Summer 2011
Such items included much-loved teddy bears - a children's comfort, derived from President Roosevelt's refusal to shoot a tethered bear - now threadbare, but whose owners were unable to bear the thought of discarding them. Another less cuddly, but absolutely necessary item was (and this doesn't bear thinking about) Jean Raisey's late father's best chisel, which was now her essential tool for weeding!
The double title lent itself to many interpretations which were presented as discussion subjects, quizzes, word puzzles or just "necessary" information. They ranged from vital components of a First Aid kit and essential vehicle documents; through guessing how many thousands appeared bare naked for a Spencer Tunick's photo in Mexico City (18,000); what literary bears we could think of (Rupert, Paddington, Yogi, etc); celebrities? teddy bear mascots (e.g. Sir Malcolm Campbell, Wright Brothers); estimating the cost of a Grenadier Guardsman?s bearskin hat (£650 each, together with pictures of 70 people posing bare to protest against the use of genuine bear skins); the other names for the Great Bear star constellation, presenter and adventurer "Bear" Grylls and son of former Surrey MP the late Sir Michael Grylls; who amongst us had ridden bare-back; bears with sore heads; bare heads and bear hugs, etc. The variations were endless.
In contrast to bare necessities, we were then asked to say which prize we would choose from a list of 20 possible prizes, assuming we had been so lucky. Hugh Foster chose a Ferrari supercar in the mistaken/wishful belief that he would get a super model to accompany him in the car! (Not a word to Jan about this!) This was followed by table groups reciting a limerick about people?s cravings e.g. "The young lady named Perkins?" "who doted on gherkins"; "the young dentist who thrilled" to "a tooth being drilled" and finished with Trevor Hale leading us in singing M & W's Bring Me Sunshine which, to be without, we couldn?t bear.
Ben Parker, Knaphill
PS: Who knows what an "arctophile" is? Click here for the answer
Historical note:
Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States, is the person responsible for giving the teddy bear his name. On November 14, 1902, Roosevelt was helping settle a border dispute between Mississippi and Louisiana. During his spare time he attended a bear hunt in Mississippi. During the hunt, Roosevelt came upon a wounded young bear and ordered the mercy killing of the animal. The Washington Post ran an editorial cartoon illustrating the event. The cartoon was called "Drawing the Line in Mississippi" and depicted both state line dispute and the bear hunt. At first Berryman drew the bear as a fierce animal; the bear had just killed a hunting dog. Later, Berryman redrew the bear to make it a cuddly cub. The cartoon and the story it told became popular and within a year, the cartoon bear became a toy for children called the teddy bear
Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States, is the person responsible for giving the teddy bear his name. On November 14, 1902, Roosevelt was helping settle a border dispute between Mississippi and Louisiana. During his spare time he attended a bear hunt in Mississippi. During the hunt, Roosevelt came upon a wounded young bear and ordered the mercy killing of the animal. The Washington Post ran an editorial cartoon illustrating the event. The cartoon was called "Drawing the Line in Mississippi" and depicted both state line dispute and the bear hunt. At first Berryman drew the bear as a fierce animal; the bear had just killed a hunting dog. Later, Berryman redrew the bear to make it a cuddly cub. The cartoon and the story it told became popular and within a year, the cartoon bear became a toy for children called the teddy bear