In the animal 'cuteness' stakes, Polar Bear Cubs must be top of the list.
Most of us, of a certain age, have always loved Polar Bears on account of Rupert. He was an adolescent bear, with a mother who always wore an apron, and a father who wore plus-fours and smoked a pipe. Just an every-day family of Polar Bears in amongst a world of humans.
I know that most Teddy Bears are gingery/beige colour, and they are named after a Bear that was probably darker, but I would like to suggest that the very best Teddy Bear imaginable would have the face of a Polar Bear Cub, and the body of a traditional early Steiff.
I didn't have a Teddy Bear as a child (just Alphonse), but I do occasionally buy them as gifts for new-borns. One baby, who was born at the height of Winter received a Polar Bear 'Teddy', which was almost as 'cute' as the one's above.
However, when going around all the shops that sold Teddy Bears, I was amazed to see how very few traditional Bears there were around. Mostly they were horrible Japanese objects that would have scared most small children to death! I probably should have looked online; although even there it's disappointing.
All three of my own children had proper Bears.... Bryn, Mrs Pins, and Harry.
18 comments:
Frankly, I found this blogpost unbearable!
I never realised that Rupert Bear was supposed to be a polar bear! I had a Rupert annual every Christmas as a young child, but never an actual " teddy" . Just looked it up.....teddy was white, but the annual seems to depict him as brown.
I never had a teddy bear as a child. I feel deprived.
It was the bearest of necessities!
I've always imagined he was a Polar Bear, he really couldn't be anything else! I too had the album every Christmas, and loved them.
Me too. Maybe it's why I'm so fond of them now.
Both our sons had teddy bears Little Tommy belonging to our eldest and Snow Bear for our youngest which was a polar bear teddy. Both still have their bears stored away. I looked after them whilst they went to uni and explored the world, but now they are back with their rightful owners. I still have my old teddy bear just plain Ted, and he is 75 years old. Regards Sue H
Dear Rupert. I loved his comic strip.
As a child I only had dolls but I bought an assortment of bears for my girls. We had red bear orange bear, very original names. Lovely bears. They've still got them. Along with Fatty Bottom. He sits very comfortably on any surface
The trouble is a polar bear Teddy would get mucky pretty quickly.
Random trivia - a polar bear’s skin is black.
We look after all the children's Teddy's. I don't know why they don't look after them themselves; no doubt they will one day.
I loved Rupert, and really looked forward to receiving the annual each Christmas. I still have several of them.
Dirt is part of the charm. I didn't know that about the skin!
Many years ago, I adopted a young Samoyed pup who, at 8 weeks old, looked just like a polar bear cub. Adorable. Molly lived to 15 years, a good kind run for a large, smiley, profusely shedding dog. Growing up, I always preferred playing with Teddy's vs baby dolls. And yes, it is hard to find properly made teddy bears these days. They exist, but are usually custom made and rather expensive.
Hug a bear for happiness.
They must be as easy to make as ugly ones; just a question of good design. The price is another question!
Yes. Everyone should have a Bear.
All babies must have a good quality teddy. I also buy a teddy for newborns. The last one was pricey, but the quality was supreme.
It would be nice to think that those 'newborns' kept their Teddys for the whole of their lives. I don't think there's any other object that would mean as much to them.
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