Perhaps no childhood companion is more
familiar or more revered than the Teddy
Bear. Friend, companion, confidante, protector,
playmate – these are just some of
the roles the loyal, loving Teddy Bear
has assumed over the years. Since its
introduction to the world in the early
1900’s, the Teddy Bear – named
after American President Theodore “Teddy”
Roosevelt – has been the indisputable
image of a happy childhood.
But is it possible that the beneficent
Teddy Bear, like many other childhood
toys, has a darker side, less often seen,
but once experienced, impossible to forget?
Is it within the realm of reason that
the fuzzy friends of our childhood, living
and sharing every moment with their adopted
children, might take on a life all their
own once the innocence of youth has worn
away? Can it be possible that the beloved
Teddy Bear is actually the most haunted
(and haunting!) toy of all time?
These are the questions posed by Haunted
America’s resident ghost hunter
and paranormal investigator Gina Lanier
when she set out to discover the history
of haunted Teddy Bears. Considering the
subject a little “off the wall”
at the outset, Lanier was surprised to
find there are many examples of these
plush ghostly companions with owners –
and former owners! – eager to tell
the tale of their brush with a haunted
toy.
As a ghost hunter and paranormal investigator,
Gina Lanier has encountered many haunted
possessions such as jewelry, paintings
and furnishings, but she contends that
toys are far and away the most haunted
items of all.
“This is probably because toys spend
an awful lot of time with their children,”
says Lanier. “Most kids forge a
strong bond with their toys, dolls and
teddy bears especially, and we encounter
situations where some toys have gone through
every major event in a child’s life
– positive and negative –
and it would not be outrageous to say
that the toys pick up the energy of the
child who spends the most time with them.
But I think I chose Teddy Bears because
they’re almost a symbol of childhood
and they have such an innocent reputation.”
The warm and fuzzy companion of our youth
has a long history of popularity both
in America and abroad. For generations
children have received Teddy Bears to
mark all sorts of occasions and childhood
milestones or for just “no reason
at all.” The Teddy Bear has been
the keeper of childhood secrets, the companion
of childhood illnesses, the playtime partner,
and some Teddy Bears have even accompanied
children on that final journey into the
dark when they are placed in the coffins
of infants and children who have died.
“Given all that the Teddy Bear is
exposed to,” says Lanier, “it
would be absurd to think that somewhere
along the way you wouldn’t get some
pretty haunted and even possessed toys
out of it.”
To launch her investigation into the secret
lives of haunted Teddy Bears, Lanier first
had to acquire test subjects with appropriate
backgrounds. With the help of friends
and family she has amassed a large collection
of Teddy Bears, all of which just happen
to be the objects of paranormal and ghostly
activity. Many of these were subjected
to research and returned to their owners;
others were willingly donated with no
return required.
Lanier’s collection spans all types
of Teddy Bears: some are antiques (made
around the 1920’s and 30’s),
some are just old and tattered, some are
more modern examples, and some are brand
new. Several were collected from the massive
debris piles left in the wake of Hurricane
Katrina. What they all have in common
is a history of association with paranormal
activity, as verified by the statements
and real-life accounts of their owners
or as discerned by Lanier herself over
the course of many months’ work.
MOST HAUNTED
Just why the Teddy Bear is the most haunted
childhood relic is something Lanier considered
at great length throughout her investigation.
In many cases, Lanier concluded, the haunting
or possession of the teddy bear occurs
over a long period of time. For all the
years a bear remains in possession of
a loving child it becomes an integral
part of that child’s life. As the
child creates this relationship with the
bear, the toy naturally begins to take
on the energy being directed toward it.
Eventually, it is surmised, the essential
energy becomes a force that draws other
remnant energy to it; for example, if
the child and his toy live in a home that
already has an established history of
paranormal activity, this may begin to
use the toy as a conduit to manifestation.
In this instance, the toy can become something
similar to the “familiar”
associated with practitioners of magic,
though of course not frequently on such
a powerful scale. The object may not move
and act as if of its own volition, but
the fact remains that the high concentration
of energy, sometimes combined with external
anomalies, will cause the teddy bear to
almost take on “a life of its own.”
When this occurs, the teddy bear begins
to act in response to the child, taking
on – at least to its companion –
all aspects of an independent playmate.
Similarly, in homes where a family member
such as a sibling or other close relative
has died, it often happens that the teddy
bear becomes the receptacle for the etheric
energy of the deceased in question. In
this event, the toy might manifest audible
phenomena as well as local, independent
motion, i.e. moving from place to place
without the assistance of human interaction.
In the situations described above it is
often found that the energy manifest in
the teddy bear is generally benevolent
and that, outside the somewhat unsettling
fact that an entity is present in the
toy, the most unnerving aspect seems to
be the intense loyalty the haunted object
will demonstrate toward the child that
owns it.
