Terry's

Skip down to Terry's Bears or Terry's Bear Identification

Company History

Date	Event
*1890*	William J Terry, a skin merchant, was established in Stoke Newington, North London producing soft fur toys
*1909*	A new factory was opened in Middleton Road, Hackney, London
*1912*	The first mohair teddy bear was produced
*1913*	The company moved to Lavender Grove, Hackney, London
*1915*	The company prospered and the factory was extended
*1920*	Kapok first used to fill the teddy bears under the trademark "Ahsolight"
*1924*	On 3rd February William Terry died. His son, Frederick, continued running the business
1930's	The company was severely impacted by the depression and closed prior to World War II

Terry's Bears

Terry's were best known for the production of a toy dog, based on King Edward VII's dog Caesar - it was the success of that toy dog which enabled the company to expand in 1909. The company logo was a terrier dog based on Caesar and toys were marketed as "Terry'er Toys".

Terry's produced teddy bears for a relatively short period of time (1912 to the late 1930's). Surviving Terry's bears are quite rare and are highly sought after by collectors.

Terry's bear circa 1915

Terry's Bear Identification

Terry's bears are sometimes confused with Farnell bears with both using large glass eyes with painted backs and webbed claws. Characteristics of Terry's bears are:-

A triangular head and pronounced shaved muzzle; quite a long, straight body.
Nose: with either vertical stitching, often with downward extended outer stitch OR horizontal stitches on the top of the muzzle
Eyes: clear eyes with brown painted back, noticeably large black pupils
Ears: large cupped ears positioned high, on the corner of the head
Feet: large feet with thick card inserts and cotton or felt pads
Filling: woodwool was used throughout until 1920. Kapok was used in the limbs and body from 1920
Some larger bears have webbed claw stitching
Originally bears carried a swing tag but most were lost or removed

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