In this blog, I often step back in time, especially around the holidays, to reflect on days gone by. So, if you’ll indulge me one more time this year, I’ll share with you why teddy bears are still here, there and everywhere in my home.
The title of this blog has the word “WHIMSY” in it, so I think it is the perfect forum to introduce you to my INDOOR furry friends. After all, you’ve met Maryanne, the rag doll that has graced the kitchen deacon’s bench since 1985, Tilda Jane, my first doll and Joe the Monkey, stitched together by my mom when she was in the hospital some 85 years ago.
This post is about a collection of teddy bears I amassed in the 90s and through 2006. They are all still here, present and accounted for, although I stopped collecting teddy bears when I turned 50, my last acquisition being Boyds Bears Red Hat Society “Ima Lotsafun” seen below. (Yep, sadly just one Ima was not enough.)
“The Women of the Red Hat Society” (“RHS”) is a social group for women that began in 1998. There are 40,000 Chapters in 30 countries, a kind of sisterhood where its members’ credo encourages women to get the most out of life. From their website comes this motto that supports “women in the pursuit of Fun, Friendship, Freedom, Fitness and the Fulfillment of lifelong dreams.” (That’s a ton of alliteration! Dave will like that!)
When the Red Hat Society was formed in 1998, their members, who were aged 50 or above, didn’t dread turning the half-century mark, but instead embraced the idea. Once open to only 50+ year-old women, who would join one another at RHS social events, while wearing purple dresses and donning bright-red hats, membership was also extended to under-50-year-old women, who dressed in more subdued pastel colors: pink hats and lavender dresses.
I was only 42 years old when the Red Hat Society debuted, but I was mindful of the hoopla it entailed. You can read more about the RHS, which is still going strong in 2024, by clicking here.
Oops, I digressed a little because …
I really wanted to start at the beginning, as to the bears … I mean, who writes in reverse anyway?
The picture you see below is one of a kind … the only picture in all the photo albums of Yours Truly with a teddy bear. Oh, you’ll find lots of dollies through the years, but no teddy bears and nary a stuffed animal.
Look how much bigger the teddy bear was than little ol’ me. But then, I was only four pounds, 11 ounces (2.126 kg) when I was born and spent the first two weeks of my life in an incubator, healthy, just very tiny. Mom always joked that the special formula she fed me resulted in the 5’ 9” me in later years.
But soon after the above photo was taken, Mom told me that I had to see the pediatrician because I had allergy-like symptoms. The doctor did tests and determined I was allergic to stuffed animals. Dr. Hamlin said “they must go immediately!” Even the cute tiger pajama bag I posed with under the Christmas tree a few years later was not allowed to stay.
So imagine, a childhood without stuffed animals, or “stuffies” as people call them now. Well, I didn’t really know any difference as I’d never had them. There were dollies … the kind you cuddle, or paper cut-outs, then later my Barbie dolls. There are lots of photos in the albums of me clutching a baby doll.
Flash forward to 1986.
I remember the year, 1986, as it was sad due to the January death of my beloved maternal grandmother, Nanny. Mom and I were clothes shopping in the now-defunct Crowley’s Department Store. It was back-to-school time and, on a display table was a brown teddy bear wearing blue jeans and a plaid flannel shirt, (which you may recall from a recent post, was similar to MY favorite Fall garb). The bear’s name was “Boswell, the Teacher’s Pet” and my mom, on a whim, picked up that bear and said “Linda, I’m going to buy this cute bear for you – you never got to have teddy bears, or any stuffed animals when you were a kid, so this will make up it.”
Well, that started a trend.
Mom would likely later rue that purchase because it seemed wherever and whenever we went shopping, be it at a department store, Hallmark card store, or traveling, or even when Mom perused catalogs, I ended up the recipient of a new teddy bear.
Of course, having one or two bears was nice – they sat on the bed, then were put away at night when it was time to sleep, but soon bears of every size began to fill the tops of my dresser, chest and nightstand, until there came a time where I had no more room and new bears encroached into the TV room and eventually into Mom’s room.
But it was not only Mom who bought the teddy bears – friends started buying them as well. The daughter of one of Mom’s friends worked at Ganz, a stuffed animal factory in Toronto, so I routinely got a bear from her for birthdays and Christmas. Every time our neighbor Marge went on vacation, she brought me back a bear for taking care of her pets and getting the mail in her absence.
