时间：2022-10-22 01:21:31
翻译：郑远涛
Teddy Bears: The Heart of a Century
The Name of the Bear
Today in the West, people can hardly imagine a world without that eager listener, confidant[知己], and loyal friend, the teddy bear. But the teddy bear has not always been with us. In fact, the teddy bear did not make its entrance until 1902.
In 1901, Theodore Roosevelt (nicknamed “Teddy ) became President of the United States. In November 1902, he embarked on a four-day hunting in Mississippi, during which he refused to shoot a bear that had been cornered for him. The incident prompted[促使] a cartoon drawn by Clifford Berryman.
The cartoon appeared in The Washington Post. It caused an immediate sensation[轰动] and was reprinted widely. Following that cartoon, Morris Michtom, a Russian immigrant, displayed a plush[长毛绒] bear, made by his wife Rose and labeled “Teddy’t Bear,in his New York store. Instead of looking fierce[凶猛的] and standing on all four paws[爪] like previous toy bears, the Michtomsbear looked sweet, innocent, and upright[正直的], like the bear in Berryman’t cartoon. Perhaps that’t why “Teddy’t Bearmade a hit with the buying public. In fact, the demand was so strong that the Michtoms, with the help of a wholesale firm[批发店] called Butler Brothers, founded the first teddy bear manufacturer in the United States, the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company.
Meanwhile in Germany, Richard Steiff was working for his aunt, Margarete Steiff, in her stuffed[填充] toy business. Richard, a former art student, often visited the Stuttgart Zoo to sketch[速写] animals, particularly the bear cubs[崽]. In 1902, the Steiff firm made a toy bear based on Richard’t designs. Though both the Michtoms and Steiff were working on bears at the same time, the Michtomsbear resembled the wide-eyed cub in the Berryman cartoon, while the Steiff bear, with its humped[驼背] back and long snout[口鼻部], looked more like a real bear cub.
By 1906, the teddy bear craze was in full swing in the United States. Ladies carried their teddies everywhere, and children had their pictures taken with their teddy bears. Roosevelt even used a bear as a mascot[吉祥物] in his re-election bid[努力]. In that year, the US toy-trade catalogue first referred to “Teddy’t Bears.This name was soon abbreviated[简化] to “Teddy Bear.Thus began the legend of the all-time, best-loved bears.
Two Wars, Two Worlds
With the exception of the four years when WWI raged in Europe, the next 25 years were kind to the teddy bear. Mass production had not yet taken over the teddy bear world, and people still preferred to buy high quality, hand-finished teddy bears. Ideal and Steuff were no longer the only two companies in the industry. Competitors sprung up in England, France, and other parts of the world.
The bears themselves changed, too. Boot-button eyes were replaced by glass, and excelsior[细刨花] stuffing was replaced by a softer alternative, kapok[木棉]. Musical bears and mechanical[机械的] bears were very popular, and they were produced worldwide. But the outbreak of WWII stopped the fun. Instead of making teddy bears, the world’t workers and factories were needed for the war effort. Some companies closed and never reopened.
While traditional teddy bear companies had always prided themselves on quality hand-finishing and had always used natural fibers to make their bears, all that changed after WWII. Fueled by a desire for washable toys, synthetic[合成的] fibers were all the rage[成为时尚] in the post-War years. Buyers liked the idea of washable toys, so bears were made from nylon[尼龙] or acrylic[丙烯酸的] plush, and had plastic eyes and foam rubber stuffing.
Maybe traditional teddy bear companies could adapt to this change in materials, but they were not prepared to compete against the flood of much cheaper, mass-produced teddy bears coming from eastern Asia. Even the old, well-established companies were hurt by the onslaught[冲击] of inexpensive teddy bears from the Far East.
