Alright I admit it!  I'm guilty!  I horde old magazines!  I keep teddy bear magazines and cat magazines (my two passions) - for years and years.  As a matter of fact, I found a box of them all the way back to 1993 just last weekend as I was chasing spiders in a long abandoned basement closet.  When I came across this particular box of old magazines, I decided it would be fun to take a short walk down memory lane and thumb through a few of them before I threw them away.  At least I think I can throw them away ... I'm not sure, but I think I can!  Anyway, a convenient excuse not to throw them away (at least not right now) is to share some of the things I found as I browsed  - with you, my teddy bear artist and collector readers.

The first thing that struck me was how simple the bears seemed to be back then.  The art of making bears has evolved so much in 14 years, it's really quite amazing!  The bears in 1993 were more basic in design and fabric with very few accessories or just very simple costumes.   I have a lot of respect for the new artists out there now and do admire much of their work; however, my personal tastes run to the more basic bear and traditional design.  It was nice to remember bears as they were then...when they were just "bears" and not yet "works of art."  As beautiful as some of the pieces are now, I feel for the most part that they have lost their innocence and have become more like dolls than bears. 

TOBY design nominees in 1993 included the following:  (Some of these artists are still around, some are not)

Joyce Ann Haughey/Bearcraft for a Nutcracker bear
Sue and Randall Foskey/Nostalgic Bears for their bear Willie B. with a tail mechanism that moved its head
Joan Woessner/Bear Elegance for her jester bear
Beverly White/Happy Tymes Collectables for her vignette Laurel and Hardy (very cool)
Oliver Holmes/Merrythought Ltd. for their Titanic Bear
Durae Allen/Lil Honeys for her Teddy Bear Picnic bear. 

Shows in 1993:  Pat Moore and Linda Mullins were advertising shows (in fact, Linda was celebrating here 25th show in 1993!).  There were other show promoters advertising but none that I recognized other than Pat and Linda.  There were a total of 34 shows listed on the show calendar for just January and February!

Well, enough for now.  I think I've found a goldmine of information.  I'll begin dissecting some issues and distill some of the information that I think you'll find interesting into a future blog article.  Anyway, today is the Fourth of July (Happy Birthday America!) and I need to spend some time celebrating our great heritage with family and friends.  Hope you are doing the same.  Have a safe and wonderful holiday!