A Bear from Bulgaria and Four from England

 
 
Here is my latest old bear find.  He came to me all the way from Bulgaria and is such an unusual looking teddy.  He is in the open mouthed style of many Austrian bears, particularly Fechter.
I have not been able to find the name of his maker yet, but have had a few clues. 

There are bears on the internet very similar to him and one has an original label pinned to his chest with the letters MB on it and a cardboard label with just the word Mohair on it.



A happy bear

I have quite a few more bears to list when I get round to it.
The one I am looking forward to finishing is the large Chiltern who's paws needed mending. I knew I had to replace the right foot paw as there was hardly any fabric left on it, but I hoped to just patch the other and his 'hands'.

Pinned paw

 I pinned the patch under the remaining fabric ready to sew it in place, leaving as much as the original on show as possible.

Pinned foot

I had to give up in the end and replace the paws completely.  The fabric that was remaining was just too fragile and split every time I tried to pull a stitch tight. 

Here he is with his replacement paws, trying to fit on the shelf with his new friends.  I just have to clean him and give him new eyes now.  He will be a handsome bear when he is finished.

 

I have already listed these 3 characters. Left to right - a Gwentoys bear c 1960s, an English bear that I think may be Farnell or Invicta (sold), and a lovely old, nearly bald bear, possibly Chad Valley.  They just needed minimal mending, ears stitching back on, seams mending, a mouth and a broken squeaker removal (the wire spring was tearing the mohair).
I cannot be sure of the last twos' origins as they have no labels, although the Gwentoys one does have his label.  They are in my Etsy shop www.etsy.com/shop/PollysVintageBears

1920's Chiltern Bear Hubert

Hubert says "Hi"

Remember the big Chiltern bears that I showed you last week?  Well I have finally got around to restoring Hubert, the woodwool filled one (the other is mainly Kapok filled).
I originally thought he was a 1930's Chiltern Hugmee, but after doing some research today I believe him to be a 1920's Chiltern, before the Hugmees were produced.  The Hugmees were named that as they were soft and huggable,and Hubert is hard and woodwool filled.  The other is more a 1930's Hugmee with just his head filled with woodwool, the rest being soft Kapok.

Hubert had a few issues, the main one being his left paw which had a gaping hole in it.  When I got him he had a large bandage tied around the paw so I didn't know the extent of the damage until I removed it.

A very poorly paw

I searched my mohair odments and found a piece with a similar backing to his mohair to put a patch under the remaining paw fabric.  I always patch underneath to leave as much as the original fabric showing as possible. 

Looking much happier with his mended paw and full smile

Most of his black claw stitching was still there, just needed a couple of replacements and his smile was broken on one side, so that was quickly remeded. His paws used to have a velveteen surface, but none is left now, I just found slight evidence of it in his seams. It was a beige colour.
One of his feet had to have a small piece inserted too as the fabric had worn away a bit.


This foot had to have a small insert piece in the toe

The mended foot (new claws just visible)

The other foot and paw just needed a few stitches to prevent further damage and I had to attach one of his ears as it was coming adrift.

I felt his tummy and back and there was a hard object there - a growler?  I opened his back up and sure enough he had a large growler.  It was in remarkably good condition given his age so I shook it about a bit to get out any loose woodwool that may have settled in it.  The cloth piece had relaxed quite a bit I think so he will never give a long deep growl.  Now though he can give a little short grumble, especially if shaken a bit (not advisable to do that too much with a toy of this age).  I always like to get an old growler or squeaker working, even if not that well.

Here he is to date, just needing his new eyes and a teddy 'bath' and brush up.


A smiling Hubert, happy to know that
by tomorrow he will be able to see who
he is waving too!

I will show him in all his glory tomorrow.