"The Steiff Historische Schwarz Bar"

The one who introduced me to Steiff Teddy Bears was my friend Petra Essers from the Netherlands.

Petra was an only child of a Dutch mother and and Indo-Dutch Father. She was born in 1952 in The Hague (Den Haag) and when she was a baby her father gave him a Steiff Teddy bear which she treasured very much. The father left the mother and married another woman. The bear was the only momento from her dad.

Petra passed away in 2004, totally alone with no family members around. When the mother died several years before, she had no relatives. She lived totally alone in this world. During her life she spent a lot of her money buying Steiff products in remembrance of her lost childhood. Petra's dad had never contacted Petra since she was 2 years old and yet he lived with his new family not far away from where she lived.

I bought this Steiff miniature bear in remembrance of Petra. Historic Steiff miniatures are smaller versions of their originals and hence they are real treasures, handmade in high quality mohair plush. This black bear which was a replica of Steiff miniature of 1907 came from New Jersey, the USA. I got this one from e-bay.

This black bear also reminds me of my own black mohair teddy bear which I got when I was a child. A pocket was hand sewn by me to be attached to this bear carrying a small book containing his identity as an original Steiff bear (029202 Schwazbar/Blackbear 1907 , 16cm). He also has a miniature metal tuba made in Spain by Latina Gift Musical Treasures.

The black bear was standing in front of the computer when the picture was taken. I only saw his picture before and now he is real, as if coming out of the screen. I put the picture of my mum and my grandma in the screen of my computer. They passed away already but the sweet memories never die.

Hand Knitted Bears from Peru

Today (June 27, 2006) I went to Town Hall and I saw these two interesting "Mother and Daughter Bears" at Oxfam shop. These two bears were hand knitted in Peru by artisans who work with MINKA to avoid exploitation by conventional traders.

Minka means mutual cooperation in the Quechua. By choosing this product you are helping Minka to provide the 4000 member families with a better income for their traditional handwork, skills training, basic health care, education opportunities and you also are contributing to save the coloured alpacas from extinction. These two bears were handspun by using 100% pure Alpaca fine hair.

The shop assistant today was Arin and I named the baby bear after her. Arin the bear and the mother now live happily with me.

A Toy from the Toyless Country

I found this on the corner of a shelf in St.Vincent de Paul Shop in Paddington. Some one must have brought this souvenir from Nepal. It looks like a toy for the children there but actually it is not. Things like these are only for the tourists.

Children in Nepal almost never play with toys. And yet research has shown that playing with toys is one of the important ways that children learn about the world. For instance, in one study in the United States showed that the most consistent predictor of IQ was availability of play materials. There are many more studies with similar conclusions. The results of this deficiency are often plain to see. Nepali children often manifest a lack of problem solving ability that comes from a tendency to not see the world as whole, interconnected, orderly, and consistent. We hope that by teaching Nepalis about the importance of toys, and by distributing them freely among the children, that we can help to reverse this trend. (Tiny Hands Nepal : http://www.tinyhandsnepal.com/dev.htm )

Lucy Stevenson's Doll

I bought this Panda (from an antique dealer) together with a camera, an old photo album and two pictures of the previous owner, a child called "Lucy". The black and white shot was taken by Lucy's mum using a Brownie Kodak. There was no date written but it was probably taken in 1960s. The family name Stevenson was written on the envelope where the pictures were kept.

Lucy was at that time 18 months old and at the back of one picture the mother wrote:

She is a big girl in high heels.

Just to show you how she is growing. She's bold as brass but really a little pet. You can see how she has lost her lolly legs.

Lucy was holding her Panda and she was wearing her mum's high heeled shoes! She was also carrying a Paddington Bear's tiny suitcase, what a beauty! The pictures were maybe sent to her grandparents but by now Lucy herself might be a grandmother.

The camera is a Kodak Brownie Six-20 Camera, Model E with Flash Contacts, made in England around 1950s.

