Paddington Bear

This tiny Paddington bear belongs
 to our 18" dolls.

       The first Paddington Bear stuffed toy to be manufactured was created in 1972 by Gabrielle Designs, a small business run by Shirley and Eddie Clarkson, with the prototype made as a Christmas present for their children Joanna and Jeremy Clarkson (who later became a well-known British TV presenter and writer).

Just right, our Paddington Bear is from Eden Toys, 1987. He is posable, five inches tall and wears a red felt hat, black 'rubber' boots and a handmade yellow felt 'rain coat.'

       Shirley Clarkson dressed the stuffed bear in Wellington boots to help it stand upright. (Paddington received Wellingtons for Christmas in Paddington Marches On, 1964.) The earliest bears wore small children's boots manufactured by Dunlop Rubber until production could not meet demand. Gabrielle Designs then produced their boots with paw prints moulded into the soles just like those on our doll's bear in the photo.

Paddington Bear is a fictional character in children's literature. He first appeared on 13 October 1958 in the children's book A Bear Called Paddington and has been featured in more than twenty books written by British author Michael Bond and illustrated by Peggy Fortnum and other artists.

• Books for Kids Read Aloud by ABC Story Time
• 60 facts about Paddington Bear on his 60th birthday

The friendly bear from "darkest Peru"—with his old hat, battered suitcase, duffel coat and love of marmalade—has become a classic character from British children's literature. An anthropomorphised bear, Paddington is always polite – addressing people as "Mr", "Mrs" and "Miss", rarely by first names – and kindhearted, though he inflicts hard stares on those who incur his disapproval. He has an endless capacity for innocently getting into trouble, but he is known to "try so hard to get things right." He was discovered in London Paddington station, by the (human) Brown family who adopted him, and thus he gives his full name as "Paddington Brown" (his original Peruvian name being too hard for them to pronounce).

• Paddington Travels from Darkest Peru to London
• 'Paddington Comes to America' New exhibit opens at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art

Paddington books have been translated into 30 languages across 70 titles and have sold more than 30 million copies worldwide. A much loved fictional character in the UK, a Paddington Bear soft toy was chosen by British tunnelers as the first item to pass through to their French counterparts when the two sides of the Channel Tunnel were linked in 1994. Paddington Bear has been adapted for television, films and appeared in commercials. The critically acclaimed and commercially successful films Paddington (2014) and Paddington 2 (2017) were both nominated for the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Film.

Largest Fan Collection I've Ever Seen!

More About Paddington Bear:

• Paddington Bear
• Paddington Bear Facebook page

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