Admittedly, these are a lot of bears and over the years, I never thought to photograph them, although I did name them and dust them. Then, after connecting with a high school pal shortly after joining Facebook in 2009, we were catching up on news since graduation and somehow the topic of hobbies came up. She was sad as she was selling her collection of vintage dolls to a collector. She was going to photograph her collection before sending them off and offhandedly asked if I collected anything – “well yes, teddy bears, but I stopped doing so in 2006” was my reply.
She sent me photos of her vintage doll collection, then asked me to reciprocate as to my gang of bears. Well, I did so and you’ll see the photos in the slideshow below. But first, this is my first bear Boswell, who traded his comfy duds for a Red Wings “uniform” which I bought after the Wings won the Stanley Cup in 1997.
And here’s the rest of them in this slideshow.
Linda, the Arctophile.
Google tells me and I’m telling you that: a person who loves teddy bears is called an arctophile. The term comes from the Greek words arktos, meaning “bear”, and philos, meaning “loving or fond of”. The word became popular in the 1980s when interest in teddy bears increased.
“Really Linda – how old are you again?” I heard this often, but who can resist their sweet faces? But yes, I finally ended the parade of teddy bears with the two “Women of the Red Hat Society” which I bought myself.
Umm – dare I mention there was other “BEARaphernalia” too?!
Yes, my mother and others indulged my arctophile addiction, er … collection. This year I decided I would decorate for Christmas – the first time since 2008. While I was not going to put out all the decorations I once did, I decided I was going to put out a few of my bear collectibles which you’ll see below. I say “a few” as there are other bear decorations, not as easily accessible.
The first is a treasured Christmas tree Mom ordered from The Danbury Mint about 20 years ago. This ceramic tree has Boyds Bear characters from top to bottom and all around. It lights up and those tiny lights have to be replaced using tweezers. Here is the tree at some different angles.
Around the tree are four of the Enesco Cherished Teddies Christmas collection, from 1995 – 1998, also from Mom.
There were small wearables, like Christmas pins and other holiday pins and also this Boyds Bear tapestry jacket that Mom saw advertised in The Danbury Mint catalog with even more Boyds Bears and their Christmas decorating shenanigans. Mom ordered it, sent it to work and told me to bring it home and not to look inside the box when it arrived at work.
Last year my friend Nancy sent this fun pillow across the miles from Missouri because she knows I like teddy bears.
Christmas is a time for merriment, joy and a wee bit of whimsy too, right?
I’ll leave you with this quote and then a Christmas greeting from Jacquie Lawson:
“The world is divided into two nations: those with Teddy bears, those without. Each thinks the other is odd.” ~~Jenny DeVries
Please click here for your Christmas card.
P.S. – Terri’s Monthly Color Two-Week Challenge: METALLIC continues this week. I fulfilled that Challenge twice last week!
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
I didn’t have a lot of stuffed animals. I can’t remember any but I’m sure I had some. Love the tree! So pretty!
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My mom felt I was robbed of the stuffed animal experience, so she compensated. I’m sure she regretted the decision, which snowballed. Glad you liked the tree Kate. I was happy to finally put up a tree and put it in my kitchen as this is where I spend the most time (at the computer, not necessarily eating). 🙂
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I enjoyed your story of the bears and seeing all the photos. I did have a variety of stuffed animals as a kid, and then collected a few of the Beany Babies. It’s fun and you’re right, you just can’t resist those cute faces. 🙂
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Thank you ghostmmnc! I know a lot of people collected Beany Babies as there were so many different ones. I have a Beany Baby Valentine’s Day bear. I actually bought it for my mom because her birthday was Valentine’s Day. I should have included it in this post but it was hers … she opened it and said “you just wanted an excuse to buy another bear Linda!” Mom didn’t pull any punches. 🙂
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Thanks for sharing your collection, Linda. I’m glad you decided to do some decorating this year. This is the first year ever I have not had a tree up in the house. Just too busy with other stuff this year. Merry Christmas, My Friend.
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I’m glad you enjoyed seeing “the gang” and other items Ruth. 🙂 Every year I told myself I’d decorate and this year I said one tree and a few bear items, then a little more each year going forward. It is understandable for your lack of decorations this year – you have had a lot going on recently. Merry Christmas and hugs to you and a group hug for your family for this holiday season.
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I enjoyed seeing your bears, after reading about them several times. You had quite a collection!
