The Toledo Doll, Bear & Toy Show, formerly known as the Toledo Glass City Doll Show, is expanding its offerings in 2012. Now under the management of Sandy Kean-Bullock of Alora’s Attic, the show will feature new, antique, and artist teddy bears as well as dolls and accessories. Author and Teddy Bear Review columnist Ken Yenke will be appraising bears and antique toys at the show, as well.

The next show is scheduled for April 15 at Stranahan Great Hall, 4645 Heatherdowns Blvd. in Toledo, Ohio. Admission is $4, with children under 10 admitted free. The show hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, visit www.toledodollshow.com or contact Bullock at (734) 282-0152 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Nagel Auktionen in Stuttgart, Germany is holding an antique and vintage toys auction July 5, 2011. The first part of the auction features rare Steiff teddy bears, animals, and movable show pieces; the second part contains dolls, tin toys, and a carousel collection.

Curator Ken Yenke provides a behind-the-scenes look at the new Chelsea Toy Museum.

Chelsea, Mich., is located west of Ann Arbor and east of Jackson, where the legendary Richard Steiff lived in the 1920s and 1930s. Richard is, in the opinion of many experts, the creator of the first teddy bear. So it is fitting that the site for the Chelsea Teddy Bear Co.’s Chelsea Toy Museum—dominated by teddy bears—is just a few minutes from Richard’s home.

Terry and Doris Michaud visit Britain’s teddy bear hotspots.

It seems like it was just yesterday when the first teddy bear entered our lives, but it was actually some 36 years ago when we acquired the first of what was to become a major collection of antique teddy bears. That dates us as old-timers, but we can be grateful that we started when we did, as the hobby was in the early stages of what would become a worldwide phenomenon.