My three teddies

Front row, left - Wendy Boston teddy given to me by my paternal grandmother in 1958. The faded sewn-on tag on one foot used to read "Wendy Boston, England - Wash in Persil". In about 1978, he got damp, via an open bedroom window, and then was flattened by some encyclopedias, so I performed an operation in the early 80s, removed all the old, matted filling, and restuffed him.

Front row, right - Teddy bear bought from Grace Bros, Broadway in Sydney, 1980. He has no identifying tags, but it there was a long white tag stitched to his leg I may have cut it off. Family friends had asked their young daughter what to buy me as a 21st birthday gift (the previous December) and she said quite confidently, "A teddy bear - because he loves them!"

Back row - Blue Bear, with an Ethos manufacturing tag on it, arrived by mail, in a huge box full of colourful party streamers, for my 40th birthday in 1998. Also associated with Morning Glory toys, as sold in Chinese gift stores, I often admired the cuteness of Blue Bear in this floppy pose when my Brisbane friends were temporarily living in Sydney. They remembered - and found one in Brisbane.