News from the Coldham Animal Toy Hospital

Hello Everyone from your Friend, Cy Bear.

Once again, thanks to a mixture of technical issues (solved for time being, seemingly - fingers tightly crossed!) and off line matters needing Isobel's attention (both at home and elsewhere), blogging has had to take second place.  However, today, we're hoping to once more start a regular routine - until the next "issue" takes over!!

Since we moved to Nottinghamshire in 2014, the services of our Animal Toy Hospital haven't proved that popular.  We did try a spell of advertising on a countrywide advertising platform, but didn't get any response.  After a time lapse though, we received unexpected enquiries from several different sources, and we have three recent patients in the Animal Toy Hospital to tell you about, so let's first introduce you to a magnificent Teddy Bear who arrived with us in November last year.

He didn't actually have a name when he arrived, was well into his sixties in age, and belonged to a lady, MrsAT who hadn't realised he was still "alive".  Her sister was involved in downsizing her home, and when clearing her attic came across the Bear - which both ladies thought had been thrown away long ago.  (Different versions of this account are such a familiar story in the Teddy Bear world, by the way!).  MrsAT had been given him by her Grandfather, and she decided she'd like to give her Grand Daughter MsAT (she's at University, rather than being a "little girl", which is why I'm calling her this) this Bear -  renovated - as a Christmas present.  MsAT, who apparently likes vintage/old things, was over the moon at the idea, so MrsAT  - having found our Animal Hospital via Google, asked Isobel to have a go.  

From the "get-go", it was obvious that TBT (Teddy BearT) had been a much loved Bear, as you can see from these photographs:

Isobel promised to give him back looking as nearly as he might have done at the beginning of his life - but as everyone knows, she cannot duplicate new toys exactly, and restoring someone back to his youth when one is quite a lot older (especially without photographs) can be an additional challenge.  One thing that was agreed on from the start though, was that TBT's eyes would be used in his new look.  As there was just a faint trace of his original mouth left on his face, Isobel said she would try to copy that as well.  How we did, we will show you later.

TBT travelled by post from Rotherham, South Yorkshire (which is not too far away from us here in Nottinghamshire) and he just fitted in nicely to the box you see him in.  That was kept for him to travel back in, together with the packaging which you can also see.  TBT's treatment took the usual format - beginning with Isobel unpicking the seams that made him in the first place.  (The pink paw pads were obviously an addition to his original ones, which were actually red baize ones from what we could see - unless, those too, had been a replacement for the more usual brown pads that Bears of this age usually have).  

Why do we think this?  Isobel suspects that TBT could well have had some past trauma (such as being involved in wartime bomb damage perhaps, and was restored so MrsAT could continue to love him).  That scenario could well explain the mixture of stuffing (using anything/everything available at a time of wartime shortages) with which we found him when we were carrying out the restoration project.  MrsAT was unable to substantiate that thought:  so we will never know, nor do we really need to.

Parts of the original mohair covering was pretty thin by now, so it was difficult at times to keep it in one piece.  However, Isobel managed to do it sufficiently to save the necessary pieces for use in the restoration process.  Here are some of the stages BEFORE his original pieces were given a luke-warm soapy bath, rinsed and then left to dry naturally.

Beginning with the head: his nose had wood chip stuffing, plus an unknown woolly stuffing for the rest of it.

The cotter pin holding his head to his body was massive

TBT's stuffing:  again, unusual and we think indicating a previous treatment process(es), including the red paw pads

Washed pieces drying, before a template for TBT 2018 was created

While this process was going on, Isobel had taken one of TBT's ears, and sent it to our Mohair Bear fabric suppliers, who came back with the best match he could find - given the time lag between his original arrival in MrsAT's family and 2018.  (We learned that our supplier was assisted in this process by another professional animal toy restorer- just happened to be in the shop at the time Isobel asked for help, so we know we couldn't have done better! They got a letter of thanks for their help, needless to say!)   Isobel discussed it with MrsAT who agreed that construction of the new look TBT could go ahead.

I'll tell you all about that process the next time we get together.  Hopefully that will be next week:  in the meantime, have a great week Everybody - and here's to the next time!

Your Friend, 

Cy Bear.