet.
I used to have the loveliest little knitted cadaver a friend made me. His name was Y.N. Cision. Alas, I took him on retreat a few years ago. I didn't notice that he fell down behind the desk, and by the time I got home and realized what had happened, the place where I was staying couldn't find him. Sniff.
DeleteA girl after my own heart! Love your toys
DeleteI don't still play with toys. However on the rare occasion that an action figure for a comic book character comes out and doesn't look like crap, I might pick it up. Of course, they are generally just kept Mint in Package but I like to have it. Although, I can't remember the last time I bought a new one.
ReplyDeleteAs far as teddy bears go, they are the gift I give these days when someone I know has a baby. You can't give Barbie dolls to baby girls without getting "sexist" comments so the teddy bears are fine for either gender AND I don't have to smack the parents for annoying me. Win-Win!
When my niece was young, I used to give her stuffed animals for every holiday and her birthday. More than a few of them were teddy bears and I would always write a little story to go with them as an introduction to the new stuffed friend. And I would make sure to interconnect each one in the story. So the one she was getting "knew" the one that she'd gotten just before.
What a cool uncle and what a lucky niece, Jay!
DeleteI love that about the stories, Jay!
DeleteA story to go with the teddy bear, Jay. What a great uncle you are! Did you keep the stories?
DeleteAmanda, I might've been the cool uncle back then. But not now for sure...long story.
DeleteThanks Edith! The funny thing is except for some edits suggested by my mom when she read them, the stories were written relatively quickly and always seemed to hold together coherently.
Rhys, I did always keep a copy of the story. My mom saved them in a file in her desk in the den. They are clearly written for a kid so they aren't high literature or anything but I always gave the bears names, a small backstory and had characters who were responsible for having "written" the letters. Like the Princess of Peppermint Candy Canes, Vinnie the Valentine Substitute, King Brien of the Leprechauns and a number of others.
Alas, Prince Andrew has put me off teddy bears. Every once in a while I will sing "The Teddy Bears' Picnic," though.
ReplyDeleteLove your stories today Reds! I have quite a few stuffed animals, but I can't put them out because Lottie thinks they are her new toys! I kept the collection of stuffed cats from my childhood for many years, until the roaches in Gainesville ate the fur off all of them.
ReplyDeleteYuck! I’m shuddering thinking of roaches eating lovely stuffed toys. I’ve got a thing about roaches. Only had them once in my life in Texas—the size of mice
DeletePoor Sophie, the long-suffering! Thanks for the laugh this morning, Rhys. I can totally see the dynamics there.
ReplyDeleteI also never had a teddy bear, come to think of it. I had one of those creepy dolls with the rotating triangular heads inside the sleeper hood, three-faced: Smiling, crying, and sleeping. Maybe it was a Trudy doll? I think so. This isn't it exactly, but close. Mine had a topknot knob to turn her head. Yeah, creepy. https://www.rubylane.com/item/607043-122391/1950x27s-Ideal-3-faced-plush-baby?search=1
Someone gave me a stuffed kitten, made from rabbit fur, and I can still remember how it smelled when it got wet. That is long, long gone. I do still have my sister's and my Barbie dolls, much worn from three generations of kids playing with them.
My kids, though, made up for any stuffed animal lack of mine. We still have boxes of their toys, and I'm forbidden to get rid of them. "I'll get them, Mom!" Right.
Last week I decided we need some toys, so I ordered a tic-tac-toe game to sit out on the coffee table. Now I need a coffee table.
Haha, Karen! "If you give a mouse a cookie..."
DeleteLOL, Edith!
DeleteAt least that’s a good way of getting a coffee table, Karen!
DeleteNeeds must, Rhys.
DeleteRHYS: I never had a teddy bear but my mom re-made the stuffed toy that my grandparents sent from Japan after my first birthday. I still have her in my closet along with other stuffed toys.
ReplyDeleteOur Environment Canada research team had an animal mascot: a giraffe. I was given a Beanie baby giraffe when I temporarily left the group to take an assignment in Ottawa in 1997. TWIGS went with me on many international work trips, and he is currently sitting on my sofa at home.
