My toy bear necessities
QUESTION Gyles Brandreth described the German Steiff as the Rolls-Royce of teddy bear makers. Shouldn’t that accolade go to Britain’s Dean’s bears?
Dean’s Bear Company began life as the Dean’s Rag Book Company founded in 1903 by Henry samuel Dean. It was a subsidiary of Dean & son Ltd, a publishing firm that was one of the first to print children’s books.
Rag books were created for ‘ children who wear their food and eat their clothes’. These colourful children’s books were printed on cotton, which was hygienic, safe and washable, rather than paper. The company trademark depicted two dogs fighting over a rag book.
The initial concept was to teach the alphabet, with the first book being The Life Of a Bold aB On His ship In The High C. This was followed by classic stories such as Perrault’s Fairy Tales. a Dean’s rag book had lots of illustrations, emphasising that learning should be a pleasure rather than a chore.
In 1908 came a patented cloth teddy bear as part of the Knockabout Toys series. The bear had to be cut out from a printed sheet and assembled at home.
In 1915, the company produced its first mohair teddy bear, making it the oldest British manufacturer of these toys. Launched under the Kuddlemee brand name, he had pointed ears and jointed limbs. steiff had produced its first teddy bear in 1902 and so is perhaps the Mercedes-Benz of the teddy world.
Trading under various names such as Dean’s Childsplay Toys Ltd and Dean’s/ Gwentoy Group, the firm has produced a number of beautiful bears. The most sought-after are designs by the renowned teddy bear artist Jill Baxter. each Dean’s bear is a limited edition, handmade and individually jointed.
Dean’s Bears launched its final centenary collection in 2003. sadly, it no longer makes its toys in Britain and instead concentrates on the collectors’ market.
I started my collection in 2001 when my husband asked me to marry him by presenting me with Hopeful bear because he hoped my answer would be ‘Yes’. I have a collection of 30 Dean’s bears plus club memorabilia.
The bears differ greatly in value depending on the designer, the number made and whether or not you have the original box and brochure. Fortunately, I do.
Patsy Paws cost £600 in 2001, Hopeful was £500 and specky £450, but for me their value can’t be measured in monetary terms. I was once asked to name my price by an american who wanted to buy Hopeful for his wife. I told him that as a true arctophile (teddy bear collector), my bears are priceless.
I also have a steiff bear, Malcolm. He has his own passport and travels with me.
Kathryn Jeggo, Kelbrook, Lancs.
QUESTION What is taught about the Korean War in Chinese schools?
THe Korean War, which lasted from 1950 to 1953, is sometimes called the Forgotten War in the West because it has been overshadowed in popular memory by World War II, televised images of the Vietnam War and conflicts in the Middle east.
It’s perceived differently in China. It was the first military operation launched by the Communist government after the foundation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.
The Chinese believe they defended themselves and north Korea against imperialist aggressors, a sentiment stressed in its official name: The War to Resist america and aid Korea.
President Xi Jinping’s speech marking the 60th anniversary of the Korean War stated: ‘The Chinese people sent our volunteer troops to resist america because we were driven beyond the limits of forbearance. It was a righteous act carried out only to safeguard the peace and resist invasion.’
One class textbook has: ‘The Chinese People’s Volunteer Troops were known as “most beloved persons” thanks to their selfless patriotism and revolutionary heroism in the war against the United states to aid north Korea.
‘The undaunted fights by the Chinese People’s Volunteers and the north Korean army and civilians led to an armistice signed by the United states in July 1953. The Chinese and north Korean people celebrated their victory in their war against aggressors.’
Jan Webb, Warwick.
QUESTION What part of the human body is the least understood?
THe brain is by far the least understood organ. We don’t know how the brain of a worm works, let alone that of a human. The brain of the roundworm,
Caenorhabditis elegans, has been painstakingly mapped and described. It has just 302 neurones with 7,000 connections, yet we don’t fully understand how they work together to give rise to the worm’s functions and behaviours.
Contrast that with the human brain, with 100 billion neurones and 100 trillion connections, and you begin to see the size of the problem.
a few of the key unanswered questions surrounding brain function include: How do we perceive pain? Why do we sleep and dream? How are memories stored and retrieved? How are/can emotions be regulated? What is intelligence? How is time represented in the brain? How does the brain change in disease?
The more we discover about the brain the more problems it throws up. Recent discoveries include the fact that the brain has magnetic properties; may contain bacteria; a virus may have been responsible for human consciousness; there is a direct anatomical link with the gut; and that some coma patients may have a ‘hidden consciousness’.
Dr Ian Smith, Cambridge.
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