The Farnell Teddy Bear Story
K. Farnell didn’t start out making teddy bears. Instead, founded in 1840 in London’s Notting Hill, it made small household goods such as pincushions and tea cozies. That was easy since the company’s founder John Kirby Farnell was a silk merchant. It is rumored that Farnell made a soft teddy bear before Steiff and Mitchtom, but since few early Farnell teddy bears remain, it can’t be proven. What is known is that Farnell made the first English teddy bear and never looked back.
After Farnell’s death in 1897, his children Henry and Agnes Farnell moved the company to rented property in Acton, west London. It was here that they began making soft toys, and it was here, in 1906, that they made their very first teddy bear, which also happened to be the first teddy bear made in England (up to that time the teddy bears in England had been imported from Germany).
Farnell’s early teddy bears looked a lot like their Steiff counterparts with long limbs, pointed muzzles, humps on their backs and boot button black eyes; their feet were made of cardboard covered in felt. The boot button eyes didn’t last long, though, as the company changed to painted glass eyes fairly soon. What was different about the Farnell bear, and what became a trademark of the British teddy, was the webbing on its front paws.
During World War I Farnell contributed to the war effort by making miniature soldier bears that were often given to soldiers by their loved ones as good luck. The bears had upturned faces so they could look out from their soldier’s front pocket to see what was going on.
The British teddy bear business flourished after World War I, in part due to the English’s reluctance to buy German goods plus the lack of German teddy bears and other items as Germany struggled to get its feet under itself.
J.K. Farnell was so flooded with orders after the war that it built a new factory next to the one in Acton called the Alpha Works in 1921. It was here, under the direction of designer Sybil Kemp, that the famous Alpha Bears were born. Still resembling their Steiff cousins, these bears had white/silver or golden mohair, stitched oblong muzzles, long arms, sturdy thighs, thin ankles and large oval feet. They wore tags identifying them as Farnell bears, but the company didn’t officially register the Alpha trademark until 1925.
Farnell’s most famous Alpha Bear, and perhaps the world’s most famous bear, was Christopher Milne’s Edward Bear, bought in 1921 for the one-year-old child by his father A. A. Milne from Harrods. Edward Bear went on to achieve loving fame as Winnie-the-Pooh. The original Farnell teddy resides in the New York Public library along with friends Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger, Kanga and Roo.
Farnell continued to produce popular teddy bears during the 1920’s and 1930’s. By the end of 1920, the company expanded to showrooms in London, Paris and New York. But its success was short lived. For in 1929 came the Wall Street Crash in New York, which resulted in a world-wide depression. Farnell was affected, as were many companies. It found that the market for luxury toys had greatly diminished plus cheaper imports were coming from Europe. In response it launched a lower-priced Unicorn Bear line.
Unfortunately, a fire destroyed the factory in 1934, killing the Unicorn line. But the company rebuilt and was operating the next year with new lines and billing itself as the premier supplier of teddy bears and other soft stuffed toys.
Then came World War II and the Blitz on London. Everybody was required to carry a gas mask with them wherever they went, which was frightening to children. One of Farnell’s contributions was to make miniature mohair teddy bears that could fit on the backs of the children’s gas masks. Children might forget to carry a gas mask, but they weren’t about to leave a teddy behind.
Then disaster. The Farnell factory was destroyed by the Blitz in 1940. It somehow managed to survive the bombing and the shortage of materials as it struggled to rebuild, but it was slow going. They were still rebuilding when Henry Farnell died in 1944 (his sister Agnes had already died in 1929).
The 1960’s brought additional challenges to the teddy bear world. Cheaper toys, including bears, were being produced in Asia and the Far East. There was also the pressure to please an international audience. Fewer companies focused solely on soft toys, instead expanding into such items as board games, puzzles, and toy cars.
In an effort to cut costs and compete with the multinational toy makers, Farnell leased its Alpha Works property and moved to Hastings, Sussex in 1964. Despite these desperate attempts, however, Farnell ceased production in 1968. The Farnell name was taken over by Merrythought in 1996.
It was a sad day when Farnell died. However, it will continue to live in Edward Bear and his doppelganger Winnie-the-Pooh. May they live forever!