Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

TEDDY BEAR

Date Range From

1940

Date Range To

1950

Materials

FAKE FUR, WOOL, COTTON

No. Pieces

3

Height

37

Length

31.5

Width

13

Description

A: TEDDY BEAR, MEDIUM BROWN FAKE FUR BODY WITH YELLOW FAKE FUR ON EARS, NOSE, AND PAWS. TWO RED BUTTON EYES. NOSE AND MOUTH ARE BLACK YARN SEWN ONTO YELLOW SNOUT. FAKE FUR HAS RUBBED OFF ON BEAR'S SNOUT AND AROUND SEVERAL SEAMS, ESPECIALLY ON EARS AND FEET. MINOR REPAIRS EVIDENT BELOW SNOUT, ABOVE LEFT EYE, BACK OF NECK, AND BOTTOM OF RIGHT FOOT. B: TEAL GREEN WOOL CARDIGAN WITH 5 GOLD-COLOURED BUTTONS. BUTTONS EMBOSSED WITH AIRPLANE FLYING OVER WAVY WATER. C: RED ROMPER PANTS UNDER SWEATER. MATERIAL HAS RED BACKGROUND AND WHITE BOWS WITH NAVY BLUE CENTRES. STRAPS OF PANTS AFFIXED IN FRONT WITH TWO TAN BUTTONS.

Subjects

TOY

Historical Association

LEISURE

History

THIS TEDDY BEAR BELONGED TO ROBERT ALLAN SMITH (THE DONOR) AS A CHILD AND WAS SAVED FOR DONATION TO THE MUSEUM BY HIS MOTHER, PHYLLIS SMITH. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION WAS COLLECTED FROM ROBERT SMITH IN AN ORAL INTERVIEW CONDUCTED BY KEVIN MACLEAN ON 5 MARCH 2015. BEGINNING IN THE 1940S, THE SMITH FAMILY RESIDED AT 1254 7 AVENUE SOUTH. PHYLLIS REMAINED AT THE SAME ADDRESS UNTIL HER DEATH AT 104 YEARS OF AGE, ON SEPTEMBER 26, 2009. WHILE CLEANING UP HIS MOTHER’S HOUSE, THE DONOR CAME ACROSS SEVERAL BAGS MARKED ‘FOR MUSEUM’. THE ITEMS WERE USED COLLECTIVELY BY THE DONOR AS AN INFANT UNTIL THE AGE OF APPROXIMATELY 9 YEARS OLD. IN THE INTERVIEW, KEVIN ASKS IF ROBERT HE FELT HIS CHILDHOOD WAS IDYLLIC. ROBERT RESPONDS, SAYING: “I WAS BORN IN WARTIME STILL, AND MAYBE IT WASN’T IDYLLIC FOR MY PARENTS, BUT IT WAS FOR ME. AND THE NEIGHBOURHOODS WERE DIFFERENT THEN. YOU WERE JUST LET OUT THE DOOR AND YOU WENT OUT TO PLAY WITH THE NEIGHBOURHOOD KIDS AND THERE WERE NO CONCERNS THAT THE PARENTS HAVE TODAY. YES, A VERY HAPPY TIME, I WOULD SAY.” ROBERT WAS BORN IN OCTOBER 1940 TO PHYLLIS (NEE GROSS) AND ALLAN F. SMITH, AT ST. MICHAEL’S HOSPITAL. PHYLLIS WAS IN HARVEY, ND AND MOVED INITIALLY WITH HER FAMILY TO A FARM IN THE GRASSY LAKE AREA. SHE MOVED INTO LETHBRIDGE AND ATTENDED ST. BASIL’S SCHOOL IN THE 1910S. ALLAN WAS BORN IN ECHO BAY, ON. HE WAS OFFERED A JOB AT WESTERN GROCERS IN LETHBRIDGE AND MET PHYLLIS WHILE IN THE CITY. THEY WERE MARRIED ON SEPTEMBER 2, 1939. ROBERT IS AN ONLY CHILD AND SUFFERED FROM RHEUMATIC FEVER AS A CHILD. HE BELIEVES THIS MAY BE PART OF THE REASON HIS MOTHER SAVED THESE ITEMS. HE EXPLAINS, SAYING: “I’M AN ONLY CHILD AND THEY WOULD BE MORE MEANINGFUL AND I WENT THROUGH A CHILDHOOD ILLNESS. I HAD RHEUMATIC FEVER. I MIGHT NOT HAVE SURVIVED. SOME OTHER KIDS DIDN’T SURVIVE, BUT I DID.” HE ALSO DESCRIBES HIS MOTHER AS BEING “A SAVER OF THINGS. HAVING GONE THROUGH THE DEPRESSION … THEY SAVED LOTS OF STUFF … ANYTHING THEY THINK THEY MIGHT USE IN THE FUTURE WAS SAVED.” PHYLLIS WAS ALSO A MEMBER OF THE LETHBRIDGE HISTORICAL SOCIETY IN THE 1970S AND WORKED AT THE GALT MUSEUM AS PART OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY”. UPDATE: ON 26 OCTOBER 2017, DONOR ROBERT SMITH RESPONDED BY EMAIL TO AN ENQUIRY BY MUSEUM STAFF ON THIS OBJECT’S MANUFACTURE AND A PHOTO OF HIM WITH THE BEAR, SAYING THAT, “MY MOTHER DID KNIT AND SEW, AND HAD A TREADLE-TYPE SINGER SEWING MACHINE [AND] WHILE I CAN'T BE SURE, IT IS LIKELY THAT SHE MADE THE BEAR'S CLOTHES AND THE BABY BONNET.” IN ANOTHER EMAIL, THE FOLLOWING DAY (27 OCTOBER), HE ADDED, “THE BEAR WAS PROBABLY STORE BOUGHT, AND THE CLOTHES ADDED TO PERSONALIZE IT. [I] DON'T KNOW IF IT WAS A GIFT.” SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS AND COPIES OF LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLES.

Catalogue Number

P20150013003

Acquisition Date

2015-03

Collection

Museum

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