Paddington and Michael Bond

DEBORAH CROMBIE:  On Christmas Eve in 1956, Thomas Michael Bond, a camera operator for the BBC, was on his way home from work when he spotted a stuffed bear in the window of Selfridge's department store. He thought the bear looked rather forlorn, so he bought him and took him home as a Christmas present for his wife, Brenda.

Ten days later, he'd completed a novel detailing the bear's adventures, which he sold to William Collins and Sons for 75 pounds. Bond lived in the Maida Vale area of London, near Paddington Station, so he called the small brown bear "Paddington." The original Paddington arrived in London from darkest Peru with a small leather suitcase, a tag reading, "Please look after this bear. Thank you," and wearing only a "dirty-colored" hat. It was Mr. and Mrs. Brown, of 32 Windsor Gardens, Notting Hill, who first bought Paddington his distinctive blue duffel coat.

Paddington, the disaster-prone, lovable bear with the predilection for marmalade sandwiches, did not become a hit in the U.S. until the 70s, when the animated series based on the character began appearing on PBS.

Having been brought up on Winnie the Pooh (I still have my 1950s first editions!) you can imagine that Paddington holds a special place in my heart. My daughter grew up on Paddington stories, and for many years, the first thing I did when arriving in London through Paddington Station was visit the Paddington Bear kiosk in the main floor of the terminus. But the Paddington kiosk has now been moved upstairs and is a proper shop--good for merchandising but less welcoming for visitors arriving at Paddington!

Paddington has had many changes of costume over the years, depending on the illustrator and the company making the stuffed toys. Nowadays, Paddington is usually portrayed wearing a red hat, a blue duffel coat, and red Wellington boots. My daughter's Paddington had a yellow rain hat. Mine, bought quite a few years ago (an anniversary--although I'm not now sure now which one--special) has Paddington in his original "dirty-colored" hat. My Paddington has place of honor on the chaise in my office, which I'm sure he quite appreciates. And, so far, anyway, he's managed to stay out of trouble!

I adore the 2014 movie, PADDINGTON, with himself voiced by the marvelous British actor, Ben Wishaw, and starring Downton Abbey's Hugh Bonneville as Mr. Brown. If you are a Paddington fan and have not seen it, watch it now. If you don't know or care anything about Paddington, watch it anyway, and I promise you will be smitten.

Sadly, Michael Bond died on June 27th. He was 91, so had a good long life, and left a legacy that will live beyond him. Still... such a loss.

Reading this quote, however, made me regret his passing even more. Born in 1926, Michael Bond was much affected by the plight of evacuated children during WWII. In an interview with the Guardian in 2014, he said, “They all had a label round their neck with their name and address on and a little case or package containing all their treasured possessions. So Paddington, in a sense, was a refugee, and I do think that there’s no sadder sight than refugees.”

Here's Paddington, in Paddington Station, immortalized in bronze by artist Marcus Cornish, and I will have to pay special respects when I'm there in September.

REDS and readers, what childhood literary character holds a special place for you?

 

Debs's London To-Do List

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I'm off to London next Thursday for a three and a half week stay, and I've been so busy the last few weeks (month...) that I've hardly had time to think about what I'm going to do once I get there (other than work...) So I thought I would ramp up my pre-trip anticipation by making a little things-to-look-forward-to list.

And then I realized that not only do most of my much anticipated to-dos include food or drink, or food AND drink, they are also probably a bit weird and very eccentrically personal.

But here goes:

1) I arrive early on Friday morning. For years I flew into Gatwick, so the very first thing on my list was to hit the airport bookshops. If you've never flown into London Gatwick, it's a sort of cross between an airport and a shopping mall, so once you've cleared customs and immigration, you could spend the day shopping before you ever left the airport. I could never wait to see what was on the bookstore shelves that I hadn't seen in the US.  Now, alas, I fly into Heathrow Terminal 3, which is not nearly as much fun. I have to content myself with arriving at Paddington Station via the Heathrow Express, and there I make my first pilgrimage, a visit to the Paddington Bear stall. Now I know I'm really in London.

