Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Say hello to the Bears Brian!

All three Bears are named "Brian."  You have Bear Brian in the middle.  There's Bear Brian's Big Brother on the right and Bear Brian's Baby Brother on the left.

But their names are relative.  If you're talking to Baby Bear Brian, then you have Bear Brian's Big Brother on his immediate left and Bear Brian's BIGGER Brother two seats over.  Then, of course, if you're talking to Big Bear Brian, you have Bear Brian's Brother and Bear Brian's Baby Brother.

It's all quite confusing, sometimes but, once you get to know the Bears Brian, it all becomes quite normal to speak to them.

They got their names from their Bearmaker when they came to live with us.  They were all named "Brian."  When the first "Brian" came to live with us, we explained to him that we knew there was a famous person named "Bear Bryant."  He was the football coach from Alabama.  Brian smiled and said, "I'd like to be called 'Bear Brian.'"
After that, the smaller "Brian the Bear" came to live with us.  He and his new brother decided that they would both like to be called "Bear Brian" and the same thing happened when the biggest "Brian" came.

Now the three "Bears Brian" all decided to go for a stroll outside to get some fresh air and sunshine.
This is their picture.  They thought that, if Pudge could show you his picture, they would like to say "Hi" as well.

So, here you have it!  The three "Bears Brian" say HI!  :)

996 left to go...

When I was a kid my dad used to breed dogs.  We had anywhere between 6 and 10 dogs, not counting puppies.

Every summer, the dogs would shed.  Even the short haired ones would shed a little.  We spent all kinds of time brushing the dogs.  We just used a regular curry comb like they use on horses.  But, of course, we had bigger dogs so the metal comb wouldn't hurt them.

We used to end up with mountains of dog hair!  A few times, I remember we had to use a lawn rake to clean it all up.  All of it got thrown away.  But, even as a kid, I used to wonder if all that dog hair could be made into something.

It wasn't until just a few years ago that I heard it was becoming fashionable to knit your dogs fur into sweaters and things.  I read that some people even go so far as to keep the different colors of hair separate so they can make different colors of yarn without having to dye or bleach it.

I laughed when I first heard the euphemism, "chiengora!"

I think it would be a neat way to remember your dog who is no longer with you if you knitted something from its fur.
Beth, if you really miss your dog so much, it might be therapeutic to make something from the fur you kept. 

Well...  You wash the yarn before you knit it!  Don't you? 

The dog in this video seems to like getting brushed:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuuiugFEmu4

He's all rolling around as if to say, "Scratch me here!"  :D

I read that a lot of people spin their dog's hair into yarn and knit things from it.  There is a name for it, even:  Chiengora: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiengora

They say that chiengora is even warmer than wool.

Can you say, "Chiengora?" 

I went through similar stuff at the hospital when I had my accident.

I had to get CAT scans and X-rays and all kinds of doctors gave me their opinions about all the operations they would have to do but, in the end, it was all speculation.

I had (and technically still have... even though I have healed) a fractured skull and three fractured vertebrae.
However, to hear the doctor describe it, I have a hairline fracture of the left orbital and cracked transverse processes of the C-7, C-8 and T-1 vertebrae.

However, when pressed, the doctor finally said, "Ummm, you've got some cracked bones.  You'll heal if you rest up for a few weeks."  ;)

My accident was no where near as bad as Rogers but the same thing applies:  It often sounds a lot worse than it really is.  Just be patience.  This is nothing that the application of Bear Power can't handle!   

It's not unheard of but it's not common, either.  Just keep your fingers crossed and consider it another bump in the road to recovery.   

Bear Power transmission back into full operation!   

Nine hundred ninety nine Teddy Bear portraits to make.
Nine hundred ninety nine Bears.
If one of those pictures should happen to develop,
Nine hundred ninety eight pictures are left.

Nice find!

You can spiff your Bear up a little bit if you take a damp (but not wet) cloth and carefully clean his fur.  Then you can take a soft hair brush like the kind you use to brush a baby's hair and gently brush his fur.  He'll thank you for it.

Then you should feed him some cookies and milk.  If you are nice enough to him he might tell you his story.  :)

Anyway, I think Becky is pretty close.
I don't see any Bears like him in my Bear Encyclopedia but that doesn't mean you can't track down his pedigree.

