John Kirby Farnell or J. K. Farnell was a London company which manufactured the first British

teddy bear A teddy bear is a stuffed toy in the form of a bear. Developed apparently simultaneously by toymakers Morris Michtom in the U.S. and Richard Steiff under his aunt Margarete Steiff's company in Germany in the early 20th century, the teddy b ...

in 1906.

Beginnings and endings

Founded in

Notting Hill Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a cosmopolitan and multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting Hill Carnival and Portobello Road Ma ...

, the firm was started in 1840 by a silk merchant, John Kirby Farnell, and made items such as pin cushions and tea cosies. After Farnell's death, his children, Henry and Agnes, continued the business from Acton in West London. They produced soft toys, moving from rabbit skin to mohair. Farnell rapidly became one of the leading teddy bear manufacturers, registering the Alpha trademark in 1925. "The Teddy Bear Encyclopedia" states that the Alpha Bear inspired the creation of

Winnie the Pooh Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear and Pooh, is a fictional Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. The first collection of stories about the character w ...

Christopher Robin Milne Christopher Robin Milne (21 August 1920 – 20 April 1996) was an English author and bookseller and the only child of author A. A. Milne. As a child, he was the basis of the character Christopher Robin in his father's Winnie-the-Pooh stories a ...

(son of the Winnie the Pooh books' author

A. A. Milne Alan Alexander Milne (; 18 January 1882 – 31 January 1956) was an English writer best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh, as well as for children's poetry. Milne was primarily a playwright before the huge success of Winni ...

and basis of the character

Christopher Robin Christopher Robin is a character created by A. A. Milne, based on his son Christopher Robin Milne. The character appears in the author's popular books of poetry and ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' stories, and has subsequently appeared in various Disney ...

) owned one of the Alpha Bears. The company premises were destroyed by fire in 1934 and by bombing in 1940. It finally ceased trading in the 1960s and the Farnell name was taken over by

Merrythought Merrythought is a toy manufacturing company established in 1930 in the United Kingdom. The company specialises in soft toys, especially teddy bears. Merrythought has handmade traditional teddy bears in the World Heritage Site of Ironbridge, Shr ...

in 1996.Teds & Dolls

Appearance

The first Farnell bears closely resembled their German Steiff counterparts, having pointed muzzles, long limbs, humpbacks and webbed toes. Early Farnell bears also had boot-button eyes which were replaced by painted glass ones. The soles were of felt and reinforced with cardboard.

References

External links

Lucky Bears Limited
Toy companies of the United Kingdom Teddy bears Toy brands Teddy bear manufacturers {{Toy-company-stub

Beginnings and endings

Appearance

References

Further reading

External links