The joy of teddy bears: Why we love to grin and bear it
Teddy bears play a special part in our lives, as finds out.
Christopher Robin, a movie featuring Winnie the Pooh, comes to cinemas on August 17 and is set to reignite our love and affection for the joy teddy bears bring. We spoke to four well-known Irish people about their enduring love affair with their most treasured teddy bear.
CHLOE AGNEW
Talented singer Chloe Agnew has two much-loved bears that were given to her by her mum, Adele King (Twink) when she was four years old.
“They’re called Leo and Lilli Beth and they’re after my grandparents, my mother’s mother and father. The day my mum gave them to me it was Easter, just before my little sister was born. They’re pretty special to us. She’s called Lilli Beth because I couldn’t pronounce Elizabeth. It’s what I thought her name was!
“We were always a household of people who loved teddies. My mum still has her teddy from her childhood. My father (musician David Agnew) is the same. So we were always kind of taught to appreciate and love those things that we had from childhood.
“I also had two bunnies that I loved, this bunny called Mrs Buzzwell and a little Beanie called Flapjack, and they used to come everywhere with me.
“When I was on tour with Celtic Woman, the bag with them in it got stolen at an airport and I never saw them again.
“From then I vowed that any teddies that I loved, that were my prized possessions, would never travel with me again. That’s why Leo and Lilli Beth will never leave the family home.”
Chloe has vivid childhood memories of going on Easter egg hunts with her bears. “Myself and my little sister would go round the garden collecting the eggs.
“They had to be in the wheelbarrow — I think I thought they would help us find the chocolate eggs! The innocence of youth.”
She always identified them as two different personalities.
“Lilli Beth is a little bit bigger than Leo, and I definitely always thought that she was more of a mammy to him. I definitely thought that he was a younger teddy and she used to look after him. I think I thought that he was her teddy.” Both
teddies remain very precious and important to her.
“They’re a lasting piece of memory that I have of my mother’s parents. They both died when I was very young. To have these two teddies that I had as a little girl and that I love so much. I think that’s definitely a special connection.”
- Chloe’s new EP, The Thing About You , is now on iTunes and on www.chloeagnewofficial.com
ADRIAN MARTIN
TV chef Adrian Martin is a relatively new member of the teddy bear club. However being given his bear in adulthood was no less special, because it symbolised one of the most important achievements in his career.
“It was a gift from my Mum the day I graduated from college,” he says.
“I suppose it was a symbol of achievement. I was never the best student in school, ever.
“I found my interest and intelligence lay in being creative rather than being an A student, following a system that only suits a small amount of the population.
“Once I realised my intelligence lay elsewhere I found myself. Cooking was the path I took from the age of 14, so even at school I realised quite quickly that I wanted to do something with my hands.
“Having struggled in school exams, and being embarrassed to tell anyone my Leaving Cert results at the time, I felt quite left out.
“So once I graduated as a professional chef, it really was one of my biggest achievements. I look at the bear and it reminds me of that.”
His bear takes pride of place in his bedroom in Cavan, alongside many other precious items. “It stays on a shelf in my bedroom, along with a lot of my other cookery things such as competition medals and certificates.”
While others think of their bears as little personalities, he sees it as symbolic and a mark of positivity. “It’s important as it can pick you up when you have a few off days. When something goes wrong I tend to look back at happy moments. And this bear can trigger a happy moment.”
LISA CANNON
Broadcaster Lisa Cannon has a very special tradition with her dad, Michael, who buys her the gift of a cuddly toy every year.
“I have a whole collection from my dad — everything from Donald Duck to big huge bears and some of them are very quirky. It’s become a lovely tradition and we’re always roaring laughing when he takes the latest one out of the bag.”
But Lisa has a soft spot for one particular character, Little Ted, which her dad gave to her in her late teens — much to the annoyance of her dog, Lulu.
“Lulu has tried to murder the teddy,” she laughs. “Whatever it is about Little Ted she has it in for her. Sometimes we’ll pop Ted’s head from behind the bed just to antagonise her.”
Little Ted doesn’t travel - “she minds the house,” says Lisa — and it’s her personality that makes her the broadcaster’s favourite. “I got her at Christmas and I think she just has a special way about her. She’s very pliable and you can move her arms and her head. Sometimes we’ll put her hands over her eyes for fun.”
Lisa says the bear’s importance is simply because her dad gave it to her. “It’s a lovely expression of his love and he’s delighted when he gives you the latest Ted and your face lights up. They give you giggles and they make you feel good.”
- Lisa will compere The Irish Red Cross Humanitarian Awards Ball in November. This fundraiser will celebrate and honour those whose actions have served to improve society. To book tickets, log on to www.redcross.ie/ball2018.
JENNY HUSTON
As a child in Vancouver,
Jenny Huston was gifted her favourite childhood bear, simply named Ted, to help her adjust to the arrival home of her new baby brother. “I wasn’t even two and I was given the bear when my brother was born, which was smart psychology!” she laughs.
The brown bear features in many of the broadcaster, turned-designer’s childhood photos and is among the treasured childhood things she brought to Ireland after she came here to live.
“My mum lined up all my teddy bears and asked which ones I wanted to keep and I took Ted as well as a monkey and a polar bear,” says Jenny, who runs top jewellery company Edge Only with Leah Hewson.
“He was always on my bed as a small child and he was like a comfort-blanket, even though he’s not a soft bear. As I got older he was the big brown bear at the back of my room.”
Now he stays in a trunk in her bedroom watching over other mementoes of her youth, including her walkman and and prom dress.
“He remains important to me. I had a great childhood and I do love seeing all those things that mattered so much to you as a kid.”
- www.edgeonly.com
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