WE ALL HAD OUR FAVOURITE BEAR WHEN WE WERE LITTLE. The bears I'm thinking of were of a specifically literary kind. My fave was Rupert Bear when I was younger; the illustrations were magical and you got a choice - the story was told both in verse and prose. Rupert Bear was a white bear who always wore tartan trousers (though his fur was, slightly confusingly, always brown on the cover). The books I'm talking of were actually "annuals" published for Christmastime, for Rupert appeared (and to the best of my knowledge still does appear) daily in the Daily Express newspaper. But the daily Rupert fix you get there is so paltry only genuine addicts need apply. Best wait for the annual and read the stories in one go! Rupert has a habit of finding magic carpets, shoes, stones, gizmo devices invented by the Einsteinian local professor or belonging to the father of the local Chinese girl ... man! I've forgotten her name... what was it Tiger Lilly maybe... anyway he ends up in each story flying, transported to 1950s style spice islands (darling, when we still had an Empire!) or else kidnapped by elves, in Santa's grotto or jailed by icicles in Jack Frost's lair... oh! The magic of childhood!
Original Rupert Books from the 1950s and so on, are so sought-after they are genuine collectors' items, fetching literally hundreds of pounds if in good condition...
When I got older I "adapted" to Paddington Bear... him of the marmelade sandwiches fame, who wore dufflecoat and a battered top hat. An immigrant from "Darkest Peru" he was discovered by the Brown Family lost forlorn in Paddington Station (hence his name) with a sign round his neck "please look after this bear". The best characters were no-nonsensical Mrs Bird the "housekeeper" (terribly 1950s, yet again!) and Mr Curry the hateful neighbour who always called Paddington "Bear!" The best story is probably Paddington's home decorating escapade when he wallpapers himself so thoroughly into his room there is no door.... One time I was reading this book, aged about 8, when my mother suddenly appeared at the door with a bucket. I had been laughing so hard she thought I was being sick..!
I never really got on with Winnie the Poo (come on - how did A A Milne get away with such a rude name?!?)... or any other Bear of Note...(the names escape me!)...
Now roll up, come on, this is my daily "meme": Who was YOUR Personal Bear..?
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Video of the Day:
Big Bang and Creationism ... purloined from "Rob 3:25am" blog ... and yes! I'm a Creationist, too!
Rupert was my favourite.
ReplyDeleteDo you know Rupert the Bear's middle name?
A: THE
That whale looks like a dolphin to me! ?:(
PS I've posted another Nursery Rhyme Quiz today if you fancy a go. :)
Yeah ~ Rupert Rules!
ReplyDeleteThat nursery rhyme quiz will take SOME thought... which I'm not entirely sure I'm capable of!! But I'll try!...
I either can't remember, of didn't have one. How sad is that?
ReplyDeleteDidn't you have a famous Aussie bear? Or a bear famous in Aus? Surely...?
ReplyDeleteHey Gledwood,
ReplyDeleteMine was Winnie the poo although Eeyore was my favorite character in the book. I also like Smoky the Bear who was a forest ranger and used for a fire safety ad campaign in the U.S. Thanks for visiting.
That Forest Ranger could have done with giving good ole California a good visiting before last week!! Coulda talked some sense into a few of them ARSONISTS...
ReplyDeletei have to admit i was a real fan of winnie the poo. i loved the gentle affection between poo bear and christopher robin.
ReplyDeletethere was also a tc show wehn i was young called gentle ben. ben was a massive bear who had a relationship with a homesteader. there was also a rambunctious little cub called snitch. my brother named his teddy bear snitch after the cub on the show.
of course growing up where there is a proliferation of actual wild black bears i was always rather fond of the real bears too. we'd go to my aunt's house in the mountains and watch the bears come into the yard to eat the suet my uncle tied in the trees for them.
They genuinely love honey too, don't they?!?
ReplyDeleteI find wild bears so entertaining. They look like massively overgrown tubby hamsters!!
I always wondered if the "big bang" was noisy. (If a tree falls in the forest, and there is no one there, does it make a crashing sound?)
ReplyDeleteSeriously, I believed that it was actually the "big flash." Now we learn it was the "expansion."
Just imagine, billions of stars in our galaxy. Billions of galaxies in our universe. An open-ended, expanding universe. w0w!
