Picnic Where A Bear's A Necessity
Sydney Morning Herald
Monday November 26, 1990
There were teddy bears of all colours and sizes - pink, white, yellow, brown, big and small - and they came from all over Sydney for the 11th Annual Sun-Herald Teddy Bears Picnic.
They perched on people's hats, poked their heads out of prams and picnic hampers, and sunned themselves on the grass.
There were competitions for the happiest, saddest, most loved and best-dressed teddies, plus games such as pin-the-tail-on-the-bear.
Among the tens of thousands of at the picnic in Wentworth Park was seven-month-old Bryana Calthorpe, from Matraville.
"She loves her teddy," said her father, Peter. "It was one of the first things we bought her before she was born. She sleeps with it, and she's a very happy baby."
Joshua Kumar was celebrating his second birthday yesterday with a teddy suit made for the occasion.
His mother, Mrs Maria Kumar, said: "He loves teddy bears and Humphrey B.Bear. He likes to talk to them, and has always had plenty of them."
There was a lucky draw with 500 teddy bears to be given away and a trip to Disneyland as first prize.
Many children without teddies were given them by organisers.
Mr Peter Jones, 21, of West Pennant Hills, who had a bear clipped to his hat with the slogan "You're Special", said: "I'm amazed by the number of different types of teddies. I used to have one, but it is a bit battle-worn now. It is poked away in a garage somewhere."
Organisers expected to raise more than $10,000 for the Camperdown Children's Hospital.
"One important aim of the day is to make the kids have a friendly feeling towards the hospital, so that if they ever have to go there they don't get frightened by it," said Kate Gallagher from the Rotaract Club, which supplied 400 volunteers for the day.
The event was also sponsored for the first time by Arnott's, of biscuit-making fame.
The teddy bear craze began early this century at roughly the same time in America and Germany.
In 1902, US President Theodore Roosevelt, was hunting bear when he decided to save a orphaned black bear cub. Cartoonists recorded the event and toy manufacturers began making small bears, which proved an instant success.
At the same time in Germany the Steiff company was manufacturing small bears, selling more than a million a year by 1907.
Although several Australian manufacturers of teddy bears went broke in the'50s due to cheap imports, there are now a number of craft people making them
© 1990 Sydney Morning Herald
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