2) Then, a taxi to my rented flat, one of two this trip. The first flat is in South Kensington, so fingers crossed for a pretty day, and a drive through Hyde Park. Bliss. Arrive at flat (a new one for me), unpack, find the nearest supermarket, buy essentials, which always include a box of Twining's Lady Gray Tea (the English version tastes different than the one you get in the US, I don't know why) and a copy of the Radio Times. The Radio Times is an iconic British thing for me. It's a bit like the American TV Guide, but GOOD. Great photos, fun articles, and of course, the week's TV and radio schedule. I know we get British TV is the US, but we don't get the funky things, the real-life cop shows, the documentaries and gardening specials and game shows, all irresistible stuff. I am so nerdy that I highlight things I want to watch. Then a nap, and dinner somewhere comforting and familiar.

3) Saturday morning, the London MUST DO--Portobello Market. (Again, fingers crossed for a pretty day, although I have done Portobello in sleet and snow.) I am a browser, not a shopper. I make my way down the hill, checking out my favorite antique stalls and shops, stopping for coffee and a croissant at Mr. Christian's deli in Elgin Crescent, admiring the fruit and veg and flower stalls, the giant simmering vats of paella, taking in the aroma of crepes and sizzling sausages, listening to the music from the buskers and the CD stalls. Then, the lunch destination, a tiny place at the very bottom of the market, Falafel King. (The photo above is me at Falafel King a couple of years ago, on a gorgeous sunny day.)

It is, I have no doubt, the best falafel in London. You can't sit inside, but there are a few tables outside where you can enjoy your falafel and fresh lemonade and watch the swirl of the crowds. I can spend the rest of the afternoon working my way back up the hill, and on a very good day my favorite buskers will be playing outside the Duke of Wellington pub, and I can listen while sipping a well-earned G&T.

And from there, oh, London is my oyster. 

I want to watch the scullers from Putney Bridge, and have Sunday lunch at The Jolly Gardeners pub in Putney. 

Covent Garden is a must, with a visit to the London Transport Museum, and tea and a scone at the Covent Garden Kitchen.

Wednesday Evensong at St. Martin in the Fields.

A look in the National Portrait Gallery.

A glass of champagne at Searcy's in St. Pancras Station, just for the atmosphere. As you sip, you can

watch the Eurostar trains depart for Paris or Brussels, and imagine adventures.

A proper afternoon tea at Sketch, just off Regent Street. Very quirky, fun, and delicious.

Lately I've been following a mobile tea van on Facebook. It's called Good and Proper Tea, and it moves around London. I'm determined to track it down.

A visit to Darwin's house in Bloomsbury.

And Daunt's Bookshop in Holland Park.

And Selfridge's, just for fun.

There will be dinners with friends, and hopefully a jazz club or two, maybe even the 12 Bar in Denmark Street.

There will be research, too, although all of the above count as research as well!

But by now my feet are tired, and evenings in with a book and something good on the telly sound just as appealing.

So REDS and readers, if you have been to London, what tops your fantasy to-do list?

And if you haven't, where would YOU start?

Teddy Bears' Picnic

ROSEMARY HARRIS: Here he is, the first guy I ever went to bed with, and still the longest relationship I've ever had. Meet Cubby.
Like The Velveteen Rabbit (but unlike me...ha!) Cubby is showing his age a bit. You can see I used to bite his nose and inevitably, as all kids seem to, one day I decided he needed a bath - but dang if he hasn't forgiven me and hung on. Despite the loss of one eye and a whole lot of fur, Cubby is still smiling, and I've gotta say I get a kick out of having him around. (Usually on a shelf in the closet...I have a bigger teddy bear to sleep with now!)
Do you still have your first teddy bear? Or doll? And has anyone seen the movie Ted?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Aww. It makes me miss Cinnamon, my Steiff plush horse. Which I loved. I LOVED. I can still almost feel how comforting it was. And Cinnamon wasn't one bit cuddly. She was elegant and sleek and the color of--well, you know.
And sometimes my baby sister Nina called her Synonym. Which even now is pretty funny.

