The joy and companionship teddy bears provide could not be better illustrated than in the collection that will be offered at auction by Vectis in the auction on Tuesday 10th November.
The owner’s love of bruins was ignited in 1928 when ‘Big Teddy’ arrived as a Christmas present. Of unknown origins, he had unusual dark brown mohair, large feet with lighter coloured felt pads. ‘Big Teddy’ was a constant companion for the next 90 years. He travelled, went to parties and exhibitions and of course needed a wardrobe of suitable clothing. As his closet expanded so did the hug of bears and he was joined each year by bruins of all shapes, sizes and origins. 1983 it was noted, was a vintage year with over 40 being added in that period alone.
Each addition was recorded and catalogued, some with photographs, sizes and a summary of labels, clothing or details of history before arrival. The interest also brought the owner into contact with other like-minded collectors as pen pals or visitors. She created a magical compendium with hand written notations, newspaper stories, letters from museums, magazine cuttings, postcards, postage stamps and pictures.
Many of the bears have a story all detailed in the scrap book, bears whish are featured in the scrap book are accompanied by a copy of their story.
Pandas feature heavily in the collection, the first arrival was “’Big Panda’, soon followed by Chad Valley ‘Ming’ and ‘Big Panda’ plus a wonderful Merrythought vintage panda nightdress case with original ‘Reg.Des’ sewn label.
British teddy pioneer Wendy Boston was another favourite with example in white, pink, blue, brown and gold plus a variety of animals, pandas, gollies and even Basil Brush. There are some delightful and more unusual, harder to find examples such as the rabbits in Lot No. 126 and the white plush Wendy’s with blue eyes.
Paddington also appears in several guises as does Sooty, Winnie the Pooh, Alfonzo and Rupert. Many of her pen friends, forwarded gifts, beary related of course and these feature in the sale too – pens, postcards, books, jewellery, badges, miniatures and rubber stamps among other things.
Lakeland bears and their clothes are in abundance, to read more about these see the separate article.
There is no doubt the utter joy these bears and keepsakes brought to their owner and although there is a large quantity, all bears regardless of origin or value were treasured and loved. They will be offered in single and group lots. In addition to the journal, there is a catalogue of the bears and record cards with additional information.
The bears resided in an elegant Victoria villa in Cullercoats on the picturesque North East coast and had a wonderful and rich life. The journal chronicles their adventures and will be offered for sale in the same auction. Will you be able to help them to settle in somewhere new?
For more information please contact Joanne McDonald This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Kathy Taylor This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. on +44 (0) 1642 750616.
The Specialist and tinplate toy sale held on the 13th of May featured over 100 lots of Specialist Diecast including TV and film related, Corgi models, including 1/50th scale haulage, and a Saab model collection from Rob Eddie Models, Somerville, Neo, Minichamps and others. The sale also featured over 180 lots of Tinplate & Plastic, with a fantastic Meccano Constructor car collection of No.1 and No.2 pre and post war models, parts and accessories, presentation sets and empty boxes. Further items included Victory Industries, Triang Minic, Bandai, Schuco, Scalex, space and robot toys and playsets. There were 51 lots of 1/18th Scale Models from CMC, Tecnomodel, BBR and others, and further lots included collectors’ books and catalogues, Matchbox, Lledo, EFE, Dinky, Tekno, Hasbro pre-production prototype models including unreleased models, Lego, Greenlight collectables, Protar, Bandai and other unbuilt kits, plus much more.
Vectis and Middlesbrough Football Club, a Winning Partnership!
We are proud to announce that Vectis and Vectis Collectables has partnered with Championship Football Club Middlesbrough for the season by sponsoring one of the first team players, Anfernee Dijksteel.
The Netherlands Under 20’s player joined Boro from Charlton Athletic in August 2019, becoming the fourth signing of that summer.
This is not the first time The Hambleton Group have partnered the local football club. The group (who owned Heritage Hampers at the time) was the Middlesbrough Club Sponsor for the 1988 – 1989 season and had the honour of not only having their logo on the club shirts but being awarded a Guinness World Record. In early part of 1989, Heritage Hampers received a letter from the Guinness Book of Records declaring that at a size of 23,228 sq. ft, the freshly painted hoarding was indeed the largest in the world!
We are confident that Anfernee will also leave a great lasting impression.
Happiness is ... A Lakeland Bear!
A look at these magical bears in the November Vectis Teddy Bear Auction
In the auction on Tuesday 10th November there is a fine ramble of Lakeland Bears. Most of the group is part of the 'Cullercoats Collection' of over 500 teddy bears and related pieces.
Each Lakeland bear from this group was much loved with lives and friends of their own. Phillipa, Lot no.193 is dressed in a tweed skirt and one of the iconic knitted jumpers designed by the Lakeland Bear founder Wendy Phillips. She is accompanied by four enchanting files containing a huge quantity of correspondence and photographs, many are from her friend "Langdale", including holidays in the Lake District, regular letters, Christmas cards, post cards and original photographs. She was also featured in Issue 4 (Spring 1991) edition of Teddy Bear Times Magazine alongside another Lakeland Bear who lived in Norwich.
