Teddy Blog

It’s the 50th birthday for Paddington Bear! This cute,cuddly bear who wears a yellow raincoat has been making generations of children happy. With his winsome little face and the slicker with hat, Paddington has been cuddling with children of all ages. I can remember the first time I saw Paddington and feel in love with him. My children have had Paddington snuggle with them at bedtime. He is an endearing soul.

With all the stories written about Paddington since his conception, it’s hard to believe he is an “old bear”. I doubt if his creator Michael Bond could have realized Paddington would be around after 50 years and still be a popular bear. Best wishes, Paddington, and hopes for many more years of giving children pleasure.

It wasn’t until the 1980’s that teddy bears became advertising for different companies. Used in commercials, television shows, storybooks, and cartoons, teddy bears began helping sell products to consumers. Commercial teddy bears even became selling products on their own. When people saw how cute they were people wanted to buy them.

IN 1992 the Coca cola bears started promoting Coca Cola. The first commercial was the “Northern Lights” showed an animated polar bear who went the to movies and ended the night drinking a Coke while watching the Northern Lights. Soon these special bears were being sold everywhere.

The Snuggle bear teddy bears have been around since 1983 when they first started floating down in the commercials. You’ll find Snuggles on every product sold by the company today. Snuggle bears of all sizes have been sold since then.

By 2000 companies started noticing that those cute little teddies bears really helped sell products. Charmin introduced the “Call of Nature” commercials with their own Charmin bear, adding a bear cub in 2001. Now there is a whole bear family in the commercials for toilet paper.

Who can resist a teddy bear, especially when he’s selling a product? Kids of all ages will want that particular teddy bear.

So, just how much is that teddy bear worth? Prices can go up or down over the years or the price could stay the same. Depends on the market for teddy bears. You can take your teddy bear to a dealer or check a book that would list different bears.

Examine your teddy bear very closely. Before buying a teddy bear look him over and ask as many questions as you can. Where did this bear come from? Who had him last? Was he well loved? Is his fur getting thin in places? What about his foot pads? There are different things to look at on a bear. Labels,  joints, pads on the feet, face, and fur. The face might give you an idea of how old the bear is. Joints might be stiff and hard like a bear you’d find in a craft store. That’s what teddy bears in the beginning were like. Pads can indicate if he is of good quality or not. Many companies decades ago made their bears with long noses because the bear was to represent the real thing, not a cute, cuddly toy or collectible. Does the bear have glass or button eyes? He might be worth something more. A hand sewn teddy should have no flaw or at the least very minimal flaws.