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I’m glad you liked them Anne – yes, quite a collection. I don’t think I mentioned there were 52 of them. I figured they should have some blog press time, just like the other possessions I’ve shared stories about in the past. By the way, I did not get to the snowman and teddy bear puzzle which I told you about and I wanted to include in this post. It was 500 pieces and I checked the size and it was 18″ X 24″. The table I intended to work it on was not big enough, so I have to get a card table or use my mom’s puzzle board which I could not get at right now. I was bummed – next year for sure!.
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That puzzle sounds like it would be fun to work.
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Yes, it is very cute Anne. It is a snowman in the forest with forest critters, including three bear cubs surrounding it. Next Christmas I will do it. I am promising myself now!
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That is a lot of bears Linda. A fun collection
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Yes it is Brian – I know everyone collects something – you collect elephants if I remember correctly? I have other “bearaphernalia” tucked away in Christmas totes downstairs, hopefully to emerge next year. 🙂
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Lovely bears collection. I enjoyed your story of the bears and seeing all the photos. HAPPY MERRY CHRISTMAS, Linda! ⛄⛄🌲🐥
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Thank you Raj – it is A LOT of bears, but all of them have some sentiment attached to them through the years. I’m glad you enjoyed seeing them. The same to you – best wishes for a Merry Christmas!
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The first thing I thought about with all the adorable bears is “I wonder if that’s why she still has allergies.” Haha But seriously every bear has to have a special memory. Now that tree!!!! I love that tree and how perfect for you at Christmas. It would be hard to put it away after Christmas since it is so cute. Loved this post Linda with all your fond memories.
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I know Diane – you’d think my allergies would have returned, despite the shots, having so many bears around! 🙂 They all have names too – most of the names were on tags that were attached to them, but some bears didn’t have names, so they got named, or were given the name of the sender. There are 52 bears – it would have been an even 50 when I stopped collecting at age 50, but then I felt compelled to add the two RHS bears. I’m glad you like the tree. My kitchen light does not provide good lighting ever since I stopped using an incandescent bulb and also especially since the lightbulb is inside a frosted hurricane glass, so I put a floor lamp next to the butcher block for the photos. It had an ideal spot before but that’s not doable now due to that being used for the laptop cord. I think it is cute and compact and actually very heavy as it must be solid. Perfect for me, a person who loves bears. 🙂
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It sure is perfect for you and you will spend a whole lot less time putting it away than I will mine! I love that you named the bears with no name the name of the sender.
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Yes, just the right side and didn’t take up much room, though I gave it the whole butcher block so I could put it back near the wall so it didn’t get damaged. That is for sure – I don’t decorate outside so nothing to put away there. I hope people still have their outside decorations after yesterday and today’s wind. I just looked and it is gusting to 32 mph and pouring raining out there. Everybody has a name and if no clothes came with them, we bought outfits or if they were small, a bow. I have something cute to put out next year in front of the fireplace. I have a small rocking horse and a small bicycle and I used to put a medium-sized bear on each. I couldn’t do that this year, but will next year I will. They look very cute.
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I had a bear when I was a tot. He and I were best buds for awhile.
So was there anything in particular that caused you to stop adding to your bear collection? For a time I collected new car sales brochures, but that fell off after the 1980s when real adult life took over. I have resisted starting any serious collections because of a fear that my tendencies to keep things and desire for completeness would send any collection effort spiraling wildly out of control.
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I’m glad you had a best bud bear JP. I figure I was definitely in the minority as to any stuffed animals. Before I bought the two Red Hat Society bears in 2006, I decided 50 bears at 50 years old was enough, plus I literally ran out of room. It is not a large house and the only rooms I had not encroached into were the living room and kitchen. So I stopped collecting, but then bought those two bears myself, the only two that were not gifts I also collected quote books because I did a daily quote at the Firm for years and in those days, there was no internet from which to glean quotes. I probably have about 25 books, filled with “stickies” for certain holidays or my favorite quotes. If you kept collecting, you might have gotten a windfall for those books i.e. I wonder if they are obsolete now as people often buy vehicles online or view cars online while in the showroom.
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Such a nice collection. I don’t think I ever had a stuffed bear. 🙂
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Thank you Sandra – one or two bears definitely snowballed into this collection of 52 stuffed bears.
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Now that is a lot of teddy bears! I have never seen that many bears in one place!!
I had a stuffed Teddy bear, that I named Freddie who was a golden color. I have no memory of what childhood age or why I received it. But I did sleep with him until I went away to university and he went away to Teddy bear heaven.