We seem to be a deprived group, Grace. No one had a teddy! No wonder we need each other for support
DeleteI have a whole collection of Gund bears and other teddy bears. The Gunds are all named after the cities where I bought them (mostly, there are a few outliers). I once told The Girl that every bear needs a name to explain why I named them all.
ReplyDeleteI used to have a screaming monkey on my desk, a gift from a friend in tech support, but the elastic dried out so I can't make him scream any longer. I also still have the collection of Madam Alexander dolls from my childhood, but I need to find a doll hospital. The dry air in my home rotted away all the elastic on the arms and legs, so they are falling apart.
Do you display your bears, Liz? And those poor dolls…,
DeleteI do. I have a set of three floating shelves in my bedroom and the bears take up almost all the space.
DeleteThe dolls used to be there. I'll get them fixed one of these days.
Your hamburger reminded me of university. I attended from 1967-1970, and it was there that from day 1, six strangers formed a bond that lasts forever. We shared many a laugh, many a cry, many a disappointment, and since we were under 21 the legal age to drink, many a hidden bottle of church wine smuggled in to us by one girl’s priest father “for our own good”. Another story... One day I came back from a Saturday afternoon-I-am-bored shopping excursion with a laughing bag. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1De72CaE8_Y It cost under $5, I am sure. It was a burlap bag that when you pushed the button, it would laugh and soon it would make you laugh. We loved it! Many a time, someone would creep (or barge) into my room, push the button, and we would have a well needed laugh. I wonder what happened to it?
ReplyDeleteNow I remember a laughing something—not s bag but what? And it did make us laugh. I think we all need one again!
DeleteA whoopie cushion? It let out a loud fart when you sat on it and made everyone laugh!
DeleteA laughing bag showed up on my college halls back in that same time frame. It probably was my frame of mind that night, but it freaked me out. I was begging them to make it stop.
DeleteOf course I still play with toys, Rhys. Mine is named Dell Protazoa. It sits on my desk with his friends logitech and Little Dell. They open me to the world. Now, teddies are another story. On Nome Street, Tiny Tim Bear Battin, who is 70 years old, sleeps on my closet shelf. Blue Bear, is 42 and slumbers somewhere amongst the other detritus of the young uns bedroom. The remaining animals are stuffed with kibble, and wander at will throughout my life. Thanks for asking, happy day to all.
ReplyDeleteDo you have birthday parties for Tiny Tim and Blue?
DeleteMy youngest daughter had two stuffed toys in her lab at University of Miami when she was in grad school. She was working on a cure for viral chlamydia, and someone gave her a stuffed chlamydia virus. I can't remember what the other one was.
Tiny Tim Bear…. Oh, how sweet. Does he have a little crutch?
DeleteNooo, but I was literate at age 5 and knew about Dickens..
DeleteKaren .. they continue to slumber these days.
Coralee, 70 in stuffed toy years is probably something like 140. They deserve the rest.
DeleteWhen I worked, I kept a few toys around to amuse myself with when a break was needed. Now, I am kept entertained by a six-year-old and his toys, many of which are graciously shared. And then there's Jimmy Crackhead--who is plenty entertaining in motion and even asleep.
ReplyDeleteIs Jimmy a cat?
DeleteRhys, yes, he's our ginger boy! Almost 6-years-old himself and still as playful and loving as a kitten.
DeleteLove this, Rhys! I'm not a big stuffed animal fan but my almost-six granddaughter has that covered. Her goal is to have so many on her bed they completely cover her at night! For me? Toys for the desk. All about two inches - blue/white Delft design wooden shoes from Amsterdam, a pitcher and bowl set from a pottery town in North Carolina, a Navaho bowl from Phoenix Left Coast Crime, a snow globe of New York, a goddess on a Greek pitcher. Tiny crafts carry big memories.
ReplyDeleteI have a collection of tiny boxes, bowls etc from my travels in a glass topped table
DeleteRhys, I just love your bears. I was born during the war and was given my first bear when I was 4. It was an unexpected gift from a woman traveling on the same boat as my parents and I. We were on Our way to Trinidad for my fathers first job after his army service. I still have him or perhaps it’s her or thou as has always worn dresses made by my Ma. But I also have a sit up bunny which I think was my baby toy. Then as a part of his PT after an operation near the end of the war, my father made me a purple felt Bambi and a brown and beige felt Kanga and Roo. I still have them all. I also have my ma’s Boozo? Dog with a jacket and tie. I realise I know nothing about him.
