Saturday, December 9, 2023

P. S. The Color of Bears

Having said in this morning’s post that white, pastel, & caramel stuffed toy bears far outnumber brown and black toy bears, I decided to do a count of the bears in my Toys section today. I’d say this collection is average.

BEAR COUNT:

13 white, pastel, or caramel; 

4 brown or black.

(6 white, 2 black) 

___________

UPDATE: Good statisticians, of which I am not one, always factor in all possible factors (and never leap to conclusions). 

Emmler came and helped me at work this afternoon—so nice—and afterwards we went to her place so she could cut my hair. I’d showed her the bears lined up by color at work, and she’d  said, “Let’s dye the white ones!” which was also Julia-Happify’s response. 

At Em’s house I showed the bear photo to her boyfriend, and he said, “you’re a thrift store—maybe you get more white bears because people give those ones away more.”

Neat! I’d never thought of that! Lots of reasons people might give away more white bears, starting with the dirtiness factor.

I looked on Amazon, and at a quick glance I’d say pastel and honey-colored bears predominate, and the vibe I get from them is not of race but of the babyfication of nature. “It’s cute!”

Another friend raised the question of the difference between bears and dolls, which is also interesting.

Anyway, I’m excited to try dyeing them—Julia uses natural dyes like turmeric and black walnut. I used to restore stuffed thrift bears, now I will try rewilding them.

 

Above: Another Emmler look-alike. The teapot face wearing a cap lid was an Xmas present from me.

2 comments:

  1. Erik left bed white bears, they did not stay white for very long..anther color would be smart. There is a tv program here , the toy hospital,mostly mending cheaply made 80’s and 90’s toys which are tricky because of cheap materials. They do have successes. A better program is The Repair Shop. It is genius, mending all sorts by the finest most skilled artisans in the land. Patience is a virtue…their work is mind boggling , so many good tips on how to improve objects that bring joy.

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  2. LINDA SUE: LOL--that's it: they do not stay white very long. :)

    TOY HOSPITAL! It's true, the cheap materials are hard to repair---the 100 year old mohair bears are a cinch compared to the pull-apart crap.
    It will be a challenge to dye the non-natural fibers, but it will be fun!
    "improve objects that bring joy"--yes!!!

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