Here's another jolly fellow, ready for the Christmas Countdown.
His fur is faux mohair, his joints are posable, and his knitted sweater—striped red, white and blue—is heavy enough to keep him toasty warm. His woolly twill shorts give him a schoolboy look.
When I opened my first shop, on Bleecker Street, I kept a 20 gallon pickle crock near the front door at Christmastime. I would fill it with dozens of teddy bears—a new one selected for each Holiday Season—starting with Thanksgiving weekend. Eventually, they would sell-out and I would spend the following year searching for the next Holiday Teddy, different and perfect. The bears proved to be the great "pick-up item"—a last minute add-on gift for a hostess or for the young child who might be at a gathering. And I am certain that many of those Teddys were purchased by people who intended to keep him for themselves.
Today, I have a website, not a front door. But I still acquire nice Teddys when I find them. I don't buy dozens anymore—and, sometimes, one year's bear will overlap with those from previous years. But I like having them in the mix. They are a reminder of my days on Bleecker and Hudson Streets—when a pickle crock of irresistible Teddys would stare-up at me all day long.
Click on the photo above to learn more about this handsome and winning fellow.
Though our Greenwich Village store is now permanently closed, LEO Design is still alive and well! Please visit our on-line store where we continue to sell Handsome Gifts (www.LEOdesignNYC.com).
We also can be found in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, at The Antique Center of Strabane (www.antiquecenterofstrabane.com).
Or call to arrange to visit our Pittsburgh showroom (by private appointment only). 917-446-4248