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Teddy Bears By Wendy Boston
If you love Teddy Bears and you are interested in their makers' history, without a doubt you will have heard of Wendy Boston Teddy Bears. Along with many British Bear makers such as Merrythought who produced Teddy Bears in the 1950's and 1960's, Wendy Boston Teddy Bears are iconic.
The Wendy Boston factory was set up in the charming mid-Wales town of Crickhowell (very close to Abergavenny and Brecon). The company opened it's doors in 1946.
It all began with a couple called Ken and Wendy Williams (Boston being Wendy's maiden name). The couple left Birmingham to live in Crickhowell during the Second World War. Whilst living in Birmingham, Ken worked as a journalist while Wendy studied at art college – for a while she worked briefly for the famous chocolate makers, Cadbury's as a designer, when Ken was invalided out of the RAF.
Simply as a hobby, Wendy had started to design and make soft toys, giving them to family and friends as gifts. Ken, however, was very impressed by her work and took some toys to Cardiff to test the market, he sold them all for £100, which in those times was a lot of money. So it began that Wendy made the toys and Ken marketed them.
It was during the 1950's that the safety of toys became quite an issue and this applied to Teddy Bears too. Gone were the days of glass eyes, etc. All good Teddy Bear makers started to experiment with different materials, designs, etc. and Wendy Boston Playsafe Toys started to show great initiative by using washable fabrics and stuffing for their new Teddy Bears, along with child-proof eyes. Although a very simply idea, it was nonetheless a brilliant idea, to produce a Teddy Bear that was completely machine washable, they could even be put through a mangle – poor Teddy Bears!
At Trade Fairs, buyers would flock to the Wendy Boston stand just to see Ken enthusiastically market the Bears.
At the time, Wendy Boston Teddy Bears were very desirable, as well as being washable and safe for children, they also came in many beautiful colours, which was something quite new to the industry. They were also very soft. Children adored them.
Wendy Boston Bears were also very distinctive in their looks, infact they still are. It is very easy to spot an old Wendy Boston Bear, although the Teddy Bear company called Pedigree made bears that did look very similar. Wendy Boston Bears have large square heads with large round muzzles. Their ears were made as an integral part of their heads, so that they could be pinned on the washing line by their ears. The back and front of their bodies were cut as one piece, so that their arms and legs could not be torn off.
Although these Bears were not jointed like most other Teddy Bears of that time, they were still extremely lovable Bears.
When the Queen visited Wales, Ken was certain to make sure she took a Wendy Boson Teddy Bear back home with her for the young Princess Anne.
During the 1950's and 1960's, Wendy Boston toys accounted for twenty five per cent of all British Toy exports.
It was some thirty years later when Wendy and Ken wanted to take more of a back seat in the business and at the same time the Teddy Bear market was flooded with cheap imports, Wendy's health began to fail and so, because of all these combining factors, staff at the company became a bit downhearted and left. The business very sadly closed it's doors in 1976.
For me, Wendy Boston Teddy Bears have always been special. I can clearly remember their wonderful packaging and how they looked in my local department store's toy section at Christmas. It was the stuff little girl's dreams were made of. Many of my friends owned Wendy Boston Teddy Bears and indeed, some still do.
Today, these Teddy Bears are very sought after by collectors around the world, many of them are still in very good condition too, which is amazing considering they were washed goodness knows how many times. By the way, I wouldn't advise you wash them this way now, it could have catastrophic effects.
I hope these most iconic of Old Teddy Bears are never forgotten and I hope this article will remind you of how they came to life.
About the Author
Gino loves fast cars, especially fast italian cars. Gino also loves anything Italian. Gino also heads an old teddy bear site which is full of adorable old teddy bears and their friends.
Please visit his website at www.ginosbears.co.uk

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