Teddy Bears’ Picnic at Whitehern
Families are invited to participate at this free outdoor event on Sunday, August 6 from 12pm to 2pm. On the window sill in the sitting room at Whitehern Historic House & Garden sits a wood case radio. From its speakers came the first transatlantic speech from King George the Fifth, broadcasts of the royal tour and music from Henry Hall’s Orchestra. Henry Hall’s most famous song was performed in 1932, it was a hit, and played throughout the British Empire. It’s called the Teddy Bears’ Picnic and its popularity continued throughout the decade. Surely, the McQuesten family heard the song playing in their peaceful stone mansion.
Surrounding the house is a garden, not just any garden, a sunken garden, landscaped with trees and shrubs from around the world! The perfect place for a picnic, but not just any picnic, a Teddy Bears’ Picnic! Once every year the Whitehern estate is taken over by bears! The teddies bring their owners to travel back to the time of the royal tour, silver screen, and wholesome outdoor games. There’s croquet, hoopla and bean bag toss just off the flagstone terrace. Teddy bears racing in potato sacks on the west lawn. Find Goldilocks and the three bears on the east lawn, story time is every 30 minutes. There’s a Teddy Bear hospital inside the garden house, lemonade and popcorn are served in The Stable along with 1930s films projected onto the large screen. At 2 o’clock, it is the parade! Teddy bears uniformly march in all their splendor around T.B.’s sunken garden, waving flags to Henry Hall’s famous song! The T.B. stands for Thomas Baker, but coincidentally it also stands for Teddy Bears.
In 1939 Whitehern was the residence of the Honourable T.B. McQuesten, Minister of Highways for the Province of Ontario. T.B.’s grandfather purchased the estate in 1852 with proceeds from his Iron Foundry, the first in Hamilton. The foundry was very profitable, and the mansion was filled with comforts and luxuries suitable for the elite of the mid-nineteenth century. The family lived in the home for three generations and as years passed, they made necessary updates. Today the mansion is a National Historic Site, but little has changed. Everything the family owned is still here and the year is still 1939! The year was a busy one, T.B. was completing Canada’s Premier Highway and the King and Queen were coming to visit Canada, for the first time! The timing was ideal; the Highway would be dedicated to the Queen and named in her honour.
For additional information, visit hamilton.ca/whitehern or call 905-546-2018. Please note that the event is best suited to children between the ages of three and seven, and regular admission rates apply to the museum.