29 April 2024
Regular readers will have
noticed that many patients in Sasha's
Teddy
Bear
Hospital this year have been of non-ursine variety. I have,
however, had a fair share of bears too. One such, a 1950s Bear, needed
new eyes, having gone completely blind. I also treated a gaping wound
in his neck and a few smaller ones, reinforced his unique stripy paw
pads, added stuffing, and re-embroidered his nose and smile.
Another bear, 60-year-old William John, only came to the Hospital for a
nose job. He was beaming after his operation, and his owner was
overjoyed to see him smiling happily again.
I also had 22-year-old
Sizzle, who looked quite sad on arrival. Once I have mended his holes
and added some stuffing to his body and limbs, he perked up and could
not wait to go back home to his family.
22 April
The Steiff Rabbit was not a
happy bunny when he arrived in Sasha's Teddy Bear Hospital.
He had a run-in with a puppy some years previously
and came off worst, with his whiskers, nose and one ear badly
mauled. It took me a while to find the right shade of yellow for his
ear, but in the end Rabbit was whole and fighting fit again.
20-year-old Unicorn was cuddled so much that she had lost her hooves
and shed lots of stuffing through the resulting holes. I added new
stuffing and made her new shiny
hooves, incorporating in one the tea towel that the owner's
mother had used to repair her years earlier.
Unlike those two,
Tigger only spent a couple of hours in
Hospital. He booked an appointment for fear of "doing an
Eeyore" (i.e. losing his tail), and asked for some extra stuffing too.
I soon got him fixed, and he was back to his old bouncing self.
14 April
![Gary C.'s Bear before treatment Gary C.'s Bear before treatment](Images/2024/GC_Bear_before300.jpg) |
It would be fair to say that 73-year-old Bear
was falling
apart when he arrived in the Teddy
Bear
Hospital.
His treatment took a long time, but in the end the Bear's head was
most definitely in the
right place.
The Bear's owner asked me to record all the stages of his
treatment, and he was
happy for me to share the record here.
|
![Gary C.'s Bear after treatment Gary C.'s Bear after treatment](Images/2024/GC_Bear_after300.jpg) |
6 April
Two very nice patients (who had
become good friends here at Sasha's Teddy
Bear
Hospital)
were discharged on the same day.
Ted, a London-based bear in his late 60s, had come in for major
surgery. I gave him lots of straw stuffing, four new paw pads and new
hip joints. He also had his holes mended, his smile restored, and nose
touched up. On top of that, like most of my patients, Ted was treated
to a good gentle clean. His owner was overjoyed at his recovery when
she came to collect him.
Dog, who was a tad younger, had lost both eyes and his voice, so he
understandably looked rather depressed when he came to me. I gave him
new eyes and a new
squeaker and restored his smile. After giving him a good clean and
brush, I added some kapok stuffing and mended all
his holes too. "He looks amazing," his owner's wife said upon seeing
Dog after his treatment.
31 March
Hot on the heels of Nelly (see
the previous entry), I had another elephant patient at my Teddy
Bear
Hospital. Lelephlumps the Steiff rocking elephant
had shed some stuffing through a nasty tear on his face. I
treated his wound, added some stuffing - and Lelephlumps was ready to
rock again))
Another very unusual patient was a giant Soot Sprite. You may know it
as a Soot Gremlin or Susuwatari, and I know now that it is a character
from Hayao Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli animated films. This particular
Soot Sprite's
eyes had become all crinkly, so I gave it new leather ones, which
should serve it well for a long time.
Soot Sprite came to the Hospital with a friend, Dog, who I think also
comes from some Japanese animation. There was not much wrong
with him, except that he had become a bit floppy and needed some
plumping up with new stuffing. I also made him a nice new red velvet
collar.
29 March
When Rabbit came to Sasha's Teddy
Bear
Hospital,
he was very limp and in danger of losing his head. I treated the
wound in his neck, which had been the cause of his troubles,
put
in some extra stuffing, and gave him a gentle clean. Rabbit was most
grateful, and hopped off in buoyant mood.
Nelly the Elephant required a more comprehensive treatment. I removed
what remained of her foam stuffing, cleaned her hide very thoroughly,
and re-stuffed her with polyfill. I also mended the hole on her tongue,
reattached her legs, and repainted her eyes. Much to Nelly's delight, I
made her a nice new skirt and tied a pink silk bow round her neck.
Another patient, much-loved Blue Ted, had lots of holes in him and had
long lost all his facial features. The fabric that he was made of
needed reinforcing as it was so threadbare as to become see-through.
After surgery, Blue Ted felt years younger and full of life. He was
particularly pleased to be able to see again, though his fetching
button eyes.
27 March
![With Jennifer B. and her Teddy With Jennifer B. and her Teddy](Images/2024/SK_JB&Teddy_300.jpg) |
This Chad Valley bear called Teddy was a
sample sent in the 1960s to a toy shop in Henley-on-Thames. His
present owner's mother, who worked there, took it home for her very
young daughter.
Teddy had a wind-up musical box inside, and years later his owner could
still remember the tune that it played - Teddy
Bears Picnic. When the box stopped working, it was taken
out and put away - never to be found again.