DeleteI forgot about the Goddess of Our Wicked Selves! She's a naked witch flying on a broomstick with a wicked grin, pointing into the future.
ReplyDeleteI do not remember having a single stuffed animal. Dolls, yes. Nothing I've kept. But I know better than to give away ANY of my daughters' stuffies without asking them first. Molly loved her Spotty Leopard. And Naomi adored a stuffed pig. Name? Cannot remember. I'm pretty sure they're still kicking around... somewhere.
ReplyDeleteI have many bears that are figurines, many of them and those just sit there. and are stuffed teddy bears in my home. Yes, that is plural - bearS. It started in high school when I found instructions to crochet teddy bears. It is the same bear, in three different sizes. (Goldilocks was not included). I've reproduced this bear several times, to give away. I have other bears that have been gifted to me throughout the years. I do travel with a bear. If on a plane, I have a long necklace with a bear that has arms and legs that move. In the car - Darrel travels well. The others stay at home.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite toys have been gifts. I was about 18 when I mentioned to my mother that I had never had a Raggedy Ann doll. I got one for Christmas. She's long gone. The first thing my husband ever bought me was a stuffed white tiger. Her name is Tasha. She lives high up on the dresser so the dog can't reach her. My favourite thing might not be quite a toy. We were wandering around curio shops as a way to jolly me out of a dissertation-writing funk. Suddenly, I laughed out loud. My husband came from around the corner. "I don't know what that was but we are going to own it," says he. It was a mug depicting Winnie the Pooh and the phrase "I am a bear of little brain and big words bother me." I still love it. I wouldn't say that I play with them but they certainly have meaning.
ReplyDeleteOh, I love this! Rhys, I cannot believe there is another person on the face of the earth who received their first Teddy bear as an adult. My parents were lovers of all things Steiff. I had giraffes, tigers, lions, a penguin - but no bears. While I treasured my collection, I wanted a bear. Finally, in my early 30s a boyfriend gifted me with the Paddington books and a Paddington Bear. I loved him. My cats at him eventually, but that didn't stop me. I have a collection of TY bears now, and a lovely little bear that was a birthday gift from a friend in the late 1990s. Yes, bring on the bears.
ReplyDeleteMy cats ate him, sheesh - too late in the day for typos. Back to work.
DeleteI don’t remember having stuffed animals in my youth. I think they were not “ a la mode “.
ReplyDeleteWhen my husband left, after 25 years, I had difficulties to sleep alone. My daughter bought me a big, 3 feet long teddy bear to sleep with and it solved my problem. After a time , I bought a body cushion to sleep with because I didn’t want to wear it down but it still rules on my bed.
While I worked, the place received a 3-1/2 feet stuffed pink panther ( from the films, you know ). It was the logo of a rock wool company and we sold a lot of their stuff. The boss picked names out of a box and I won it. It still sits in my daughter’s room.
I love your toys, Rhys! I, too have the Edgar Allen Poe bobblehead, sitting next to a plush Poe doll who looks like he'd like to have tea with your Mrs. Roosevelt. And I still have my old teddy bear, Susan Bear, who has lost a lot of stuffing from being well-loved by two generations.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest "toy" thing in my house is Youngest's extensive doll collection. It includes the international dolls my parents got for me when we were traveling hither and thither in the military, historical costume dolls, dolls with amazing ringlets and velveteen party dresses, and, the queen of the collection, a Scarlet O'Hara doll, complete with green dress made from the curtains. Scarlett, who was a raffle prize, is in her own glass and mahogany container on the desk in the library - or rather, the library desk is the pedestal for Scarlett. The rest are in Youngest's room.
I've warned her she may wind up needing an apartment/condo/house with its own dedicated doll room if she keeps acquiring them. Or, I could wind up with the majority of them still in her old bedroom after she's left for good. We shall see.
