The Bottom Line
This is really an interesting book to read and have. It's fun to take a look at the old advertisements and cartoons of toys and bears. Mullins touches on the bear history before the Roosevelt era.
Pros
- Covers a Little Bit of Everything
- Excellent Chapter on Restoration
- Old Illustrations and Advertisements
Cons
- Covers a Little Bit of Everything!
- Lots of the photographs are in black & white
Description
- Excellent photographs and vintage advertisements.
- A large portion of the book is devoted to the early bears and their history.
- American Manufacturers are given the spotlight in one chapter with a bit of background and photos.
- Advertising Bears, Smokey and Bear Figurines are all given their due in separate chapters.
- Teddy Bear Restoration Chapter is excellent for those brave enough to tackle such a project!
- Published by Hobby House Press.
Guide Review - American Teddy Bear Encyclopedia
As noted above, the "Covers a Little Bit of Everything" is both a pro and a con. This is a terrific book to get an overview of the teddy bear in America until 1995 -- date of publication. It can also help you discover just what way you would like your collecting to proceed. Old vintage bears or perhaps one of the manufacturers will catch your eye.
But if you want a comprehensive history of a particular manufacturer or of a specific time period, this book is not the right one to get. Then again, there might not even be a specific book covering exactly what you want.
This book can also help you date an old bear, but it's not a price guide -- no estimates are given.
