Stuffed Toy
Production date
Circa 1927
Description
A large stuffed bear mounted on a red wooden frame with four metal wheels. The bear has no eyes or ears.
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Object detail
Production date
Circa 1927
Classification
Credit line
He
was
nearly
loved
to
bits
but
this
bear
now
lives
more
peacefully
at
Puke
Ariki.
Battered
and
ripped
he
may
be,
but
his
lack
of
surviving
facial
features
certainly
doesn’t
dim
his
charm.
The
toy
bear
on
wheels
was
first
given
to
Jim
Milne
in
1927
by
his
uncle
Charles.
Bear
was
then
passed
down
through
generations
of
the
Milne
family,
losing
fur
and
entering
family
folklore
along
the
way.
Viv Smith, who recently rediscovered Bear in the collection, remembers plenty of fun family times with him in her family during the 1950s and 1960s.
“At one point Bear had one glass eye, the left one; it was a kind of dark honey brown with a big black centre. The metal rod sticking out his neck has been there as long as we have known him, but we’ve never seen his ears. We used to ride Bear up and down the hallway of our house on Cowling Road. Sometimes, he used to bite: the split cotter pins holding his wheels on used to catch the inside of our ankles drawing blood.” No-one rides Bear these days but he is valued in a different ways, as a great example of a toy built to last and one treasured by a family for generations.
Viv Smith, who recently rediscovered Bear in the collection, remembers plenty of fun family times with him in her family during the 1950s and 1960s.
“At one point Bear had one glass eye, the left one; it was a kind of dark honey brown with a big black centre. The metal rod sticking out his neck has been there as long as we have known him, but we’ve never seen his ears. We used to ride Bear up and down the hallway of our house on Cowling Road. Sometimes, he used to bite: the split cotter pins holding his wheels on used to catch the inside of our ankles drawing blood.” No-one rides Bear these days but he is valued in a different ways, as a great example of a toy built to last and one treasured by a family for generations.
Accession number
A87.451
Collection type
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