A Passion for Black & White Teddy Bears
Since the Teddy Bear's birth way back in 1902, we have witnessed Teddy Bears being made by most manufacturers in almost every colour of the spectrum, infact there is probably not a single colour you can think of that has not been used to make a Teddy Bear.
Looking back then over the decades that have passed since the Teddy Bear was created we all know that the firm Steiff, for example, produced coloured Teddy Bears which simply were not popular, including the famous Black ‘Mourning Bears', Red Bears and the Harlequin Teddy Bear, (which recently hit the news when it went to Auction at Christies Auction House in Kensington, London, recently) to name just a few, but then, along came the Panda Teddy Bear, which was a different kettle of fish altogether.
In 1938, London Zoo had two adult Pandas move in along with a beautiful seven month old female Panda who was named Ming. Make no doubt about it, these remarkable bears caused an absolute sensation with everyone who set eyes on them and everyone wanted to visit the Zoo to see these beautiful creatures.
So then, you can imagine, it did not take long before the soft toy companies cottoned on to this and started to produce Panda Teddy Bears. One of the first makers to produce Pandas was the famous Dean's Rag Book Company. This firm even went as far as having their Panda Bear (whom they called Handy Pandy by the way) photographed with Ming in her cage at the Zoo.
Other soft toy makers such as Chad Valley, Chiltern and Merrythought also produced Pandas and so did the Irish Teddy Bear makers Tara Toys. In 1953, the famous Schuco Company added a Tricky Yes/No Panda to their wonderful range of Teddy Bears too.
Merrythought, one of the earliest manufacturers, had Pandas in their 1937 catalogue. These Panda Teddy Bears came in two designs, the first was a very realistic Panda who stood on all fours, the other was a Panda made in black and white mohair, which appeared a lot more cuddly.
In the 1950's Chiltern made a beautiful Panda Teddy Bear, from the very same pattern as their wonderful and much sought after Hugmee pattern, so you can imagine what a gorgeous Panda he turned out to be.
Today, there are not many Teddy Bear collections around the world that do not include at least one Panda amongst it's inhabitants, but so often you will find that the Panda has a special appeal and so are collected by Panda Bear Collectors and they do indeed make a magnificent collection. As Panda Teddy Bears are possibly much rarer than Teddy Bears, these collections are enormously desirable, especially if you have some of the older Pandas that have been produced. What I find too is that men in particular seem to always favour the Panda Bear over the Teddy Bear. This could be a useful fact if you are considering buying the man in your life a special Teddy Bear.
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