The Teddy Bear’t Comeback
Strangely enough, the comeback of the teddy after years of mass-production was triggered[触发], not by a bear maker, but by an actor. On television, British actor Peter Bull openly expressed his love for teddy bears and his belief in the teddy bear’t importance in the emotional life of adults. In 1969, he wrote a book about his lifelong affection for teddy bears, Bear with Me, later called The Teddy Bear Book. His book struck an emotional chord[和音] in thousands who also believed in the importance of teddy bears. Without intending to, Bull created an ideal climate for the teddy bear’t resurgence[复苏]. The teddy bear began to regain its popularity, not so much as a children’t toy, but as a collectible[收集品] for adults.
In 1974, Beverly Port, an American dollmaker, dared to take a teddy bear she made to a doll show. The next year, she presented a slide show[放映幻灯片] she had created about teddy bears. That show quickly became a sensation. Other people, first in the United States and then all over world, caught Port’t affection for the teddy bear. They, too, began applying their talents to designing and making teddy bears. One by one, hand by hand, teddy bear artistry was born with Port, who coined the term “teddy bear artist,often cited as the mother of teddy bear artistry[艺术工作]. Thousands of teddy bears artists, often working from their homes all over the world, create soft sculpture[雕塑] teddy bear art for eager collectors. Today, teddy bear books, magzines, museums and fairs spread all over the world.
This increased appreciation for the teddy bear as ancollectible has also increased the value of antique[古董] teddy bears, the hand-finished, high-quality teddy bears manufactured in the first decades of the 20th century. Since the 1970s and 1980s, these old, manufactured teddy bears have begun showing up in antique doll and toy auctions[拍卖], winning higher and higher bids.
Unlike the majority of toys and dolls the novelties that come and go along with the latest children’t crazes teddy bears seem to be with people permanently[永存地].