About three or four years ago I was at a store that offered postal services, copies and an assortment of gifts. My heart was attracted to a small teddy bear so I added it to my purchase. Pinkie Bear sits next to my bed and I claim her as mine. Sometimes she supports my neck and sometimes my ankles. Yorkie has several stuffies. There’s Rubber Duck, Lavender Little Lamb, Nutty Buddy Squirrel and Woodstock which are all washable.
I like your Christmas Tree display being in the kitchen because that is where you spend a lot of your time on your computer writing stories.
I was a pink hatter in three very different groups of the Red Hat Society when I was married in Colorado. It was lots of fun! I was 50 when I moved to Corpus Christi, TX and the only group of Red Hat Society was closed to new members which I thought was odd. Since then I haven’t had any interest in that type of activity. So I never grew into a Red Hatter. Were you a Pink or Red Hatter?
Enjoyed your post and look forward to the next. 😊
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It is a large collection, that’s for sure TD. There are 52 altogether, since I felt compelled to add those two RHS bears (even though I said “50 bears at age 50 was enough”). I do have another bear in a closet that I bought for my mom for her Valentine’s Day birthday. It is a Beanie Baby, rose-colored with red hearts on it and its name is “Heartley”. I bought it for her in 2009 because of all the bears she bought me. I used to decorate the house for the various holidays, so I said we could put it out every year, but she passed away just before her birthday in 2010 and I have not put Heartley out again. Once I declutter this house, I’m going to put out a few decorations for the holidays like I used to back in the day, including Heartley.
No, I never joined the Red Hat Society after I became 50 but it did sound like they have fun, not only for the events, but for the travel (excursions and cruises). I used to hear a lot about the RHS then nothing, so when I was writing this post, I researched to see if it still existed and was surprised to see it did. I wonder why they were not accepting new members in Corpus Christi – it seemed like the more, the merrier, for their group. I just looked and there are 10 chapters within 10 miles of my zip code.
Thank you TD – my next post will be a year-end wrap-up; I’m not sure if I’ll include my favorite photos in it too, or do that for the first post of 2025.
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Would you consider taking Hartley out for my birthday which is 2 days before Valentine’s Day? We could honor the love for our moms and celebrate my heart health for a couple of days. My mom also passed a few days before her birthday in June a couple of years ago. I have been missing her.
Is it snowing there this evening?
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Yes TD, I will take Heartley out and put him/her on the corner cabinet in the kitchen where, like you said, I spend the majority of my time. Heart problems run on the maternal side of my family, so that was mostly why I began the walking regimen. It is tough enough to lose our mothers, but to lose them so close to their birthdays is even more difficult. I always miss my mom at the holidays. This teddy bear post is filled with bears of all types that she bought for me, so I did think a lot about her while photographing the tree, Cherished Teddies and the jacket and while compiling this post.
It has stopped “snaining” – it was doing a rain/snow/sleet scenario most of the evening.
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🥰 … and I like your new word “snaining” ha! I sent you a video a few minutes ago. SANATA is here across the street from my home! 🎅Just in case you wanted to know where where Santa is right now. Santa should make it to your home just before Christmas morning!
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Well TD, I wish I could take credit for that but we had a legendary weatherman named Sonny Eliot, who is gone now, but he had a host of weather expressions he coined that were similarly made by merging two words into one. That “snain” was not kind because it left an icy mess this morning. I went to shovel and was slip-sliding all over the place, so no walk for me today. Then we have fog on Thursday all day – bizarre weather for sure. I just checked on NORAD and at 8:25 Santa is in Trinidad. 🙂
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you have all the bears but one……a real one……..which I am sending to you!
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Yes, 52 bears Wayne – pretty soon there will be no room for me. If you sent a black bear please make it small like “Piglet” (who is probably a Mama many times over by now) and please send tracking information for it. 🙂 Thank you!
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I’d be leery about having so many stuffed toys around? One never knows when they may all come alive!
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I agree Wayne – what if they gang up on me one day – 52 raging bears in attack mode (for not dusting them)!
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but they only have furry teeth and claws!
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Sharp for both!
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Wow, that’s a lot of bears! I’m sure I had a stuffed bear – or two – when I was young, but my favorite stuffed animal was a dog… I carried him everywhere. Now, I have a stuffed gorilla that my mother gave me years ago. Isn’t it interesting how we (or, maybe it’s just me 🙂 ) think of them as sentient beings. I chat with my gorilla all the time.
