THE TEDDY BEAR MUSEUM OF NAPLES, FLORIDA!Hundreds of bears live in the woods of Pine Ridge Road, just east of Airport-Pulling.But you’ll never hear them. Or smell them. Article Headings:
by Marlene Graham | |
Teddy Bear Museum of Naples | |
| Despite their often boorish, rough-and-tumble ways, these bears share a quiet, orderly existence inside an irregularly shaped structure framed by bearish sculptures. Some were born to live here; for others, it is the adoptive home to which they were relegated after outlasting a life of love elsewhere. Now I must admit that when I first heard about the Teddy Bear Museum of Naples years back, I scoffed. Pleeease. Obviously they’re nice and cute and very symbolic, but c’mon – a whole building dedicated to a stuffed animal? But, you know -- after taking the time to visit, I completely understand. Teddy bears say something warm and fuzzy about humanity. The day we picked to see the museum was perfect; an inside sanctuary on a cold January day. And unlike their hibernating counterparts, these resident bears were largely occupied. As the six of us – my parents, my husband, Craig, and our two children, Courtney and Collier – fanned out to explore what we expected to be not much more than a glorified toy store, we each quickly found ourselves trying to redirect the others with shouts of “Oh, come here. You’ve just got to see this one,” and a general response of: “Just a minute. I’m looking at something,” or “Come here first.” In freeze-frame fashion, all colors, ages, and sizes of bears were doing everything from sledding and cooking outdoors, to marching in a small town parade. A mama teddy proudly pushed forward a sheet of freshly baked chocolate bear cookies; while a different bear family gathered ‘round for Thanksgiving dinner. There was a mermaid bear; a bear rowing a boat; a bear traveling with a passport; a his-and-her bear taking their wedding vows before a congregation of bears; even a young, attractive female bear standing in her bathroom dressed in a teddy. (Please! Can’t a girl have some privacy!) Though some were specifically purchased for the museum, adding onto the initial collection of founder Frances Pew Hayes (whose collection began with an M&M bear given to her in 1985 by a grandchild), many more of these bears have come here by donation accompanied by touching, often tearful, tales. There was the 87-year-old gentleman who called curator George B. “Brownie” Black wanting to know if he might make a “bear” donation. When told that would be fine, he proceeded to explain that he was going into the hospital and doubted he would ever check back out. “He asked if the teddies had to be in good shape, and I said that no because we’d never received a teddy we couldn’t do something with,” Brownie said. “Well, he nearly made a liar out of me.” As Brownie talked, he pointed toward the 1907 bear named “Saucy Boy,” the surface of which, oddly enough, looked much like the inside banding of a golf ball, one foot attached by only a thread of fabric. It would have been dangling, in fact, except that this mummy-like, once mohair bear was so very fragile that “the only thing we could do was lay it in state,” Brownie says with a chuckle. Brownie didn’t know if the bear’s former owner survived the ordeal, but I couldn’t help but ponder this thought: Imagine you were facing your last days on earth. What would be on that final checklist? Your teddy? Such heart was hard to imagine. I glanced now at my son Collier wandering about from display to display clutching “Jon,” the light blue teddy that had traveled the 50 states with us twice. Jon began his journeys as a no-name teddy, acquiring his fairly common moniker from a fellow whom we came to know in Harlan, Iowa. Though Collier was only three at the time, the kindness and respect this fellow had shown him prompted the naming, ensuring Jon’s place in the family. So would Jon always be special to Collier? Would Collier someday -- many decades from today – be concerned for Jon’s future? No matter how unbearlike he might eventually become? The latter certainly seemed plausible as unbearlike entries claimed their spots within the museum. Some had obviously achieved such status from years of love; others because of artistic license -- the creations of donor artists. For example, one scrawny entry from Edmonton, Alberta, sported a tiny pointed aluminum foil hat, and looked suspiciously like ‘Tigger’ or the ‘Pink Panther.’ Take your pick. And then there were the more realistic out-of-country creations such as the hand-sized bear sitting atop a eucalyptus leaf; and another riding an ostrich -- representing Australia and South Africa, respectively. Photos on some relic bears show the owners, often as children; but the more I wandered, the more I craved the stories, wishing for write-ups. Brownie pointed out, for example, a teddy that endured scarlet fever with its child. Despite that day’s conventional wisdom of throwing away all exposed toys, the child’s mother put the favored teddy into the oven, essentially cooking it for several days to provide sterilization. Brownie also told me about “Patricia’s Teddy,” donated to the museum by a Naples doctor and his wife in remembrance of their daughter who, as a young adult, died of juvenile diabetes. This favorite bear of hers was just over two inches tall and, as a youngster, Patricia was so afraid she would lose it that she always carried it around carefully cupped within her hands. Then there was “Frances Bode’s Bear.” Though the museum doesn’t take temporary loans, they did make an exception when the owner confided that she talked to the bear each day, and wasn’t sure she could handle the separation. Following a two-week test period, however, the donor decided that everything would be okay -- requesting only that the bear’s right ear be repaired prior to display. She didn’t want to be accused of “bear abuse.” Humanizing the bears as Brownie is prone to do, he explained that the risks of such an operation should seriously be considered; besides -- judging from the scar tissue -- the injury was clearly not new and teddy had undoubtedly adjusted to being hard of hearing. As a compromise, you’ll now find the bear on display wearing a tiny stocking cap cocked to one side covering the missing ear. However, should YOUR bear be a bit frayed, there IS a bear mending program at the museum, as well as a bear-making class, and a gift shop. In addition, the museum is available to businesses and organizations for after-hours receptions; and there are always events. Meanwhile, the literary-minded will not only find such famous residents as Winnie the Pooh and Corduroy; but a Saturday morning story hour and a li-beary! And, of course, something we can probably all use – a HUG Club! Marlene is a long-time travel writer with such credits as the Ladies Home Journal; and the author of the book “Headfirst Into America” about her family’s year-long 50-state adventures as documented on CNN, Oprah and the TODAY show. | |
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