It is when the link between child and
plaything is broken, either through the
natural breakdown of interest that occurs
as the child ages or in situations where
adults intervene when they feel the child
is appropriately old enough to discontinue
playing with toys, that malevolent activity
associated with haunted teddy bears has
been most prevalent.
“Well, it’s the sudden withdrawal
of the energy that causes the bears to
‘go bad,’ you might say,”
Lanier comments. “After all, this
toy has spent nearly every waking moment
of the child’s life involved in
all of his or her experiences. To be cut
off from the constant companionship and
the natural interaction can be a shock;
if the etheric energy within the bear
has gained enough strength, it might be
capable of all sorts of activity on its
own.”
Lanier’s investigations suggest
that this premise can explain much of
the strange activity surrounding some
of the older teddy bears and those newer
ones abandoned to the trash heap or the
thrift store.
“I know of one instance where a
mother decided that her son was too old
to be sleeping with his teddy bear,”
Lanier relates. “At first, she began
to wean him off of the habit by allowing
him to go to sleep with the bear and then
removing it while the boy was asleep.
Often during the night the little boy
would wake up and call for his bear and
sometimes the mother would give in. But
she eventually lost her patience with
the process and simply refused the boy
his bear at night, even going so far as
to sleep with it herself to make sure
he wouldn’t have access to it.”
The young mother soon found out to her
dismay that Teddy Bear had other ideas,
as Lanier relates:
“One night as she was finally settling
down to sleep after an exhausting tantrum
from her son, she cradled the child’s
little bear in her arms and tried to get
to sleep herself. She had only shut her
eyes for a few minutes when she felt movement
in her arms and she immediately thought
she could catch her son in the act of
swiping the Teddy Bear.
“You can imagine her reaction when
she opened her eyes and her son was nowhere
in sight. But when she looked down at
the Teddy Bear in her arms she saw it
was wiggling and MOVING ITSELF out from
under her arm, trying to get away and
back to the little boy’s bed!”
The mother sat up and threw the Teddy
Bear from her in fear. The little bear
hit the wall and fell to the floor; in
the bedside light she could see it crumpled
on the floor. At that same instant her
son woke startled from sleep in the next
room and began to cry miserably. Not knowing
what to do the frightened woman eventually
got up the nerve to approach the bear
which she quickly locked away in the well
of a nearby entertainment center. Eventually,
however, the bear found its way back to
the little boy – but by no paranormal
means: his father simply found the bear
locked away and gave it back to his son.
Still, when it did reappear, the child’s
mother was too frightened to remove it
again. Ultimately, the boy himself apparently
outgrew the toy on his own. Or, as Lanier
likes to speculate, could it be the toy
outgrew the child?
“Teddy bears really just want to
be loved,” Lanier says. “They
want to be cuddled and valued and cared
for – in fact, that’s what
they’re made for. And as long as
there is someone around to provide for
those needs, I think the energy within
the toy remains positive and content.
When the child is allowed to naturally
outgrow the toy it’s possible that
the energy dissipates and perhaps reappears
in some other form in the older child’s
life or moves on altogether.”
Some haunted teddy bears, however, don’t
know when to let go.
“I have found this phenomenon in
some of the subjects I have received or
removed from homes where there is a history
of abuse, either of the teddy bear’s
child or of a sibling,” Lanier explains.
“I speculate that the primary energy
the toy gets exposed to is fear, obviously,
and then anger that the child isn’t
able to express outwardly. As in other
situations where pent up emotion combines
with a child’s strong energy, poltergeist
activity centered around the teddy bear
is not uncommon.”
In such instances the teddy bear can become
the source of a very real and potent threat
in the environment. Always endeavoring
to protect the child it loves, oftentimes
this energy can manifest in very negative
ways.
“I have confirmed accounts of teddy
bears in these environments apparently
taking action of their own either to reveal
the perpetrator of the abuse or harm that
person in some way,” says Lanier.
In one instance a malevolent bear appeared
on the stairs seemingly out of nowhere;
when the negative individual who was the
bear’s target descended the stairs,
roused by some noise, the bear was in
just the right place to cause a fall that
resulted in a protracted hospital stay.
While the subject remained hospitalized,
the bear seemed completely harmless and
inanimate.
“That’s an interesting case,”
says Lanier. “First of all it seems
the bear was determined to get at the
person it felt was harming those it loved.
Also, in that case, no one except the
target heard the noises that caused him
to walk down the stairs in the first place.
Then, finally, when the man came home
from the hospital, the activity only got
worse.”
Indeed, it seemed Teddy Bear had upped
the ante considerably while the abusive
subject was away. Now convalescing in
the home but still unable to get around
without the aid of a crutch, the injured
man spent considerable time in bed –
at least at first.