I really didn't understand the doll thing. I had some, but we never really got along. As you can see from this photo.


I bugged my parents for a Steiff Okapi, but they would never buy it for me. I also went through college with a stuffed green Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent, which talked when you pulled a string. ("I'm comin' Beany Boy!") I had Cecil into my twenties, when a boyfriend's four-year-old son fell in love with it, and I gave it to him. (It was Richard Holbrooke, actually, who became secretary of state.) I wonder if Anthony Holbrooke still has my Cecil....

ROSEMARY: You dated Richard Holbrooke...?

HANK: Oh, yes. A story for another blog. He was brilliant.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: My earliest memory is of sitting up in my crib when I was supposed to be napping, playing with my stuffed animals.  No dolls for me, ever.  But I didn't save any of them, although I do still have daughter's favorite blue "Horsey."  I've made up for not keep the childhood friends by replacing them.  On my bed are Gordon the teddy, Paddington (the proper Paddington in his original coat), Bob the green elephant, Tosh the German shepherd, and Leo the hippo.  Some of you may remember Leo, who is now a star in his own right.
Oh, and my first record was "The Teddy Bear's Picnic", sung by Bing Crosby. I think it gave me nightmares.

ROSEMARY: I LOVE Paddington....Please look after this bear! (Whatever happened to my Paddington...)

HANK: Yes, Debs, that song is CREEPY.

ROSEMARY: (Really? What do you all think?? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_jNgirWeQY&feature=relmfu )

JAN BROGAN _  I have not seen the movie Ted yet, but I think it looks like a hoot. I was the opposite of Debs, I played with dolls and hung onto a Thumbalina until I had my first boyfriend and had to quickly toss the doll in the closet so he couldn't see I STILL PLAYED WITH DOLLS.  Not only did I still play with dolls, but I take credit for inventing the disposable diaper long before Procter-Gamble got into the business.  A Kleenex fastened at each side with elastics for my brother's braces kept Thumbalina very dry and comfortable. Although  I never hung onto stuffed animals, I take a weird delight in the fact the my grown up daughter took her Teddy with her to Medical School, and my son moved his Tiger, Candle, from his dumpy Brooklyn apartment to his new Manhattan digs. (This is Lannie's teddy!)

HALLIE EPHRON: So boring, I did not bond with stuffed animals. Or play with dolls, other than to dress and undress them. I did have a baby doll -- rubber (I remember the taste of her foot) legs and arms with a stuffed cloth body. I think I lost interest in her when my little sister was born. Otherwise I was much more into games. Parcheesi. Careers. Monopoly. My parents moved when I was in college and anything that I didn't have at college with me got swept away.

RHYS BOWEN: I never had a teddy bear. Sob. Because in those post war years of austerity in England you couldn't buy nice toys. So for my 21st birthday my mother bought me Henry Bear at Hamleys on Regent Street. She spent hours looking at bears until the store clerk said, "Madame, what exactly are you looking for?" and my mother said indignantly "A bear with a nice smile, of course."

LUCY BURDETTE: Oh this post makes me sad...I had a wonderful collection of stuffed cats. My parents gave me a new one for Christmases and birthdays. They were all different colors and personalities and their coats were made of rabbit fur. (I know...) My first one was called Fuzzy Wuzzy. Then came Wuzzy Fuzzy, Tangerine, Licorice, and Queenie (who was attached to a little red heart pillow) and more.
But when I lived in Florida for graduate school, we had a terrible battle with roaches. One day I looked in the closet where they were kept and found that the roaches had eaten off every bit of fur. All I had left was a collection of pitiful bald animals. I kept them for a while but was finally persuaded to throw them out--I had to agree that absolutely no one else could find them appealing.

ROSEMARY:  JR readers, send me pix of YOUR teddy bears ( rosemary@rosemaryharris.com) and I will post on Sunday. One lucky winner will receive an advanced readers copy of Hank's new release The Other Woman.