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The Old Bear Company |
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My Precious Gang!
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| It's over 10 years since I first shared this photo and information about my gang! In these troubled times they still bring comfort just as they did all those many moons ago as a child! :) These are some of "the gang" who live on top of my wardrobe! Every so often they come down for a wash and brush up and I felt inspired to share a tale or two. The joy Fiona and I get from collecting and dealing in old toys and teddy bears definitely stems back to our childhood when we were never out of toy shops! On annual visits to Blackpool, our dear Grandpa didn't even have time to unpack before we would whisk him off to the Pier in search of a new cuddly companion! Frogs, penguins, monkeys, bears, even snakes and crocodiles joined our gang! My first teddy bear was "Bibibisister", a Wendy Boston bear given to my Brother in 1960 and later passed on to me. To this day I have no idea how I came up with that name! She is shown here wearing the same dress I lovingly gave her as a child. Her best friend, bought for me by my Grandparents in 1968, is "Judy", a Deans monkey. Once I lost this beloved duo and it wasn't until several days later I remembered I had left them up an apple tree!! They were safe, if rather wet due to the rain, and I didn't let them out of my sight again! Fiona had a little blue teddy bear that she adored. One day she left him in the cinema and, despite all attempts to get him back, he was never found. Although she received a pink bear as a replacement a few weeks later, she never felt quite the same love as she had for that little blue fellow. "Jaffa" the teddy accompanied me on my first day at Primary School and I remember proudly showing off his bright orange fur to the teacher! She allowed him to sit on my desk that whole day and everyone made a fuss of him! We sisters loved Trolls and still have a collection from 1970. Maxi, shown here with yellow hair, was one we shared because we couldn't decide who should actually own him! Later my Mum bought me a surprise gift - a girlfriend for Maxi named Coco! They remain together over 50 years later! TRUE LOVE! Tigger (the tiger) and Harriet (the hippo) were also Blackpool acquisitions from the early 1970s (both still with their Merrythought labels). I took great pride in dragging Harriet along the prom using a dog lead!! She is still here to tell the tale, although her eye sight is not what it once was. At the same time Fiona would take a monkey called "Baby Reynolds" for a stroll! He also enjoyed many tram rides and she still has him to this day. I have a photo of me, together with my blue Pedigree elephant, taken in 1968 when I was four years old and I treasure it. For some reason I never called him anything other than "Blue Elephant". I would carry him by his trunk and it is a little twisted these days! And Spoffa, the bulldog, was spied in Lewis's shop window on a day trip to the seaside with my elder brother when I was 12 - oh I longed for that dog! My brother secretly told Mum about Spoffa and, 3 months later, there he was as a surprise Birthday gift! OOOH how I hugged him! This gang of critters is not valuable, but they share so many early childhood memories that, to me, they are absolutely priceless! |
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