The True Story of the Carte Blanche Tatty Teddy Bear

The Tatty Teddy line from Me To You is one of the most often collected bear lines in any teddy bear collection. They are recognized easily by their grey fur and blue nose, and extremely adorable look.

According to their story, the color and blue nose of the tatty teddy stemmed from an adorable brown bear being misplaced out in the cold and spending the winter in snow and ice. The weather elements changed his coloring from a brown to a gray and of course when you spend an entire winter outdoors, of course your nose would turn blue! And thus began the adorable line of these sweet bears.

Nineteen years ago, chief executive of Carte Blanche Greetings Ltd., Steve Haines embarked on a journey to sell his line of twelve greeting cards. Tatty Teddy has been with him since the beginning, originally in full color and in 1995 Steve requested that artist Mike Payne, alias Miranda (from the famous signature on the Tatty Teddy line), re-work the adorable little bear using a charcoal pencil.

And now we have the adorable Tatty Teddy line with the gray tattered fur, some patches for good measure, and of course, the signature blue nose.

The Tatty Teddy line has grown tremendously over the years to include more plush and several gift items, such as mugs, key rings, frames, snow globes, an entire line of greeting cards, and the newer resin figurines all depicting the famous little bear with the cute blue nose.

These adorable little plush and resin bears, as well as many of the gift items can be purchased at any Clinton Cards store throughout the United States, as well as many smaller, independent gift shops and card retailers. The only thing that could make this line of collectible teddy bears any better is if the company put out a mail order catalog, making these highly sought after, and very collectible bear treasures, easier to find and purchase. As of right now, they do not offer a catalog, but you can purchase many of their products by visiting their website, which I have included in the additional resources.

Another new addition to the Tatty Teddy line is the ability to personalize your own Me to You greeting card featuring Tatty Teddy and mail it worldwide. Personalizing a card, especially for a teddy bear lover, couldn't be a more perfect gift.

The company recommends that Tatty Teddy does not make any visits to the washing machine. The tumbling around might just upset his tummy and give him a headache! Actually, due to the special dye process, the colors could fade or change. Instead, take a sponge and give your sweet little bear a nice sponge bath and allow to air dry.

Every bear collector should have a Tatty Teddy bear in their collection. Get one today!