ABOVE: Sweet Sally, a much played with and appreciated Chiltern from the 1930s.
BELOW: Now reserved: Benji a serious Chiltern from the 1940s-50s.
BELOW : Cyrus, an early American bear, and Wallace, a 1930s Chiltern.
BELOW: Just arrived in our British Bears category, Steven, a lovely 1960s Chad Valley teddy bear. Chad Valley made many different ranges of their bears, and Steven is one of their higher quality bears.
JUST ARRIVED: Below: Hayley, a 1930s Chiltern who can be found on our Well Loved Bears page.
BELOW: Two recent arrivals, Cecily and Ollie. Cecily is now SOLD, and Ollie is in the Vintage Animals category.
BELOW: Wilbur
Below: Albert, a 1930s Farnell, who is a new resident in our British Bears category.
WELCOME !
About Old Teddies
We aim to bring you a selection of appealing quality antique teddy bears at competitive prices. Bears that you may discover will include the major UK manufacturers such as Farnell, Chiltern, Chad Valley, Merrythought, Deans and Pedigree. In addition, vintage teddies from the continent, USA and Australia may make their way here, hoping to find a good home.
We try to source old toys mainly dating from pre-1920 through to the 1960s, but may sometimes include more recent limited editions from the best quality factories such as Steiff or Merrythought. From the almost pristine, unplayed with bear, to the well-loved character who has clearly meant a great deal to his previous young owner , their condition varies. While the latter type holds a special appeal for some collectors, we always give a full description, and make a point of mentioning any 'injuries' or repairs Ted may have had.
Also for sale from time to time are good old toy 'animals', nice earlier examples of which are becoming scarce. They can also add variety to a bear collection.
ABOVE (sold) : Felicity, a sweet little Chiltern bear
THE ORIGINS OF THE TEDDY BEAR
Although bears had been represented in toy form since the late 19c, the actual name "Teddy Bear" entered the public consciousness in 1902 after American president Theodore Roosevelt refused to shoot a bear he encountered on a hunting expedition. A cartoon illustrating the incident subsequently appeared in the Washington Post and the ensuing interest led to a New York shopkeeper offering two stuffed bear toys for sale, and with the president's permission, naming them 'Teddy's Bears'. These proved very popular, and the shopkeeper, Morris Michtom subsequently expanded and became the Ideal Novelty and Toy Corporation .
Around the same time, the Steiff factory of Giengen, Germany, which up until then had produced a variety of stuffed animal toys, created their first bears, and exhibited them at the Leipzig fair in 1903. This resulted in several thousand being exported and sold in the USA, and was the start of the world wide appreciation for these high quality, realistic bears which is still ongoing today .
BELOW: SOME PREVIOUS RESIDENTS
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