Our moon is moving away from the earth at a rate of about 1 inch per year. Maybe this is part of the "expanding universe" phenomenon. Maybe not.
The earth's rotation is slowing as well. One hundred years from now, the day will be 2 milliseconds longer than it is now. We all shall have atomic clock watches by then, so no resetting.
I realize that atomic clock watches exist today. I suspect they will be the only type available on the market in years to come.
OK… nuff said. ;-)
Yeah sure enough there was no noise if there was no-one to hear it!!
ReplyDeleteDid you know about the Canadian connection to Winne The Pooh? There was a bear in the London Zoo named Winnipeg - more affectionately known as Winnie. You can read more about this if you like at: Winne The Pooh I actually read (badly!!! LOL) some of the latin version "Winnie Ille Pu" when I was in highschool latin class.
ReplyDeleteI loved my Punkinhead which was first put out by Eaton's department store in 1948 but isn't known as much today. You can see his picture here: Punkinhead
Gledwood I don't remember having a favourite bear it's so long ago but I have had two dogs named after Winnie the Poo characters. One was Kanga (well I am Australian you know) and the other Tigger.
ReplyDeleteHave a good weekend Gleds
Kahshe: Winnipeg the Bear = Winnie the Poo... where did the Poo come from ?? - don't say outta da bum anyone puh-lease!
ReplyDeleteJMB: I was going to call my Spherical robo Piglet as she's so tubby ... (!)
I didn't grow up with any of those because television was limited where I came from and later on when I was in Germany I used to watch Grizzly Adams and he lived in the mountains with his bear called Ben. So I'd have to say Ben from Grizzly Adams. He was like the Lassie of bears.
ReplyDeleteGood grief, I don't think I had a favorite bear as a kid. We were too poor to own any books, and once I was old enough to borrow from the library I was reading stories for older kids. There's a great book out today called "Zen Shorts." That is one awesome Panda in that book! Oh, and I do have a large stuffed bear which I bought my husband on our first anniversary 20 years ago. His name is Humphrey :)
ReplyDeleteNicole: The Lassie of Bears~?!? Was he always rescuing trapped children then..??
ReplyDeleteLolo: Yeah Panda Bears are the best!
I'd have to go with Smokey the Bear. I had a stuffed Smokey the Bear when I was a little ankle biter. I remember he had a ranger hat and a plastic forest ranger badge and wore blue jeans. I think he had a little plastic shovel as well. Remember that Smokey says... "Only you can prevent forest fires." California could sure use some forest fire prevention these days. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteAs far as real bears are concerned, I have encountered them in the wild along the Appalachian Trail. It made me very concerned I can tell you.
Paddington Bear because he had come from somewhere so far away and exotic, Winnie the Poo for his sighs,
ReplyDeleteand I quite liked watching Yogi and his little friend Bobo? Later it was Ben from Grizzly Adams.
...big bang and creationism .... to quote a certain singer "I don't subscribe to that point of view"
Now that you ask the question, Gled...I have to answer that I didn't have any favourite bear! Wow! I wonder what that means? ;)
ReplyDeleteRupert was my favourite. I remember the book where he was in a garden of yellow primroses - so beautiful. That's when I learned what primroses were. I bought myself a Rupert Bear when I was in England once. (Another time I got Paddington) But my girls' fave was Winnie the Pooh and all his friends.
ReplyDeleteMolson: Smokey Bear? I have never heard of! (Was hoping an American bear would come up though!)... So you're saying being confronted by a wild bear is NOT like meeting an over-sized wild hamster, then...?!?!
ReplyDeleteBimbimbie: Aparently (I just found out) I only read about half of the Paddington books... maybe I ought to go hunt the other four or five I didn't read out...
Lee: ... erm, I dunno~?!?
Leslie: Wow I never knew Rupert had gone international ... ('part from his magic carpet etc voyages, of course!)
i suppose they like honey too. i knwo for sure they love berries.
ReplyDeleteI loved Rupert The Bear. In Australia the bear of choice today would be Humphrey B Bear...a mansized bear who sings and dances...yep, for real, and he's not chained to a post and forced to do it, either. He appears at fetes, fairs and on TV quite regularly...a real media tart is Ol' Humphrey B!
ReplyDeleteOh God, i guess childhood wasn't magical for me in THAT way, the "I have a favorite bear" way. I 'll have to go with Smokey just because...