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Yes, 52 of them Janis. I intended to stop at 50 when I turned 50, but then decided to add those two Red Hat Society bears – but that was finally the end of the bears for me. I have a rag doll in the kitchen. It is a country kitchen and she has sat on a blue corduroy cushion on the deacon’s bench for decades. I do chat with her – she hears it all … the good and the bad, but luckily her lips remain sealed!
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I wonder what the “allergy” was really about. Glad you at least got to have them eventually. You have a rather cute collection!
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I don’t know what allergen triggered the problem initially Eilene, but when I got older I began getting allergy shots for dust, mold and pollen in 1975 and except for a lapse of eight years, I am on those shots to this day. The shots work because I used to sneeze my head off if anyone in the neighborhood cut the grass. When my allergist retired in 1995, he said I could wean myself from the shots and stop altogether after 20 years of receiving shots, which I did. Eight years later, the same allergies returned with a vengeance and so I went back on the shots (for good now as I had to go through the whole regimen to build up resistance like I did initially). Thank you – most of my bears have sentiment attached to them, so they are here forever.
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I love that ladder going up the back of your Boyds Bear ceramic tree! Thanks so much for showing us some of your amazing bear collection. That ‘don’t feed the bears’ pillow made me laugh. I’m glad you did some decorating this year — it can be bittersweet as each piece can bring back happy memories of those we miss. Your mother loved you so much to shower you with all the bear joys she thought you missed out on! Did you grow out of your allergy to stuffies? I read that Enesco relaunched Boyds Bears in 2024 after a 10 year “hibernation.” Merry Christmas, Linda! 🎄
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I’m glad you liked my bear collection Barbara! I’ve wanted to do a post about them now for a couple of years. I just looked at the Enesco site that you referenced here. I knew that Boyds Bears had shut down, but I didn’t know they had relaunched! How exciting! My bigger bears were different “brands” but when my mom and I shopped at Hallmark Card stores for greeting cards, puzzles and attend the “Christmas in July” event where they introduced all the new holiday ornaments, was when we discovered the Boyds Bears, with their adorable faces and unusual names. They were smaller but unique bears and a couple of them my mom ordered right from the Boyds Bear store out East.
I am glad I decorated too and will do a little more next year. I had to put the tree in the kitchen as I have the laptop plugged in in the living room and the cord goes through the louvered shutters … so nowhere to plug it in. I did not have the laptop back in 2008.
I have very few outlets in this house. My mother was so thoughtful like that – she did buy me many bears and you are right, it was bittersweet getting everything out this year. I also liked Snoopy back in the day and she ordered a Peanuts characters train from Danbury Mint which we put on the coffee table. Each of the main Peanuts characters rides on a portion of the Christmas train – it’s very cute. I will put it up next year and take a photo of it. Merry Christmas to you and Tim!
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Nice collection! I have a few bears, but not as many as you. Merry Christmas Linda!
Cathy
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Thank you Cathy. I’ve wanted to do this post for a couple of years and take out the tree, figurines and jacket. Almost every one on them, furry and otherwise, has a sentiment attached to it. Merry Christmas back at you!
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I still have a few bear stuffies! I have always liked them, now I seem to have a lot of stuffed monkeys lol. I also have a couple of Cherished Teddies figurines. I don’t think you are ever to old to have or do what you like or love ! Merry Christmas Linda !
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I fully agree with you Susan. Your stuffies, bears and/or monkeys all likely have sentimental value, like mine, so they are here forever. I like the Cherished Teddies figurines as well – I have one with my birthstone with a birthday cake as well. Merry Christmas back at you!
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The bear Christmas tree is adorable! The topper on our wedding cake was teddy bears.🧸
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I’m glad you like it Linda! I like all my bears, most have sentiments attached to them, but this tree really is special. Those Boyds Bears are adorable whether furry, ceramic or fabric. I like the idea of a wedding cake topper that is teddy bears!
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A very fun bear collection! I have a few Boyd’s bears also, but not near as many as you have.
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Glad you liked my bears Rebecca! It was fun collecting them and I reluctantly had to stop as there was no more room to display them as it is a small house. Although the Boyd’s bears were around when I first started getting bears, I didn’t get any Boyd’s until later. They have the sweetest faces and unique names. [Is your husband now retired? I remember you said he would be finished the end of this year and you were looking forward to more time to spend on daytime walks.]
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Yes, he is now officially retired. 🙂
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That’s great Rebecca – now more time for you to spend together on leisurely walks (especially in Spring, before it gets too hot and humid).
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