But what is the reason for their triumphant[成功的] survival? According to an arctophile注, “the mystique[奥秘] lies in the faces of the bears themselves.It is true; every teddy bear is, indeed, unique. Look at the bearsfaces; enjoy their faces. The enchantment[魅力] and the mystique will last forever!
名字的由来
当代西方人很难想象一个缺少泰迪熊的世界会怎样，这只小熊既乐于听人倾诉，又是个忠诚而守秘密的朋友。然而泰迪熊并不是从来就有的，事实上，它到1902年才出现。
1901年，绰号“泰迪”的西奥多・罗斯福当选为美国总统。1902年11月，他在密西西比河畔的四日狩猎之旅中拒绝射杀一只被特意困起来的熊。此事引发克利福德・贝里曼创作出一幅漫画。
这幅漫画在《华盛顿邮报》发表后立即引起轰动，并被广泛转载。在这股热潮下，俄裔移民莫里斯・米屈汤姆在他那纽约的商店里陈列了一只由妻子罗丝制作的长毛绒熊，标签上写着“泰迪之熊”。米屈汤姆的熊有别于传统的玩具熊，它长相并不凶狠、四掌也不踏地，而是面目可爱、模样天真、正直憨厚，酷似贝里曼漫画里的小熊。或许正因为这个原因，“泰迪之熊”一上市，便得到大众的欢迎，人们争相购买。当时需求量之大，促使米屈汤姆在巴特勒兄弟批发公司的帮助下，创建了美国第一间生产泰迪熊的工厂―理想珍奇品玩具公司。
与此同时在德国，理查德・史泰福在他姑姑玛格丽特・史泰福的填充玩具厂工作。理查德过去学的是艺术专业，经常前往斯图特加特动物园进行动物写生，尤其爱画熊的幼崽。1902年，史泰福公司根据理查德的设计，制作了一只玩具熊。尽管米屈汤姆和史泰福同时研究玩具熊，米屈汤姆的熊仿照的是贝里曼漫画里那只大眼睛的幼熊，而史泰福的熊却弓背长牙，更像是一只写实的熊崽。
到1906年，泰迪熊热潮已经席卷美国。淑女出门带着它，儿童拍照搂着它。罗斯福竞选连任时，甚至用玩具熊作为吉祥物。那一年，美国的玩具贸易目录上首次提及“泰迪之熊”，很快这个名称又被简化为“泰迪熊”。就这样，一只永远令人钟爱的小熊的传奇便从此开篇了。
两次大战，隔开两个时代
除了第一次世界大战肆虐欧洲的四年以外，泰迪熊在接下来的25年里是幸运的。机械大生产仍不是泰迪熊制作的主流，大家依然喜欢购买手工制作的优质泰迪熊。“理想”和“史泰福”已不再是行内仅有的两家公司，竞争对手在英国、法国和世界其它地区纷纷涌现。
小熊自身也发生了变化。鞋扣式的眼睛为玻璃珠所替代，细刨花填充物被换成一种更柔软的材料―木棉絮。会唱歌奏乐的泰迪熊和电动泰迪熊都非常流行，世界各地都在生产。然而，好景不长，第二次世界大战的爆发给这一切划上句号。全世界的工厂和工人都必须为战争服务，泰迪熊的生产遭到冷落。有些工厂倒闭了，再也没有复业。
传统的泰迪熊厂家向来以优良的手工作业和天然的制作材料著称，但这一切在二战后发生了巨变。人们对耐洗玩具的追求促使合成纤维在战后几年间大行其道。消费者喜欢耐洗的玩具，厂家于是用尼龙或丙烯酸长毛绒制造小熊，给它加上塑料眼睛，体内塞入泡沫橡胶。
传统的泰迪熊厂家或许能适应材料的变化，却难以应付从东亚大量涌入的价格低廉且大批量生产的泰迪熊所带来的竞争。面对来自远东的廉价泰迪熊倾销，就连那些老字号也受到了重大打击。
泰迪熊的复兴
说来也怪，泰迪熊能在大批量生产多年后得以复兴，并不是由哪个泰迪熊制作者，而是由一位演员推动的。在电视上，英国演员彼得・布尔公开表达了他对泰迪熊的钟爱，他认为，泰迪熊应该在成年人的感情生活里占有重要地位。1969年，他写了一本名为《我与小熊同行》的书―后来称为《泰迪熊之书―来抒发自己一生对泰迪熊的钟爱。他的书引起了万千读者的情感共鸣，他们也同样相信泰迪熊的重要性。就这样，布尔无意中创造了让泰迪熊复兴的理想氛围。泰迪熊再度流行起来，然而它不再是单纯的儿童玩具，它已演变为不少成年人的收藏品。
1974年，美国的玩偶制作师贝弗莉・波特大胆地带着自制的泰迪熊出席玩偶博览会。次年，她演示了一段关于泰迪熊的自创幻灯片，此片轰动一时。受波特感染，人们对泰迪熊的热情从美国蔓延到世界各地。他们也开始运用自己的天赋，设计和制作泰迪熊。波特手工制作了一只又一只的泰迪熊，从而创立了泰迪熊工艺；她自造新词“泰迪熊艺术家”，经常被誉为“泰迪熊工艺之母”。成千上万名遍布世界各地、往往以家庭为作坊的泰迪熊艺术家们，为热心的收藏者创造着柔软的雕塑―泰迪熊。近年，泰迪熊书籍、杂志、博物馆以及博览会在世界各地纷纷发展起来。
由于泰迪熊作为成人收藏品而日益受到青睐，古董泰迪熊―那些在20世纪最初一二十年间手工制作的优质泰迪熊―的价值也随之攀升。从上个世纪七八十年代起，这些古旧的泰迪熊开始出现在古董玩具和玩偶拍卖会上，而且叫价日趋走高。
绝大多数玩具和玩偶会随着当代孩子善变的迷恋而兴衰起落；泰迪熊却不同，它似乎永远与人们同在。
然而，泰迪熊成功复兴的原因到底是什么呢？一位泰迪熊迷曾说：“奥秘就藏在泰迪熊的脸上。”此话不假，每只泰迪熊确实都是独一无二的。看着它们的脸庞，仔细欣赏吧。那种魔力，那种奥秘，将永远存在下去！