Once in the middle of the night the injured
man awoke to hear his bedroom door shut
but when he tried to lift himself to investigate
he was shocked to find the malevolent
teddy bear straddling his injured leg.
Almost as soon as he became aware of it,
the man says, the bear began to move toward
him.
“He firmly believes that bear might
have killed him if he hadn’t have
screamed loud enough to wake the whole
house!” Lanier says with a smile.
Apparently the bear “got around”
so much that, as soon as he was able,
the man went to stay with relatives and
refused to come back despite the pleadings
of his wife “as long as the kid
has that god damned bear!”
BEDSIDE MANNER
Some of the most touching stories of haunted
teddy bears involve the toys left behind
when a child dies – either suddenly
or after succumbing to a long illness.
“Well, evidently, the bears go through
the same grieving process as human survivors
of death,” Lanier states. “Loneliness
is probably the primary feeling, I suppose,
although often there are signs of anger
and confusion as well.
“As I said, teddy bears just want
to be loved and taken care of. That is
the purpose of their existence, well,
that and to keep their companion happy.
When this relationship is suddenly cut
off, there is a backlash of energy that
can manifest in unexpected ways.”
The most touching example of a bear whose
energy remained positive though its link
to its child was severed is the story
of Laredo. The bedside companion of a
terminally ill child, Laredo was named
after a song by popular country singer
Chris Cagle. Laredo’s child suffered
bravely through terminal illness with
the bear constantly by his side and before
his death the child made it clear that
he wanted Laredo to go and live with Cagle.
“That’s a very touching example
of a strong bond between a child and his
teddy bear,” Lanier says sadly.
“The child’s family was convinced
that the boy was receiving much of his
strength and his will to live from his
companion teddy bear. Not only this, he
also found strength in the words and messages
he heard in Cagle’s music. In the
end, he wanted Cagle to have that bear,
and that’s how it went.”
After completing his task as bedside companion
to a dying boy, Laredo the Teddy Bear
now lives with Chris Cagle, his presence
a constant reminder of the value of life
and the bond between a boy and his companion.
Probably the most disturbing report of
post-mortem teddy bear activity is of
the teddy bear that returned from the
grave.
“Oh, that happens more than you
might think!” Lanier laughs. “Bears
seem to have a knack of showing up, even
through six feet of dirt!”
Lanier is quite serious in her contention
that some teddy bears, knowing the bond
with their child is broken by death and
not content to remain forever in the grave,
will “find a way” back to
the world of the living.
One report from a Tennessee woman involved
a teddy bear that had been the constant
companion of her grandmother who was suffering
from Alzheimer’s in a nursing home.
The presence of the little bear seemed
to delight the elderly lady and from the
time she received it, she never let it
out of her sight.
“The family felt it only fitting
that the bear should be put in the coffin
with the lady when she finally did pass
away,” Lanier explains, “so
this is what they did. Several people,
including the entire family, witnessed
the bear in the coffin when the lid was
closed. The same people saw the coffin
lowered into the ground.”
After the funeral the granddaughter and
an aunt went to the nursing home to collect
the remainder of the deceased’s
things; this amounted to a small box and
couple of shopping bags.
Imagine their distress and consternation
when they opened one of the shopping bags
only to find grandmother’s favorite
teddy bear lying right on top!
“This is very true,” says
Lanier. “In fact, I know the family
personally and that is how I obtained
the bear.”
Lanier says there seemed nothing out of
the ordinary about the bear at first,
however, the longer it remained in her
home the more unusual its behavior became.
“It’s another one of those
‘get around’ bears,”
Lanier laughs. “I’d put it
in one place with the other bears and
go to bed and in the morning I’d
find it laying in the middle of the hallway,
or worse, inside a room I never use and
hadn’t been inside of in weeks!”
Lanier concluded that the bear didn’t
like company and that it hated to be confined.
Eventually, it made it’s own way
to a windowsill overlooking the backyard.
“And that’s where I left it!”
she laughs. “If it wants extra room
and a view, it can have it!”
By way of explanation, Lanier ventures
this: “I firmly believe that what
begins as a base energy in the teddy bear
– just the combination of its history
and reputation gives it that – produces
a reaction and connection with its owner.
It’s likely that discarnate spirits
– human and otherwise – are
attracted to this energy and begin to
feed off of it. These spirits find more
energy connected with the child or person
keeping the teddy bear and discovering
this, they aren’t inclined to leave.”
Some of Lanier’s most troubling
experiences stem from her investigation
of teddy bears she has collected in the
post-Katrina morass. Although her work
with them continues, she says, “There
is such a sad and depressing energy about
all these toys. Not only were they abandoned
and cut off from the love and connection
they had, they have been thrown onto garbage
heaps and, literally, bulldozed away.”