When I was little I had a blond teddy bear and big brother had a reddish brown one. I assume our parents gave them to us. When I turned 4 I was given a panda bear as big as me. Loved my critters! Mom purged the house of stuffed animals when it turned out our next younger sister had allergies. She didn't even ask or offer to store them. Just poof! Gone. I had plenty of dolls. My aunt gave me a Ginny doll with red hair like mine. Later I had Madam Alexander dolls who I designated Nancy, Bess, and George. Then Barbies. My dolls never had names. They were just whoever I had them acting as. And then poof. Gone again. Mom gave them to my little sisters while I was away at college. Now I have a Dilbert, two Curious Georges, and an Army teddy bear my son gave me last year. My office area displays dinosaurs, fossils, seashells, and a butterfly in a dome. My sister did give me back two dolls with loose heads, no clothes, and certainly no pink trunk full of doll clothes. Her kids did a number on them. Such is life. Fortunately, I like her kids, grown now.
ReplyDeleteMy son had an ewok instead of a teddy bear. And I think Gizmo. He slept with that ewok for years!
DeleteI don't tend to play with toys any more. But there is absolutely nothing wrong with you. After all, I can't say anything since I watch Disney movies every chance I get. I may not play with toys, but I still love kid's movies.
ReplyDeleteI love your toys, Rhys! And I covet your Zen garden--but probably a no-go in my house with three cats! I didn't play with dolls as a child, only stuffed animals from as early as I can remember, and I had a zoo full! I can't remember every having a teddy bear, though, until one I bought in London as an adult. I named him Gordon, and he's still in my office, along with my beloved Paddington. But it's George the Green Elephant that I sleep with every night.
ReplyDeleteWhat a marvelous collection, Rhys! I have critters who demand my attention, constantly, so I don't have many toys in my office. A Lego version of Big Ben and a Lego Wonder Woman, the Hooligans prized stuffed animals - a teddy bear for H1 and a dog for H2, and that's about it.
ReplyDeleteI was just talking to a friend about what a child I still am, as I love toys so much. The conversation came up because I was showing her a picture of the new groundhog I bought from Build-a-Bear. The groundhog is adorable, and I have him dressed in pajamas, because, well, he is probably going to want to sleep a bit longer. For Christmas, I ordered myself a porcelain badger reading a book. It's a wee thing, and shows my love for small fun pieces, too (like the goat I bought in Key West). These are not cheap trinkets. They cost a fair penny, but I don't buy a lot of them either. I love old games, too, still having an old Clue game and and old Aggravation game. I have my seasonal Beanie Babies I put out at Halloween, Christmas, and Valentine's Day. An addiction that I developed last year was Funko Pop figures, but I've almost quit now. However, my Funko Pop Christmas figures--Betty Boop, Yoda, and Santa--were lots of fun. And, my Halloween Funko Pops included the witches and a few other characters from Hocus Pocus movie, the Mummy, Frankenstein, Casper, and more. And, I have an Edgar A. bobblehead and a small Shrek toy. Oh, and I have a few vintage toys from childhood. And, did I mention the blanket chest full of my childhood Barbie dolls and outfits? So, it's safe to say that I will never grow up.
ReplyDeleteRhys, I love your traveling bears and the house you made them. I need to have a traveling friend like that. Maybe my Beanie Baby goat would be a good choice. I love goats.
Rhys,
I had a few dolls as a kid, but I always had a zoo full of stuffed animals!
ReplyDeleteLate to the party again! I love teddy bears. I have had my teddy bear since I was a baby. I think someone gave me a teddy bear when I was born? I still have a collection of cute Christmas stuffed animals like a small penguin.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Rhys, for sharing photos of your dollhouse and the teddy bears. I like your Eleanor Roosevelt.
Diana
I used to have an extensive PEZ dispenser collection in my office. Definitely cheered me up.
ReplyDeleteHow cute!!
ReplyDeleteMy whole library is filled with "toys," some seasonal, e.g., Christmas is a time when my inner child comes out with enthusiastic abandon. My library makes me smile when I enter. I like "dolls," i.e., clay sculptures or art figures, but I have a small handmade, fabric Christmas bear. I love Eleanor Roosevelt. She would fit perfectly into one of my creative spaces. She could hang out with my Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas paper dolls.
ReplyDelete