ReplyDeleteI did love Batman in a thoroughly un-literary way however.
Hi, Gleds. I loved Rupert too. Then there was the teddy in "andy Pandy" who looked so cuddly. I've still got my "Fluffy teddy" from when I was a kid.
ReplyDeleteLime: I've heard the wild bees still sting the bears thru their fur but the bears lurve all that honey so much they just go for it paw-dipping onwards any-hoe!
ReplyDeletePussinboots: I proclaim that Rupert Rules!! (I brought up Rupert's ultra modern fully character-merchandised website. Horrible. Fully horrifically TERRIBLE stuff. He looks so ugly and nothing like the real Rupert who flew to "coon island" etc etc (the hilarious language was something I 4got to mention in my original post...)
M-filer: no favourite bear... come ON!!!
ReplyDeleteWelshcakes: O yeah! I'd 4gotten about Andy Pandy ...
So glad Itchy is okay!! I can`t seem to download any pictures on your site. Guess it`s because I have stupid dial up. My favorite bear was Yogi Bear and he had a little bear buddy called Boo Boo. . Not sure if you had him there. He was an American bear, but we got him here in Canada too.
ReplyDeletetea
xo
Tea and Margs: I don't have pictures as such... only youtube screens... any pictures I do mention you have to click on the relevant word in pink and THAT will take you to the picture in question...
ReplyDelete... o yeah I knew Yogi and Boo Boo... BooBoo's such a cute name! We tried to rename our dog that but it never "stuck"...
I used to have a huge bear that hung out in my room for a bit in my teenage years... it was one of those big stuffed things you win at a carnival. I don't think I ever named it tho.
ReplyDeleteThe one bear that has sorta stayed as my constant fav is Winnie the Pooh. But Tigger as in T I double GG R is alot of fun too.
I never had Winnie the Poo stuff as a kid... so I never got into it any further than playing "poo sticks" with ice lolly sticks etc off bridges...
ReplyDeleteMy mum used to get the Daily express so I was raised on Rupert. Never really got into Paddington and only enjoyed Pooh when I was older.
ReplyDeleteOh, nursery rhyme quiz ...
It looks like these comments are okay and not crashing me now!
I'd say Yogi Bear.
ReplyDeleteOr Baloo in the Jungle book, with his bare necessities.
Liz: glad the comments properly working for you... sometimes I have trouble with other people's blogs that load the sidebars then take AGES for any posting to come out... yours does that in a minor way but (Amazing) Gracie's is something chronic... sometimes it's almost like the computer has crashed and given up...
ReplyDeleteIngsoc: The Jungle Book... yeah!
O! I'm the king of the jungle now; the jungle VIP...
Fozzie Bear. His jokes are even worse than mine, here's one:
ReplyDeleteRowlf: Why don't you wear shoes Fozzie?
Fozzie: Why should I? I'd still have bear feet. Wocka Wocka Wocka!
Hiya Gleds, thanks for dropping by - hope you're keeping well.
;->...
ReplyDeleteI'm not too bad, ta!
Gled I was born in the UK, so was familiar with, but had forgotten Rupert Bear. I'm not sure which was my favourite bear, but I was always drawn to the most pathetic looking ones who appeared to be in need of care!
ReplyDeleteI recently bought Paddington for my six year old niece and a Tatty Bear (these are popular in the UK now -- they tug at the heart strings!) for someone special.
A friend collects antique Steiff bears. They certainly look morose, some almost creepy and I would think they'd give a child the "heebie jeebies". LOL :)
You take good care. It's always good to see you.
bear stories...didn't find any in my childhood 's memories...but sixty years ago in France, in small villages there was no tv , and i can't remember any "famous bear"...bears were traditionaly given to little boys (later they would have horses)and dolls to girls..the only story i remenber with bear is "boucles d'or""goldilocks and the three bears".I started watching bear stories on tv when my son was young, he used to love whinnie the pooh...my youngest grand-son is very found of "petit ours brun"..."little brown bear"...that's cute...helps little ones with everyday life small problems...
ReplyDeletemakes me feel so old to write all this !!!must make a post about it ...thank you dear for bringing back all these memories...
Did not have a favorite bear. I didn't have the most child-oriented childhood, but short of the Pooh (whom I never heard of until I was a teenager), I never heard of any other bears. What a pity. Take care, Gleds.
ReplyDelete