So when Teddy was admitted to the Teddy Bear
Hospital, his owner asked me to find another
musical box with the same tune and fit it inside Teddy.
It took some time (the first box that we found broke before I had a
chance to
fit it), but we got there in the end, and now Teddy plays Teddy Bears Picnic
again!
|
I also gave him a good gentle
clean, added some stuffing, re-embroidered his nose and mended some
holes in his paw pads. Teddy's owner was overjoyed when they were
reunited after his treatment.
18 March
Goldie, aged about 40,
came to Sasha's
Teddy Bear Hospital for some repairs to the stitching on his
neck, muzzle reinforcement, and a good clean.
When I told his owner
that I would also have to replace all of Goldie's
original stuffing (foam chunks, which do not age well), she asked me to
keep some of it. So I made a couple of cushions filled with Goldie's
original stuffing and put one in his head and the other in
his body, just as his owner wanted.
15 March
Two recent patients
at my Teddy
Bear
Hospital, Tederinna and Mufti, have always been good friends
despite a rather striking difference in size.
At 54, Tederinna the
Bear was the older and the more responsible of the two, always looking
after Mufti and a few other friends. She looked after herself well too,
and only needed small repairs to her paw and neck.
41-year-old Mufti the Monkey, small enough to accompany his owner on
all her travels, required more serious treatment. The fabric
of his muzzle was worn through from all the kisses he
received, and
his smile and nostrils had to be re-embroidered. I also gave him a good
clean, and
soon the two friends were ready to reunite with their owner.
Another patient,
26-year-old Rabbit, needed a new face, having lost his eyes, nose and
tongue, while the inside of his ears had to be replaced, as the fabric
was very threadbare. After his treatment and a good clean, Rabbit said
he
was delighted to be able to see again, and most pleased with his nice
new
pink nose.
I also had a Charlie Bear called Special Bear - because he was really
special to his 9-year-old owner! Special Bear was very well looked
after but had become a bit wobbly over the years. I tightened his
joints, so he can now stand on his own two paws, and hug his owner with
his other two paws))
13 March
![Cat S.'s Teddy Lion Cat S.'s Teddy Lion](Images/2024/CS_Teddy_Lion_after300.jpg) |
I had an unusual request at my Teddy
Bear
Hospital recently: to embroider a cleft surgery
scar on the
face of a Teddy Lion.
I am glad to report the operation was successful, and the patient is
now back with his owner.
Another happy patient just discharged from the Hospital was
50-something George.
He was treated to a gentle clean, and received new paw pads and a new
smile.
|
![Jane C.'s George after treatment Jane C.'s George after treatment](Images/2024/JC_George_after300.jpg) |
12 March
Few of my patients will have been made at a
model aircraft
factory. Yet this is where Bob the Terrier must have come from, many
years ago.
Bob has a fine pedigree: he is a Tri-Ang Toy, made in Britain by Lines
Bros Ltd. some time in the 1950s.
His self-confessed "dog loon" owner had rescued Bob when she saw him
left out in the rain on someone's porch.
Like most rescue dogs, he then needed a lot of care
to see him back to health.
|
![Bob's label Bob's label](Images/2024/AB_Bob_label300.jpg) |
When Bob was admitted
to Sasha’s
Teddy Bear
Hospital, I first gave him a good clean. Then I fixed
his eyes, which had kept falling out, and
emboidered him a new nose and smile. I even gave him a skin transplant
in a few places, and
grafted some new matching fur on to his ears and his back.
9 March
![Lyn J.'s Edward on arrival Lyn J.'s Edward on arrival](Images/2024/LJ_Edward_before300.jpg) |
Many Teddy Bear lovers will have recognised
this recent patient
at Sasha's Teddy Bear
Hospital as a Merrythought Cheeky Bear - one
that has bells in his rather big ears.
Edward, however, was no ordinary bear: he had a zip in his back and
could serve as a pyjama case!
His owner remembers that when she bought him from Heelas in
Reading back in 1967, the zipped version cost a whole pound less than
the standard one - so it made perfect sense to choose it.
Edward has since become a much loved family member, so no-one thought
it appropriate to ask him to open his zip and put a pyjama in.
|
![Lyn J.'s Edward before treatment Lyn J.'s Edward before treatment](Images/2024/LJ_Edward_zip300.jpg) |
![Lyn J.'s Edward drying Lyn J.'s Edward drying](Images/2024/LJ_Edward_drying300.jpg) |
So part of Edward's treatment was to remove
the redundant zip and make him a proper Bear at long last.
I gave him a good clean and brush, so his fur regained its
original colour and softness. While he was drying, our cat Lucy
graciously agreed to keep him company.
I replaced
the paw pads on Edward's feet, carefully
transferring his prized Merrythought label, and repaired his nose. |
![Edward Bear's Merrythought label Edward Bear's Merrythought label](Images/2024/LJ_Edward_label300.jpg) |
|
![Lyn J.'s Edward after treatment Lyn J.'s Edward after treatment](Images/2024/LJ_Edward_after300.jpg) |
On top of that, Edward received a
good helping of
new stuffing. He can now hold his head high again when he is
passed on through the family to continue to be loved.
|