Ted, the teddy bear, remains almost fully intact despite his age. Photo / Supplied
Ted, the teddy bear, remains almost fully intact despite his age. Photo / Supplied
At 113, Ted might just be Whanganui's oldest teddy bear.
The nationwide bear hunt has teddies of all shapes and sizes popping up in windows during the lockdown, so the Chronicle began a search for Whanganui's oldest teddy bear - and Ngaire and Ian Wakeling thought they might have it.
Ted was first given to Ian's aunt when she was born in 1907.
He was then passed down to Ian's mother who later gave him to Ian and his brother, and then Ian passed on Ted to his two girls.
By this stage, Ted was becoming a bit fragile so Ngaire decided to keep possession of him and leave him on the sidelines as their family continued to grow.
"Our children played with him when they were very little, but then they've had children and now we've got great-grandchildren but now they just look but not play," she said.
Despite his old age, the only new pieces on Ted are his eyes, the soles of his feet and the pads on his hands that Ngaire stitched on.
She has also tacked his arms back on but they are hanging very loosely so she does not let the children play with him any more.
Ted has remained true to his Whanganui roots, helping to create a lot of memories within the Wakeling family.
Ngaire said her daughters played with Ted a lot when they visited their grandmother, who also lived in Whanganui.
"They used to dress him up but I didn't want to put clothes on him any more because then you wouldn't have been able to see how fragile he was."
Ted has been very well-loved and will continue to be for many more years, Ngaire said.
Bearbear, now 68, is greeting people as they walk past for their daily dose of fresh air. Photo / Supplied
Penny Robinson's 68-year-old Bearbear has come out of hibernation to grace her window and greet people out walking during the lockdown period.
He was given to her by her father the day she was born on November 28, 1951.
She said that when she was a toddler he went everywhere with her, including to town.
In later years he sat on her bed. Eventually his glass eyes fell off so she restitched them because she wanted to have a "sighted" bear and he's also had some minor "surgery" to repair his sternum.
