"Outside of a teddy bear, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a teddy bear it's too dark to read!"
OK, I confess … I borrowed this quote from one attributed to Groucho Marx, substituting teddy bear for his quote that said "dog." (No offense, Rover). The quote is actually a bit sexist as applied to teddy bears, as they are extremely popular with the ladies.
It's true that they were originally considered a toy for little boys, since girls had their dolls, but when they rapidly climbed in popularity, soon after they appeared on the market, age and gender went out the window.
Teddy bears were appreciated and loved by one and all.
Why do we collect teddy bears?
A good question, but the answer is many faceted.
A great article by Mark McKinley, on the psychology of collecting, appeared a few years ago in The National Psychologist, an Independent Newspaper for Practitioners.
McKinley states that everybody collects something and traces our interest in collecting back to our childhood and simply grew from there. He sites a long list of things people collect, and shares some interesting names for people who collect various things.
Did you know that a postcard collector is called a deltiologist?
A coin collector is known as a numismatist, clock collectors are horologists, and if you collect subway tokens you can be referred to as a vecturist!
Of course we all know that teddy bear collectors are known as arctophilists.
The article goes on to suggest motivations for why we collect - some for investment (although we highly discouraged this when we sold old teddies, as the market can be very fickle when it comes to secondary values).
Some collect for pure enjoyment, to preserve something from the past, and still others collect to enhance their social lives, attending teddy bear shows and exchanging information with like-minded souls.
If you talk to a member of Good Bears of the World, you will discover the incredible rewards that await you when you gift teddy bears to children and adults in need.
We recently read a statement that said "It's amazing how many adults who are perfectly normal in every way - collect teddy bears!" That's very likely one of the big reasons they are perfectly normal!
A teddy bear blog offered four psychological powers of teddy bears.
First, they are the symbol of child-like innocence. Second, they remind us of a special person who loved us and brought us a teddy bear. Third, they are treasured for the memory they represent if we received it for a special occasion (birthday, Christmas, etc.).
A fourth is the power of the soft touch. A huggable, warm teddy bear bring immense psychological comfort.
We asked our readers to share some thoughts on why they collect teddy bears and received some wonderful responses.
Laure says she doesn't remember when she started collecting bears, but made the comment that we hear frequently - "I buy when a bear speaks to me!"
She does not know how many teddies she has, but stated that it took over 2 hours to dust them, and even though she is running out of space, she plans to keep "sneaking them in to the house."
Billy tells us that he collects teddy bears because they make him happy, taking away bad feelings that might come up. "A teddy bear takes us back to our childhood when we had no worries."
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Our first introduction to teddy bears often begins when we are very young.
We love wearing teddy bears on our clothes!
Teddy bears always bring us comfort.
We are introduced to teddy bears when our first birthday cake is a Teddy Bear! Oksana, from Kiev, celebrates with her son!
Radar, from the TV Series "Mash," always slept with his teddy bear!
Teddy Bears are the safest, cuddliest people in the
whole wide world. |
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Peter (from Belgium) states "As a matter of fact I DO NOT collect teddy bears!" He then goes on to share that every year several new teddy bears find their way into his home, and he cannot imagine a life without teddy bears. He also has high praise for the kindness and generosity of the whole teddy bear community. "In the past years I have met so many wonderful and lovely people (artists, collectors and shopkeepers) at shows, on Internet sites and they never cease to amaze me." |
| Doris and I would have to add "Hear!, Hear!" to that, as we have come to learn, over 35+ years in this business, that the teddy bear community are the most sharing and giving people on earth. |
Teddy Bears Always Keep Your Secrets |
Nina was kind enough to share thoughts from her childhood to the present time and had much to say on the subject.
She was born in Germany and received a variety of dolls and toys as a child. As you might expect, the bears carried the name of Steiff. When she attended boarding school in Paris her room was full of animals. She told us that when she lived in San Francisco her true love for antiques grabbed her and never let go.
"Eventually I met a professor who teaches in Alabama and the next thing I knew I was moving an enormous number of antiques and bears to Alabama. After 16 years of marriage we have around 4,000 bears plus dolls and companion animals."
Nina concluded by telling us that she collects bears "because they are wonderful, loving, non-judgemental companions - they are varied from goofy to stunning ..some have enormous money value but every bear is worth her weight in gold!"
Nina is a cultural anthropologist and psychologist, but states that it wouldn't matter whether her vocation fit her avocation. "Bears and their companions are deeply rooted in my heart." |
On a personal note from your author,
I come from a family of 8 children, and as the youngest it was customary for the older siblings to pass along their toys.
There was a teddy bear in the family, shown in some old photos of days gone by, but unfortunately it did not survive through my older brothers and sisters
Doris has a similar story, and although she has pictures of her very own teddy bear as a four year old, >>>>
it was never put away to be saved.
Her mother was a generous lady who liked to share toys and things with "the family down the street," so poor little teddy ended up in an adoption scheme.
Teddy Bears know when you've had a bad day. |
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| Doris and I set out on a business venture to buy and sell antiques back in the late 1970s, and we tended to specialize in toys and dolls. Teddy bears were simply not thought of as collectible at that time, but a chance comment, by a doll collector customer requesting that we keep our eye out for an old teddy bear for her collection, started us on a path that was to change our lives forever. |
We did indeed find an old teddy that was relegated to a box under a table at a doll show, and we had to part with $15.00 to acquire him. We showed him to our young daughter and she said "He looks just like my professor at school … with cat hair and dandruff on his sweater!"
The bear became known as "The Professor", and rather than sell him we displayed him in our booth at antique mall shows holding a sign that read "Wanted - Old Teddy Bears."
We honestly had good intentions of selling any bears we acquired, but as you have probably guessed, we said "maybe someday" and our collection grew like topsy. |
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In the early years, we made trips to Britain and returned with up to eight suitcases filled with old bears! We still make those trips, but now we consider it fortunate to discover just a few old bears … and they are no longer in the $15.00 price range!
We had the good fortune of meeting the late Peter Bull, the British movie actor whose first book on collecting teddy bears was largely responsible for sparking the teddy bear collecting movement for adults.
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Famous people collect teddy bears too. |
There are many other famous names in the world of teddy bear collecting, including actress Dame Judy Dench, Ringo Starr of Beatles fame, the late Poet Sir John Betjeman (whose bear was named Archibald) >>>>>> |
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Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher collected teddy bears. |
Movies Stars and actors also collect |
Elvis Presley had a popular song titled "Teddy Bear" (click to listen to the song) and for good reason he had many bears in his personal collection.
The list of famous personalities is too long to list here but just ask anyone, and we'd bet they collect or have a teddy bear! |
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| As we collect, do we begin to look like our teddy bears or is it that our bears begin to look like us? |
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Teddy Bears make excellent traveling companions |
Teddy Bears are never jealous of other teddy bears |
As adults, we have always been quick to let those around us know that we collect teddy bears. It has resulted on occasion in a raised eyebrow or two (probably from people who collect barbed wire or some other strange item) but it has paid off on more than one occasion.
We have received a response from a number of people who just happened to have an old teddy bear that they just did not know what to do with.
More often than not they were hoping to find someone who might appreciate their childhood toy. We make it a habit when purchasing an old bear at a shop or antique show, to inquire if the seller could share any background information on teddy. Most often it had changed hands several times, but on numerous occasions we were able to get some heart warming stories in the history of the owner.
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3428 Hillvale Road 
