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MVWehr Posts: 3

I was wondering if anyone could help me identify this bear. I want to get it restored, but I would like a baseline to compare it to, and especially a picture. It was well loved by its owner, so it is very warn. The tag is long gone.

It was purchased 34 years ago so it is most likely 1976 or earlier. The person who bought it thinks they might have purchased it at a Sears in Arizona, but their memory is very suspect.

I think it could be a Pedigree.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you

teddy1.jpg
teddy2.jpg
teddy3.jpg

Jo W Posts: 22
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Hi, yes, he does look like he could be Pedigree, with those cute big ears! His stumpy little arms mean he could be English. It can get more difficult with some modern collectable bears who don't have tags, because the features look like they could have been made by one of several companies! I'll have a look around for you and let you know if I find someone like him! bear_original

Us Bears Pennsylvania
Posts: 1,479

Just a flat-out guess...  Knickerbocker?

Does he have "spangley" eyes?

MVWehr Posts: 3

Us Bears, the fur bears (no pun intended) a resemblance to some of the knicker bockers I looked up, but his arms are stubby. As for "spangly" eyes, does this mean glittery or shiny? They are simple worn old plastic and I believe they are amber.

Thank you, Us and Jo, for helping.

Us Bears Pennsylvania
Posts: 1,479

On the evolution of Teddy Bear eyes:

The first Bears made by Margarete Steiff had black shoe buttons for eyes.  That was the fashion until the 1920's or 1930's, more or less.  After that, they started using glass eyes.  Sometimes, they were painted brown and black so they looked like they had pupils.  That remained the style up until the late 1940's or 1950's.

Then, right about that time, child safety laws started coming into effect to protect young children from getting hurt when they pull off a Bear's eyes and potentially swallow them.  bear_cry  This is about the time when plastic eyes started coming into their own.  They could be fastened on, very tightly, using a machine and they would not come off accidentally.  Now, just about all Teddy Bears have child-safe, plastic eyes.

However, in the 1960's and 1970's, plastics technology started to improve so that new and more interesting designs could be made.  One of those innovations was the "spangled" eye.  The spangled eye has a dark pupil in the middle with molded-in lines radiating out from the center, kind of like the rays of the sun.  It makes the Bears kind of sparkle.

Nowadays, you'll find Bears with all sorts of eyes, from shoe buttons like the vintage Bears were made with, all the way up to custom painted, hand made glass eyes imported from other countries.  They now make all sorts of plastic eyes that can be fastened on by the home Bearmaker which won't come off if a child pulls them.  That way the home Bearmaker can produce child-safe Teddy Bears.

You can often get a general idea of how old a Teddy Bear is or you can, at least, tell what era a vintage Bear came from just by looking at his eyes.  It's not a foolproof way to tell about a Bear but it's another point on the scoreboard when you're trying to identify a Bear.

Bottom line:  Knickerbocker Bears of the late 1960's and 1970's had spangled eyes.  If your Bear has spangled eyes, that's a point in favor of Knickerbocker.  If not, it's less likely to be a Knickerbocker.

BTW:  Knickerbocker Toys went out of business in the late 1980's, IRRC.  They were bought up by another company who now produces Bears under the name, "Knickerbocker," but it's not the same company.

MVWehr Posts: 3

Us Bear,
Sorry, I was heading off to work this morning and should have researched my response better.

The eyes are heavily scratched, but do not appear to have lines coming out from the center. Both eyes appear to have a textured brown ring on the outside. The black pupils also have what seems like a small piece of metal in them. They are very hard to make out, but my wife says she thinks there are two in each eye, almost as if they were trying to evoke the holes of a button.

I took pictures, but I don't have a macro setting, so the detail isn't good. Here are two of the better images, and a reduced size of each.

eye1.jpg
eye2.jpg
eye1a.jpg
eye2a.jpg

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