Phillipa returned several times a year to the Lakeland Bear shop and was joined by several other teds including Penelope, Wilfred and Pamela. Of one such visit Phillipa enthused "This year we all went to Ambleside to the new shop and got jumpers chosen from the collection hanging in the back of the shop. I chose blouse and new chord trousers. Penelope picked a yellow jumper with barn owls on and a red one with hedgehogs and a tweed skirt".
Phillipa and her growing band of friends enjoyed a wide friendship circle corresponding with several like-minded protectors. Wilfred, smartly dressed in blue chords and a sheep jumper had his own pen friend in 'Toddy Nelson from Germany who in his initial letter explained "I hope you can read her writing; she has never been near a typewriter. I had heard from 'Appleby Woods' that you are really anxious to hear from other Lakeland Bears especially living in other countries or further afield".
Each letter was filled with tales of adventures, alongside hand drawings, postcards, quotes, ink stamping and notations of gifts included for Easter, Halloween or Christmas. All these were painstakingly filed in date order with each bear having his own scrap file of letters. These will be accompanying the bears on the next stage of their journey.
We all love to have provenance with bears that come to live with us. A historical record such as these are a wonder to behold. These Lakeland Bears had already packed a lot into their lives but are ready to start a whole new set of adventures and perhaps help their new 'adoptive owner' make some new friends.
Also, in the sale is a large quantity of additional clothing (some original), in Lots 198 and 199 mainly in Lakeland bear scale to enable the bears to have an outfit for every occasion.
In addition to the Cullercoats Collection bears there are three additional Deans edition Lakeland Bears. These are entirely original and with clothing and accessories too.
Lakeland Bears were the brain child of Wendy Phillips, a knitwear designer who initially used the bears as props for her creations. After repeated request to sell the bears too ‘Lakeland Bears’ were born. They were all meticulously attired in pure wool skirts, trousers or dungarees, Fair Isle knitwear care of Wendy in a variety of colours and designs, caps, socks and handmade north country clogs. Accessories, reproduced to scale included rucksacks, walking sticks, climbing ropes and hooks which gave each bear its own individual character.
The Lakeland Bears will be sold in the Teddy Bear Auction at Vectis on Tuesday November the 10th.
For more information please contact Joanne McDonald on +44 (0) 1642 750616 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Looking at Chad Valley Fire Vehicles in the Vectis Sale
The Mike Linham Fire Engine Collection is a fantastic array of vehicles from many of the major manufacturers. If includes several versions form the leading British tinplate toy producer Chad Valley.
With all toy and model makers, the inspiration to manufacture a particular item has to come from somewhere! As many of the people who were involved in the creation of our classic toys are no longer with us, we can but speculate on what sparked their imagination.
With Chad Valley, the inspiration could have come from the view from the factory windows - the nearby “classic” Fire Station built for the City of Birmingham. The gleaming fire engines turning out to fires would have been extremely impressive. Chad Valley’s factory was in Harborne, a suburb of Birmingham, located next to the Public Works Depot and the Fire Station. Today the site houses a very modern high security Police Station and residential properties.
It is thought that Chad Valley produced two engine versions and a fire jeep. Both of the Fire Engine versions will be offered in the sale.
Both items are “classics” and followed the “trends” in the toy industry at that time. Pre Second World War “constructor cars” were available from most of the larger makers. Meccano and Marklin possibly being the more notable. Chad Valley’s constructor range called “Ubilda” included a simple open fire engine of a classic “Braidwood” body style carrying a wheeled escape ladder in approx 1/32nd scale. This item is powered by a simple clockwork motor and was loosely based on either a Leyland or Dennis chassis of the period. It would have undoubtedly borne some resemblance to the fire engines that operated out of the adjacent Fire Station at the time of manufacture.
The other fire engine Chad Valley produced was after the Second World War and this was in their diecast range called “Wee-kin” Series. This was loosely modelled on a Dodge, with the body having a style more associated with the United States of America rather than those seen locally. The body was designed to fit the standard chassis which was used for various commercials such as tankers, tower wagons, dustbin lorries etc. This solid toy in approx 1/60th scale, had a ladder which was pivoted at the rear, allowing it to be raised and like its tinplate predecessor had powerful clockwork motor. The number plate carries the registration ‘CV 1949’ which indicates the date of initial manufacture.
Both these items are now difficult to find and are sure to arouse interest on Tuesday 20th October when sold.
To view the full catalogue, click here THE MIKE LINHAM FIRE ENGINE COLLECTION
For more information please contact Dave Bowers on +44 (0) 1642 7506160 or email
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
JM
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