Paddington Bear turns 50

I have fond memories of a childhood far away in time and space (in England, in the 1960's) awaiting the next Puffin edition of the "Paddington Bear" book for a Christmas or birthday present. In those days they did not sell the endless paraphernalia that now seems obligatory to provide with the latest Ben Ten or Pikachou story, it was just the book, exciting in its own right. Of course now in the noughties we can purchase a myriad of Paddington items apart from the book. The first of the comercialisation of Paddington was in 1965 when Paddington appeared on the BBC radio show "Childrens Hour". On the 25th of June this year Paddington turned 50. If you are interested in Paddington Bear then check this out. Paddington is actually based on a real bear that lives in Peru (darkest or otherwise), known as a spectacled bear. David Attnborough had a show on these bears (as well as many others) last Monday night.

Paddington Bear was brought to life by author Michael Bond, but it was none other that Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson’s mother, Shirley, who would bring fame and fortune to the polite immigrant bear from Darkest Peru.

Shirley, 73, made her name as the founder of Gabrielle Designs, a tiny spare room business that started by selling tea cosies in Doncaster and grew into an international business shipping Paddington Bears all over the world.

What initially began with Shirley creating teddies (from the illustrations by Peggy Fortnum) for her children soon escalated into a million pound business. However, things didn’t always run smoothly for Shirley and husband Eddie.

Without being credited as the creator of Paddington, there was the small issue of copyright infringement. However, this which was easily resolved in a meeting with Michael Bond himself, as Shirley reveals: "Michael opened the proceedings by saying that he wanted to make it clear that he had no intention of stopping us making Paddington; it was indeed the finest bear he had ever seen, he loved the whole concept.”

Mondo