The Chinese Papier Mache Dolls

From one collector I got three interesting items, two paintings on tiles done by an artist called Joyce Melling (she passed away several years ago) and a pair of Chinese papier mache dolls (a mother and her daughter, the baby girl is attached to the body of the mother).

The painting was done in water colour and you can see the resemblance of the two faces. The strong bond and love between a mother and her daughter is shown here.

It has been years since my mum passed away and now I am in a far away land called Australia but the sweet memories stay. Not a single day I live without the memory of her.

Paper was invented in China around 105 CE by T'sai-Lin, a courtier from Lei-Yang. Although the word 'paper' derived from 'papyrus', this early paper was not a papyrus product.

Antonio Bartolini's Aeroplane

This picture was taken by Antonio's grand father at Bondi Beach in 1950s. Antonio was shown here riding the back of his father Alberto. He imagined himself flying an aeroplane. He loved aeroplanes.

According to Italian tradition Antonio was named after the father's father because he was the first born son. His grandfather was very proud of him and he was given a handmade scrap metal plane. The Bartolinis migrated to Australia in 1950s.

Robert Steiner's Toy Train

The Steiners migrated to Australia from Germany in 1950s. When Robert was 8 years old he won the first prize of piano competition in his school. The year was 1958 and Robert Steiner was awarded a present from hid proud dad, it was this steam engine train.

The trains pictured here are from Java. While most steam engine trains nowadays can only be found in museums, steam engine trains like these are still being used up to the present around the sugar plantations in Central Java.

The Story of Mr.Rabbit's Vintage Pocket Watch

It happened that the 17th of May was Uni Annie's birthday. She is a good friend of mine and we decided to celebrate the birthday in the city. I asked her a bit about about her childhood memories. She told me that her father used to work for the Deli Railway in North Sumatra. The most valuable momento from her dad is a pocket watch.

Before we went for lunch we ventured ourselves to Rozelle Market and by coincidence we found this pocket watch with "Spoor Horloge" written on it. That was a Dutch expression which means " A Train Watch" therefore it will always show the correct time, the watch has to be wound up every single day. I bought the watch in memory of the father of uni Annie. She still keeps the original pocket watch belonging to her dad. Uni migrated to Australia in 1978 and she is married to an "Aussie". The pictures above are the last three locomotives from the Deli Railway in North Sumatra (operated by NIS/ Nederlanshe Indische Spoorweg) and were never renumbered. These locomotives were brought to Taman Mini Indonesia Indah in Jakarta around 1980s. They are still diplayed there.

Mr.Rabbit now is wearing the antique pocket watch (the brand is Anker) in the memory of Uni Annie's beloved father.

Mister Rabbit

"Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!" The rabbit said to itself. (Lewis Caroll - "Alice in Wonderland")


Almost every child is fascinated by the story of Alice in Wonderland written by Lewis Caroll. The story started when Alice followed a rabbit down the hole and fell into an unknown magic world.

"Down, down,down. Would the fall never come to an end? I wonder how many miles I've fallen this time" She said aloud. "I must be getting somewhere near the centre of the earth. I wonder if I shall fall right through the earth. How funny it'll seem to come out among the people that walk with their heads downwards, but I shall have to ask them what the name of the country, you know. Please Ma'am, is this New Zealand or Australia?"
This vintage rabbit soft toy was probably made in 1950s with glass eyes and now adorned with a vintage watch and the watch has a story of its own. I bought the rabbit and the watch at Rozelle Market together with a tiny silver tea pot suitable for "The Mad Hatters Tea Party"!

One of the earliest lessons may be that the world, while a big and strange place, can also be soft and inviting. Steward Goodboy, a professional woman in New York, knows this firsthand. Ms. Goodboy received a velveteen rabbit on her first birthday and still has it. "Having my stuffed animal for 24 years has been a great source of comfort for me,"she says. (Ross Atkin - Toy Stories)