Sunday, January 19, 2014

The Art of Play: Baby-Bär, 1935



Soft Toy
Germany, 1935
The Victoria & Albert Museum


Looky look! It’s Baby-Bär. Born in 1935—from the Germany Schuco Toy Company—this little bear of mohair has an internal mechanism which is operated by his tail. Moving the tail side to side makes the bear shake his head. Moving the tail up and down makes him nod his head. Therefore, Baby-Bär is one of Schuco’s famous “Yes/No” toys—all of whom could indicate the affirmative or negative when their tails were manipulated. To make sure that the Baby-Bär looked like a baby, he was given an open mouth and wide, googly eyes.

This bear is in perfect condition because he was a shop, stock bear. He was used for display and never sold. He still has his original card and ribbon and has utterly no wear whatsoever. Though he had no one to love him, it kept him in perfect condition for all these decades.



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