Probably one of the first things you can look at are the Bears's eyes.

Around 1960 or 1970, governments started passing toy safety laws.  Around that time, a lot of Bear makers switched from using glass eyes in their Bears to using plastic "safety" eyes.  That way children wouldn't get hurt playing with their Teddy Bears.

That is one thing you can use to put a general date on when your Bear was made...  whether he has glass or plastic eyes.

Also look at features like the nose and the paws.  If they are hand stitched or machine stitched or even molded will tell you a lot when looking at a Bear.

Thanks!  Pudge is happy to hear that you like his picture!  :)

I took Pudge outside for a walk in the yard just this past Sunday.  I had a roll of film to finish up and I thought Pudge might like to pose for a portrait.  It was a nice sunny day and he had a nice time running around outdoors.

I developed the film that evening after dinner and I showed Pudge the negatives that night before we all went to bed.  He picked out two shots but one of them wasn't focused very well.  I think he liked the second one anyway.

I showed him what his picture looked like on the enlarger and he just INSISTED that I make him an 11 x 14 print of his portrait.  (When a Bear gets his mind set on something there's no convincing him otherwise, don't you know!)

So, I made a couple of test prints on smaller paper then, finally I made his full-size print.  He couldn't even wait for it to come out of the developer!  I kept telling him, "No, Pudge, you have to wait!" but he just sat there with an impatient look on his face until the print was finished.

Pudge didn't even want to wait for the print to dry.  I had to warn him not to touch it until it was completely dry or else he'd get paw prints all over his nice portrait.  Finally, I had to bring it upstairs and lay it on the dining room table to dry.  I warned him not to touch it or else he would make fur marks in the wet emulsion.

He was a good Bear and he waited until morning till the print was completely dry.

Now he's running around the house, showing all the other Bears his picture.  He's really proud of it.   

I would like to get a nice frame for it and hang it up in the Bear's room but I'm afraid that all the other Bears will want a portrait too!

999 more Bears to go!   

One of our Bears, Pudge, got his picture taken and he thinks he looks spiffy.
He wants to show everybody his portrait and say, "Hi!"

I think most people's conception of a Teddy Bear is "cute and furry."  A Bear that goes too far outside that concept might not be as well received.

However, it all depends on the Bear.  If the Bear's fabric fits his or her personality then most people won't think it matters.
We have several Bears who are made from velor or upholstery-type fabrics.  One Bear is made from soft, velvety, short pile fabric and his body is filled with stuffing like comes in a bean bag chair.  His face is stuffed with traditional polyester fluff, though.)  He is one of the Bears who sits on the sofa and watches TV with us.

That's him sitting on the far left end of the sofa, right in front of the latch hook pillow.

So, when you come down to the bottom line, it's not just about what kind of fabric the Bear is made from but what's more important is whether the Bear's personality fits the kind of fabric he's made from.

Easy...  Tell them that, if they don't want to pay via PayPal or by legitimate credit card, you will accept cash, check or money order, paid in advance.  You will fulfill the order when the payment clears the bank and not until.  You will ship via Fed-Ex, UPS, Post Office or via private courier if all shipping charges are paid in advance.  The customer is responsible for customs, import duty or other taxes.  Again, all paid in advance or paid by customer to the proper authority upon receipt of goods.

Write everything down before agreement is made:
"Upon receipt of 'X' dollars, I will send you the products listed, shipped via 'such-and-such' carrier.  Shipping and taxes will cost 'Y' dollars for a total of 'Z'.  Work will begin on fulfilling your order when all monies are paid in advance.  Product will be shipped to 'your address' upon completion of work.  Estimated due date of completion is 'date."  All payments are non-refundable once work has begun.  Please verify that your order is correct before sending any payment."

(Or something similar.  I think you get the point.)

If they don't want to play by your rules, they don't have to play at all.   

Big Bird, of Sesame Street fame, has a Teddy Bear named "Radar."

Gary Burghoff, the actor who played Radar O'Reilly,  was a guest on Sesame Street and gave the Bear to Big Bird, hence the name. 

I've got an idea...  How about you make the Bear some "permanent underwear?"

