Thank you for visiting Teddy Bear Fairs, as you browse the pages of this site you will find a host of information from the Teddy Bear Library written by a well known Teddy Bear expert, visit our fairs page where we list fairs and events up and down the country, and finally if you are unable to travel to one of the many fairs we have listed  then go to our links page where you can enter specialist sites for that special Teddy Bear, but before you do just take a moment to read our story of the month.

Years before the two legged teddy bear we all know and love came on the scene there were other types of bear toys for children. These bears were more like a real bear as manufacturer’s sketched real live bears in captivity to help them with their designs. Many of these bears were made during the 1860/90s and were a popular children’s toy. These bears were made of wood, paper mache or the more traditional excelsior stuffed bears covered in fabric that we have seen become popular. The 19^th Century children’s story book Goldilocks and the three bears made the bear even more popular with children and by the end of the 19^th century bears were used to advertise all sorts of products as they captured the hearts of the buying public with their human like ways.

Some early bears were made to mirror those of the early European Dancing Bears and would have a large ring through the bear’s nose and a chain. Later this was replaced with a leather muzzle on the bear to make it more palatable for children. 

In the mid 19^th century caged bears were available in many Zoo’s throughout the world and this added to their popularity.

These early toys are very collectable and many of the early German toy manufacturers made these true to life bears that were standing on all fours. It was not long before the manufacturers realised that these bears would be even more entertaining if they had wheels as it gave them a walking appearance and larger examples could be ridden on by children.  These true to life bears remained popular with children for years and were manufactured up until the Second Word War in large quantities. Most of these early bears on wheels had metal spoke wheels and later there was a change towards wooden wheels. To find an early large bear of this kind in excellent condition is rare as they were much played with and the fabric on the back got very worn. To find an Early Steiff, Strunz, Eduard Cramer or Bing would be a real achievement and could cost thousands if in excellent condition. 

Fortunately many other manufacturers made these bears and so you can add a more reasonably priced one to your collection. These bears have great faces and are a real piece of history and are great fun to collect.

Andy Greetham   Published on this site by kind permission of Andy Greetham and Melvyn Fabb of Bourton Bears.

 www.bourtonbears.com