Lanier has managed to save several examples
of old and new bears from the trash heaps
of New Orleans, but as her work with them
continues she admits that she can only
take these creatures in “small doses”
to avoid being overcome by the horrible
feelings emanating from them.
Protective bears, angry bears, playful
bears, old bears, new bears – what
follows is a random sampling of some of
Lanier’s investigation test subjects.
IS the Teddy Bear the most haunted toy
ever? Read on and judge for yourself!
TEDDY
BEARS
Why
is a bear usually one of a child's
first stuffed toys? And why
are toy bears called "Teddy?"
Look no further than our nation's
twenty-sixth president, Theodore
Roosevelt. The most common explanation
for the rise of the "teddy
bear" begins in November
1902, when Roosevelt visited
the southern United States to
help settle a border dispute
between Mississippi and Louisiana.
While on the trip, Roosevelt
went bear hunting, but had little
luck. Others in his party did
find a bear, which, cornered
near a water hole, fought with
and killed one of the group's
hunting dogs. When Roosevelt
saw what had happened, he ordered
his men to humanely put the
wounded bear out of its misery.The
incident caused Clifford K Berryman
to draw a cartoon titled “Drawing
The Line in Mississippi”
which linked the incident to
the political dispute that had
taken President Roosevelt to
Mississippi in the first place.
The cartoon appeared in the
Washington Post on the 16th
November 1902
The cartoon drew immediate attention.
In Brooklyn, NY, shopkeeper
Morris Michtom displayed 2 toy
bears in the window of his Stationary
and Novelty store. The bears
had been made by his wife Rose
Michtom from black plush stuffed
excelsior and finished with
black button eyes.
Michtom soon recognized the
immediate popularity of the
new toy. He requested and received
permission from President Roosevelt
personally to call them Teddy's
Bears.
Read
more here!
http://www.historychannel.com/exhibits/toys/teddy.html
|
Teddy
Bear Chronology, Teddy Bear History >
Where it all started...
http://www.theteddybearmuseum.com/teddy-facts.htm
Teddy
Bear History
"I don't think my name is likely
to be worth much in the toy bear business,
but you are welcome to use it." ~
Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt, 1903
http://www.bearaffection.com/history/
Teddy
Bear History: The story begins
in Germany, in late October 1902, where
Richard Steiff, a toy designer working
for the family firm in Giengen, visited
the USA in search of ideas for new toys
and went to see a touring American circus
. Among the performing animals he saw
there was a troupe of bears. They sparked
off his ideas and he saw the possibility
of making a bear toy jointed in a similiar
way to the dolls that they produced. He
put his thoughts down on paper for his
aunt, Margarete Steiff, who had founded
the firm in 1880. She liked the idea and
Richard set to work on visiting zoo’s
to sketch the bears. http://www.cymruted.com/html/started.html
ONE REAL LIFE ACCOUNT OF A TEDDY BEAR
HAUNTING
I used to love
going to yard sales. One particular summer
it seemed like there were at least five
or six every Saturday and my sister-in-law
would drag our kids around digging through
other people’s unwanted things hoping
to find treasures.
On one such trip I found a darling little
black teddy bear. It was old, obviously,
because it was well worn. It was made
of chenille and had black buttons for
eyes. When I picked it up I was surprised
to find that it was a “beanie”
or was at least filled with the same material
as the popular stuffed collectibles.
I turned to the woman running the sale
and said, “You can’t be selling
this?” To which she replied, “Oh,
yes, he’s for sale. He used to be
my son’s, but I had him for years.
He’s very old, probably early 1900’s.”
Looking over the bear, I could believe
it, and I paid the ungodly price of $3
for this little bit of history.
When I got it home, I cleaned it up a
little and sat it on my bed among some
other stuffed animals I had there. Later,
I went back to my room to take a short
nap. I pushed the animals aside, though
the little black bear was close to my
arm and at some point I must have put
my hand on it.
I guess I dozed off quickly because when
I woke up it was getting dark outside
and I felt as if someone were tugging
at me to wake up. Out of the corner of
my eye I could see the little black bear
moving. It looked as if someone was tugging
it, but there was NO ONE in the room with
me. Unseen hands were pulling the bear
away from me. Instinctively, I grasped
the bear and held it tightly, still amazed
to find that something was tugging against
me.
I sat up and put the table lamp on. The
bear fell to the floor – I might
have knocked it, or my unseen opponent
might have pulled it down. Either way,
I was convinced that if this particular
little bear was going to be in my home,
he wasn’t going to sit on my bed!
Perhaps the ghost of a previous owner
hadn’t liked that the bear was sold
in a yard sale? Who knows? I just know,
if anyone from the “other side”
misses it, they can visit it in my china
closet from now on!
