Soft toy, Paddington Bear, made in England by Gabrielle Designs in 1977

Unjointed Paddington Bear of cream nylon plush dressed in a navy blue felt duffel coat, a floppy pale blue felt hat and red Wellington boots with cream soles. There is a printed paper luggage label attached to one of the three wooden duffel coat toggles. The orange coloured eyes and black nose are plastic. Accompanying the bear are a set of pyjamas, consisting of a cotton flannelette top and trousers in a floral design.

Given by Helen Franklin

This Paddington bear was a present for a young girl named Helen in the late 1970s, along with an Aunt Lucy bear [B.54-2017]. Helen remembers occasionally wearing the wellington boots.

Paddington's set of floral, flannelette pyjamas was introduced by Gabrielle Designs in 1977 and sold separately to the bears. They recreated those worn by Paddington in the 1976 television series.

Gabrielle Designs produced a range of Paddington bears with the coat, hat and boots made in various colourways; this particular bear would originally have worn a safety pin in his hat and had four buttons on his coat.

The following paragraph is edited text from two websites, (see references).

The company who made this bear, Gabrielle Designs, was started by Shirley Clarkson from her home in Doncaster, England. As a gift for her children Shirley would lovingly craft that year's toy of choice and having recently read and loved Michael Bond's new book about a 'delightful little bear called Paddington', with illustrations by Peggy Fortnum, she created a Paddington bear from studying Fortnum's original drawings. Shirley knew after she'd made the first bear it was going to be a Gabrielle product and after some negotiations with lawyers representing Michael Bond, Gabrielle Designs was granted the first licence to manufacture a Paddington Bear soft toy. Michael Bond was very taken by the bear, and so Gabrielle Designs Paddington products were born. Michael formed a lasting friendship with the Clarksons, and actually wrote about Paddington's acquisition of his wellington boots in his next book to suit the design strategy. Well, Paddington needed wellington boots to stand up on the shelves and in displays didn't he?

Paddington Bear is one of the most famous bears in literature. He first appeared in print in 1958 in a children's book, 'A Bear Called Paddington', written by Michael Bond.

This Paddington soft toy is an original Gabrielle Design, made in 1977. Gabrielle Designs were the first company to produce licensed Paddington soft toys in 1972 and they were responsible for giving Paddington his boots, which initially were children's wellingtons made by Dunlop. Michael Bond then added boots to his Paddington character in subsequent books.

Bond, who based the character on a teddy bear he found in a shop near Paddington station, went on to write many books about the adventures of this polite and charming bear who loved marmalade sandwiches and who was eternally optimistic despite his frequent mishaps. The bear's popularity increased with his appearance on television in the 1970s and 1980s and he remains just as popular with the current generation of children following the release of two Paddington films, in 2014 and 2017. The character is now firmly established as a childhood classic.

B.53:1 to 7-2017