Make a pair of undies, like underpants, but sew them on so that they hold the Bear together like the patches did only nicer looking.

First, you and the Bear get together and decide if it's a boy or a girl Bear.  Then make him some boxer shorts or make HER some frilly bloomers to wear then sew them on to hold the legs in place.  Make an undershirt or a halter top to hold the arms together.  Sew it all down, nice and secure so the Bear holds together.

Let the Bear pick out his/her own fabric.  If it's a boy Bear, I think he'd like a pair of plaid boxer shorts.  Don't you?  ;)

But, first, get off all the old patches and stitches that are likely to go bad and cause more damage.  Pull out any bad stuffing and fill with new if necessary.  Brush and clean up what's left of the fur so the Bear looks as nice as it can.  Then give the Bear some underwear and a set of clothes and he/she should be as good as new! 

First she was a tatty Bear.
Next she'll be a natty Bear.
Schuco was her daddy Bear.

So, name her Natty-Tatty Schuco Bear! 

Marilyn,

My wife, Melanie, rejointed a small, 8" Bear whose leg had come off.  He was on display in a gift shop and somebody pulled too hard!  :(

She unsewed the seam at the Bear's bum and unsewed the inside seam of the Bear's leg and slipped the disks in sideways.  Then the joints were set by feeling through the Bear's stuffing and everything was sewed back up again.

He was a polyester fluff filled Bear and the joints were plastic disks.  That's different than your Bear but the point is that, with some careful thinking, it might be possible to rejoint him.

But our suggestion is to think first and plan carefully before forging ahead.  If it doubt, don't do it.

However, we are glad to report that the injured Bear is doing fine and lives happily in his new Den. 

I think that's a problem, in general, these days but it's especially problematic with plush creations.

We have a general trend toward instant gratification in our society.  I noticed this when I switched back to traditional photography from an entirely digital workflow.  I actually received scorn from people for DEVELOPING FILM! 
(Right up until the time I hand them an 11" x 14", selenium-toned photographic print.  Then they marvel at how great it looks!  )

I think the same thing is occurring with you.  People want to type their credit card number into a website and have their "goods" delivered to their doorstep the next morning.  They don't care how it happens.  They just WANT it.

Now, on top of this, we add the fact that you are making plush "toys."
Face it!  No matter how well you do your job, there are people who will think of your animals as "Just Toys."  They are for children, not to be valued any more than a mere "plaything."

I'm not going to measure my words.  I'm just going to say it...  Yes, people are THAT stupid and THAT shallow!   
They don't care.  They don't want to care.  I don't think many people have the capacity to care.
They want their "toys."  They only want to pay you $19.95 plus shipping and handling and they want it all delivered "yesterday."

It's a shame that people have to be that way!   

The moral of the story is that, sometimes, we just have to say, "Forget-about-it!"
It is too easy to let other people make us feel negative about ourselves when the fault really lies with the other person.
Some days, I want to scream.  Other days, I just want to pull my blankets over my head and stay in bed all day.  But, overall, I have to teach myself not to let other people who act like idiots to ruin my day...  Just "forget-about-'em!"

Karen,  your cats and critters are cool!  If we weren't an all-Bear household, we would have some of them in our home.
But, who knows...  Maybe, some day, our Bears will decide that they want to have a pet kitty to play with?    :lol:

In the mean time...  "Illegitimi non carborundum!"   

I am guessing he is a jointed Bear and the patches on his shoulders and hips are holding his legs and arms together.  Are they?

He is a Yes-No Bear so he's a bit more auspicious than your average Bear, love-worn or not.  That would make him worth repairing or at least stabilizing right there.

If he's jointed, he could have his joints fixed.  His Yes-No mechanism can be fixed up in the process.
If he needs new eyes, new pads or a new nose, he can have those things.  As long as his fabric is sturdy and there are no bugs living on him, the rest of him should be all right.

I'm with the others.  Spiff him up by whatever means you feel comfortable and/or send him to a Bear hospital.  After that, make him some new clothes and let him spend his retirement years in comfort.

Give him some cookies and milk and I bet he's got some stories to tell! 

To answer a question with a question:  How much is the person paying?

