Ark Bear

[elize]

The first Ark bear was made in 1951 in South-Africa. The one on the left was the bear I got from my parents when I was little:)

[elize]

Traditionally it is a father who moulds his son's destiny. One man's career was radically altered because his little boy loved playing with teddy bears. These teddy bears were made by his father's skilful hands. Not only did it change the destiny of George Weir, but it also gave South Africa a new industry.
Mr George Weir was living in Sydney by the outbreak of World War II. At that time he was a clerical worker.
The Army changed that. After four years with the Australian Expeditionay Forces, Mr George Weir was returned to Sydney and spent months recuperating in hospital.He had a loft of time on his hands and was grateful for the opportunity to take occupational therapy through the Red Cross.

The making of Dolly Varden dolls and toys fascinated George. His creations grew better and soon his daughter Raema was the envy of her school freinds with her splendid collection of dolls.
These creations attracted so much attention that when George left the army he decided to establish his own soft toy making business and called it Bunky Doo. His 'factory' was one room and his labour force was himself and a young lady. By 1950 this had turned to a flourishing business. He sold the company to a British immigrant.
George, his wife Pat and their two young children, Raema and Dennis, settled in Durban after touring the country. A Durban industrialist, Mr Aaron Jacobs, saw little Dennis playing with a beautifully made teddy bear. Mr. Jacobs asked the child where the teddy came from and he was told "My daddy made it". Mr Jacobs lost no time and together with George Weir established the teddy bear industry in South Africa.
Morris
A small plant which was called Ark Toys was set up at Escombe in 1951 and since then has sent out hundreds of thousands of teddies all over the world.
The teddies produced were of a very high standard, mohair came from Britain, the eyes, growlers and squeakers came from Germany, the kapok from Ceylon and wood wool from South Africa.
The range covered golden teddy bears, panda and koala bears through varying sizes up to the big teddy, which was 1 metre high, yet weighed only 1.4kg.
In 1970 George Weir sold the business to Prima Toys Pty. Ltd. a toy company based in Cape Town. He remained director of the Ark Division and his son Dennis was appointed managing director. His daughter Raema was in charge of administration. Prima toys ceased manufacturing soft toys in 2001, as it was more cost effective to import toys from the east.

Following in his father's footsteps Dennis, with a band of loyal workers continues the Ark tradition. Today, 54 years later, teddy bears are still being produced in their Pinetown factory outside Durban.

Based on a newspaper article - Natal Daily News - 17 October 1957

Thanks to Dennis Weir at Ark for his permission to use the information

[jenkel]

Hi
I also have a bear just like your one on the left of the pic . I got him for my first birthday and I am now 38. Do you have any idea what they are worth?
Sue

[lovenshire]

I love your bears...

[elize]

Sue :welcome: to the forum.

Ark bears are not as valuable and collectible as some other teddy bear brands.

I paid R250.00 ($36) for the bear in the front and R350 for the Panda ($50)

Small Ark bears (20cm) can sell for as much as R500 ($72) as there are few available.

Hope this helps

[Romafree]

Such an interesting story and I adore your bears!! Thank you for telling us and showing us!! Ana x

[elize]

Ana, thanks, I agree it is a lovely story.

[Mohli]

Hello,
I'm fairly new here, I don't think I've posted before.

I'm a new collector but cannot believe the number of bears I've bought in 9 months (or money spent)

I've been searching for info on the Ark bear as I have seen a bear with triangular shaped feet and wondered if this is one too although it's nose is different. Would appreciate your opinion, it's 27 inches, just a bit small!

Thanks
Mo

[wubbiebear]

Do you mean 27 inches or cm?

[elize]

Mohli welcome to the forum.

I do not think you bear is an Ark Bear. The Ark bears' ears are high on his head, mostly the ears are stuffed and the bears are hard as they are stuffed with wood wool. Their bodies are quite thin when you look at them from the side.

Isn't it amazing how quickly a small collection can grow into a BIG collection "happy6:"happy6:"happy6:

[Mohli]

Hello, thanks for the replies.

Sorry for the delay, it looks as though I didn't set it up correctly for notification of new posts!

The bear is 27 inches and from the few articles I have found all mention the triangular foot pads on Ark bears. I haven't so far found any other make that has but you never know!

Mo

[elize]

Mohli

The footpad of the Ark bear is more like a teardrop - round at the bottom and sharp at the top.

The nose of the ark bear is stitched horizontally.

Did you buy this bear on the Internet or at a market?

[TushTeds]

greetings from Pretoria, South Africa... we just got back from a wonderful arts and crafts & antique market in Irene and there i found a cute little Ark Ted. it's about time i owned one, having south african roots and all... so this little chap (whom we named Nelson) will be flying back with us to Austria in a couple of weeks time. till then he'll join us on our travels. he's my first and only south african ted and i'm glad i found him.

he"s made from maize coloured mohair, has glass eyes, a solidly stuffed head, a somewhat softer body and the classic short arms. his footpads have the traditional "teardrop" shape and arm and footpads are made from artificial brown leather. Nelson is about 30 cm tall. his ears also have some stuffing and his nose and mouth stitching seem to be original. he's still a bit grubby, but otherwise in good condition.

[wubbiebear]

Oh my, he sounds awesome.

[peterbear]

He is really lovely; what a great find!:happy3:
Nelson's a lucky bear :applause:: he gets to travel through his home country and then a great new life in Austria (where they have a lot more cakes and sweets than in South-Africa - at least I think so... :Winking:).

[LadyEva]

Nelson is a wonderful looking fella. Good find!

[elize]

Peter you are right we do not have merely as many cakes and sweets in South Africa.

Lovely Ark Bear:happy3:

[lovenshire]

Elize,
Why not? We have way too many here in the US. When we moved to the Midwest we couldn't believe how over weight the people were...but after being here for a few years, the only thing they have to do around here is eat!