THE HISTORY OF THE TEDDY BEAR IN IRELAND
starting a teddy bear collection
A SHORT HISTORY OF THE MANUFACTURING of IRISH TEDDY BEARS
by Glenys & Steve Moss
In 1938 the Gaeltacht Services Division of the Department of Lands established a new industry manufacturing toys and small utility goods. This industry was operated in three factories, one in Mayo (the Elly Bay Co.) for soft toys (which included teddies), one at Spiddal, County Galway for lead toys and one at Crolly in County Donegal for dolls.
All the administration and distribution of products was carried out by members of the Civil Service and the industries were State subsidised as the emphasis was on job creation and not profit. During the second world war exports of toys and teddies rose considerably and the Elly Bay factory worked overtime to meet the demand for toys (and teddybears) in Britain and elsewhere; during this time, mohair was not available so other fabrics were used. Mohair remained in short supply until the late forties.
Tara Toys or Erris Toys as they were known prior to 1953, produced their teddy bears at Elly Bay and they were initially made from mohair and hand stuffed with cotton flack and wood wool; the bears were jointed with cotter pin joints; in the mid to late fifties, the glass eyes were replaced with the plastic kind. The "Made in Eire" label was used up until 1949 when the "External Relation Act" was passed. The then Taoiseach, Mr. Costello announced to many people’s surprise that Ireland was leaving the Commonwealth; thus from 1950 the label indicated "Made in the Republic of Ireland".
In 1969, the factory at Elly Bay, County Mayo was closed and the soft toy manufacturing was transferred to Crolly in County Donegal. This effectively was the end of quality teddy bear manufacturing which had been in decline from the early sixties. The soft toys were produced now under the Soltoys name but the items were generally unjointed and made from synthetic materials. They continued to make dolls and soft toys at Crolly until 1979 when they finally ceased manufacturing. The main contributor to the closure was cheap imports but Crolly was also very distant at the time from her main markets and Civil Service bureaucracy is also said to have played a part.
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This brief account owes much to the recollections and accounts of Mr Fergal Mcgee - late of Crolly, Mr Sean Gallagher - late of Tara Toys and Mr Hans Weberpals - late of Gaeltarra Eireann. Thanks also to Ireland's premier Teddy bear artist Mrs Joan Hanna. Compiled by Glenys & Steve Moss of Ted’s Eclectic Lot .