# Teddy bears for adults **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 3, 2009, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teddy-bears-for-adults/484326 "2009-02-03T23:00:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teddy-bears-for-adults/484326/41 "2009-02-05T19:24:56Z")
I recently copyedited a book that included extensive mention of the artisan bear world. I’m not a teddy bear freak by any means, but I’ve done the art fair circuit with my jewelry, so I can appreciate fine craft. Apparently people do whole series of bears on themes: magical bears, farm bears, cowboy bears, military bears, etc. Some even make custom bears based on whatever theme the customer requests. So even though I’m not into teddy bears or the typical “Kountry Kute” Boyd’s Bears type of stuff, I thought [the Ice King](http://www.marthasbears.com/Iceking.html) (scroll down) was kind of cool. I would never have imagined a mohair teddy bear. So I think we can at least draw a distinction between some mass-produced, made-in-China bear from Kmart holding a big satin heart that says “I WUV YOU” and a one-of-a-kind work of art. * * * I also keep a Raggedy Ann doll in a child-sized chair in my living room. The chair is for child-sized guests; they all love it. They are also welcome to play (nicely) with Raggedy Ann if they wish. My mother made Raggy for me (and a matching doll for my sister) when we were kids. My sister was still at the right age for dolls, but I was a bit too old; nevertheless, I appreciate all the love and hard work that my mom put into Raggy, so I like to keep her out as a reminder. On the other hand, for a while during my college years and beyond, my mom was into giving me a big, soft, fuzzy Christmas bear with the year on its foot every Christmas. (Don’t ask me why.) After the collection got ridiculously large, I steamed the years off and donated the bears to charity. I figured some underprivileged kids would get a lot more out of them than I did. By then my mom’s bear-giving propensity had fizzled out. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2009, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teddy-bears-for-adults/484326/42 "2009-02-06T04:37:21Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > Well, I admit you don’t see it as “around the town” wear so much as “around the family” wear, or maybe my family is just weird, but I’ve seen friends parents with it. Either way, if it’s as widespread you’re making it sound it is a tad bizarre I suppose (especially with the American stereotype of Southeast Asians in general being a tad… staunch in mind). > [@dangermom](#): > > I would think it was pretty weird if any of my mommy friends showed up with a Snoopy shirt on, unless it was like a pair of fleece jammy pants or something to wear at home. (That said, I have a Max and Ruby t-shirt, but it says “Read to your bunny” on it–I sort of collect literacy shirts, though I only wear them with sweats around the house.) Snoopy’s probably not a good example, because Snoopy is cool. That could be along the lines of wearing, say, a Betty Boop T-shirt. But Winnie the Pooh and Tigger and the like I categorize in my mind as children’s wear. And it’s not just T-shirts. It’s regular blouses, too, and ladies here will sometimes even carry purses bearing their likenesses. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2009, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teddy-bears-for-adults/484326/43 "2009-02-06T05:09:21Z")
I too have a small, select collection of bears, most of which have some cuteness-related redeeming quality. I don’t really display them, but they are around. Cheesy cheap dime-store bears need not apply…a bear has to have a personality. Two weeks ago I got a package from the man I am seeing. In it was a bear that sings Wild Thing and wiggles its ears. It makes me laugh more than anything else, and brightened my day so much. I haven’t gotten a Valentine’s gift in nearly twenty years, and to get one so silly and cute and early was very overwhelming. I’m trying not to read anything into the words it sings, but it just makes me smile every time I see it, and if I weren’t already half in love this might have kicked me over the edge. I don’t think of myself as a stuffed animal person, but as I look around the room, I’m beginning to wonder. There’s a pink bunny rabbit displayed inside the Invisible Head (the brain is on another shelf) and my daughter’s Snoopy is sitting on top of the dresser. Some sort of small bear is stuffed into the bookshelf head first, and next to my CD player is a stuffed dog that holds the case for whatever CD is playing. The stuffed dog that my brother, sister, and I all slept with through our babyhoods is on a shelf above my nightstand, and another bear is stuffed into the knitting basket awaiting a sweater. A tiny little snowman bear is sitting on a sled on another bookshelf (why, yes, the Christmas stuff is still up) and a stuffed moose sits on the metal stand that I used as a Christmas tree this year, next to the stuffed snowman. And a stuffed bunny that vibrates when you pull its fluffy tail-on-a-string sits next to the monitor. Oh, and there is a stuffed ant in the cat basket…one cat is very attached to it and likes to carry it around like a kitten. So maybe I attract stuffed animals the same way I attract stray cats… ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2009, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teddy-bears-for-adults/484326/44 "2009-02-06T07:06:24Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Snoopy’s probably not a good example, because Snoopy is cool. That could be along the lines of wearing, say, a Betty Boop T-shirt. But Winnie the Pooh and Tigger and the like I categorize in my mind as children’s wear. And it’s not just T-shirts. It’s regular blouses, too, and ladies here will sometimes even carry purses bearing their likenesses. Well, here in CA I would consider that very strange in another mom. ---
**Author:** ![CallMeKate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3d9bf3/32.png) [@CallMeKate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CallMeKate)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2009, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teddy-bears-for-adults/484326/45 "2009-02-09T23:12:43Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > My parents got a little army man in a box of cereal once and now take turns hiding it on one another in places in the house where they know the other will be amused. That is fantastic! Something a little eccentric and specific to them… So cute. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2009, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teddy-bears-for-adults/484326/46 "2009-02-09T23:50:35Z")
Teddy Babes for Adults… [http://teddybabestore.com/](http://teddybabestore.com/) (Once past the first page, there are stuffed dolls, and some are naked.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teddy-bears-for-adults/484326.md?page=2)