You will have to front the cost of the materials and labor, plus you will have to forestall other projects to fulfill the request.  All of that costs money.
If the person is paying for the privilege, there is no reason why you could not do it.  But, if he is paying the "regular" price, it would be foolish for any business person, Bearmaker or otherwise, to do it.

Further question:  Has he paid you anything yet?

If you don't have money in-hand, not only would it be cutting into your own profits but it would be putting you at a loss.  You will be making TWO Bears but only selling ONE.  Of course, you will be able to sell the second one but you will still have to put forward the expense before you can recover any money.  It might be weeks or months before the second Bear finds a home.

Unless the customer is going to pay for the privilege plus pay your expenses up front or, at minimum, give you a sizable, non-refundable deposit, you should not do it.

You do not owe them any explanation but, if they press you for an answer simply tell them what you have already told us:  You have others waiting.

All the Bears in this den say:  "Stick to your guns and don't take any fluff!"   

    :clap:

Steiff makes big Bears too!  :)

This one lives at Macy's in New York City.

Sophie, I'm not picking on you but what you said brings up a troubling question.

What the heck kind of a government needs to give you PERMISSION to have a house?!  And...  What the heck kind of government is it that can tell anybody what to do with their property once the house is built?

This flies in the face of freedom and civil liberty!

No government that behaves like this should be allowed to stand!  But, somehow, the people of Portugal seem to have accepted it.  Frankly, if they don't do something about it, they deserve what they get!

If you can't get enough people to band together and start voting the bums out of office then the only thing left to do is to get out of the country.

Y'Know what?  Don't even bother.  Just leave.  Do it yesterday!

Deny them their authority over your life.
Deny them their tax money.

Get all your property and assets out of the country.  Get everything out of their reach.  Do not remain in Portugal with anything more than a week's worth of cash and a day's change of clothes.  Do it as soon as possible. 

Once you have removed all your assets, leave the country.  Do it quietly, without telling anybody when you are leaving or where you are going.  Do it in the middle of the night.

Just DISAPPEAR!

We have had two families in our neighborhood who did this.  Few people, if any, know where they went.
They got behind on their mortgages and the bank was going to take over.  They packed all their belongings and stacked everything in the garage, ready to move out.   Then, late one night, a rental truck backed up in the driveway, six men got out and put everything into the truck.  The house was cleaned out by 3:00 AM.  The truck pulled away and they were never seen again.
About a week later, the sheriff and the bank official showed up on the front step to repossess the house but nobody was home.  The place was empty.  The doors were locked.  The lights were off.  There wasn't even a piece of trash lying around.  The place was empty as a ghost town!  All they could do was nail the notice to the front door.

Nobody knows where they went or, at least, nobody who does know is talking.
(And I am aware of some people who say that they know but refuse to say anything.)

My advice...  Get out of Portugal.

BTW:  About the burning down the house thing...  A Gedanken experiment...  But I think you all know that.

Ship all your belongings out of the country.  Set the house on fire and walk out of the country.  Tell the Portuguese government to go to hell.

I used to work at FAO Schwarz for my college job.  That's how they used to display Bears and animals.  Only their cubes were made from Formica covered chipboard.  They were quite sturdy but VERY heavy.  Mine are a scaled down (might lighter) version of theirs.

The cubes in the store have to be made stronger and heavier because they need to withstand a lot of abuse.  But Bears aren't really that heavy so they don't need to be big and heavy unless you are going to stack your cubes more than 3-high.  My cubes are 18 inches.  At 3-high, that would be 4-1/2 feet tall, PLUS BEARS.  We're probably talking 5 or 6 feet by the time all the Bears climb in!

Just be careful how you stack.  Leave space for them to overlap a bit so they don't slip and fall.  Most Bears don't mind the occasional tumble but they don't like to end up in a pig-pile when their clubhouse caves in.  They might get hurt!

Two sheets of plywood (48" x 96") should be able to make 5 large cubes 18" on a side, plus you will have some wood left over to make some smaller cubes.

If you make your cubes a bit smaller (do the math) you can get more cubes out of a sheet.
Depending on how you do your finite materials analysis, you can get 10 or 12 cubes out of two sheets.

3/8" plywood should cost around $15.00 per sheet.  Two sheets for $30.00
Add for nails, glue and paint and you should be able to get away with the project for about $50.00.