Me To You Bears

Tatty Teddy (also known as Me To You Bears) is the brand name of a collection of teddy bears made by the Carte Blanche Greetings Ltd. They are often found in Clintons Cards. They were first created in 1987 and appeared in their current guise in 1995. [http://www.metoyou.co.uk/index.php?action=SpecialPage&page=bts Brief history of the teddies] A number of products are available related to Tatty Teddys including teddies, figurines, cards, rugs, mugs and wedding accessories. [http://www.metoyou.co.uk Carte Blanche's Me To You Bear website] The bears even have their own fanlisting site where 'owners' can sign up for the latest news about them. [http://www.drowned-butterfly.net/tatty/ The official fanlisting site. ]

Appearance

Most Tatty Teddies have grey fur, white/cream snouts and blue noses, although there are some variations. They also have patches of different colours which appear to have been sewn onto them, hence the name 'tatty'. Most of the teddies also have small black glass eyes. The bears come in many different sizes. They often come with 'accessories' such as fluffy hearts, wooley hats and scarves. Some have personalised messages from a simple "I Love You" to longer seasonal and event related messages. It is even possible for customers to personalise their bears. The bears are particularly popular amongst females in the 10-30 age group although they are also designed to be romantic gifts for people of all ages as they can be considered 'cute'. [http://www.creativeconnect.co.uk/acatalog/faqs.html Creative Connexions Me To You page] Due to this they are becoming collectors items, similar to Steiff and Beanie Baby toys. Indeed there are even annual Tatty Teddy national collectors events. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/britain/article/0,2763,1279804,00.html "The Guardian" feature on the bears in 2004] Several limited edition bears have also been produced, enhancing the collectible nature of the toys, which see the bear dressed in different costumes including various animals and the four seasons (summer, winter etc). The number of these limited edition bears produced is usually 9000.

The makers of the teddies do not recommend that they are cleaned in washing machines but instead should be hand washed. This is because the dye in the clothes of the bears has not been tested to see if they are colourfast. [http://www.metoyou.co.uk/index.php?pageID=1020 Some FAQs about the bears]

Popularity and Suite at Alton Towers

In 1999 the total UK sales figures for the Me To You range was £2,972,000. By 2003 this had risen to £33,021,500. [http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/decisions/html/2004/d2004-0946.html Sales figures from the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center] The most recent figures available from Brand Licensing Europe put world wide sales in 2006 at around the £400,200,000 mark. [http://www.brandlicensingexpo.com/brandlicensing/v42/exhibitor_list/displayEx.cvn?exbID=589 Tatty Teddy Page on the Brand Licensing Europe site]

The official website launched in 2002 received 7,359,756 hits in 2003 and over 11,000,000 in 2004. [http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/decisions/html/2004/d2004-0946.html Website figures from the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center] In July 2007, thanks to this growing popularity the UK theme park Alton Towers opened two Tatty Teddy theme bedrooms in its hotel. [http://www.altontowers.com/content.php?pageid=507 Tatty Teddy rooms at Alton Towers] Both of these rooms can sleep up to four people, one room designated primarily for families and one a romantic style room.

In December 2004 however things were a little more sour when Carte Blanche Greeting Ltd took on a smaller company called metoyou in court over the use of the domain name metoyou.com. Carte Blanche won the rights to the website. [http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/decisions/html/2004/d2004-0946.html The full reports into the legal battle]

Legend

The official story of why the first Tatty Teddy appears the way he does runs like this:

The oldest, smallest house you can imagine was about to be knocked down. All the things that once made the house nice and cosy had been thrown outside and piled up in the front garden, from the soft springy bed the owners slept in, to the old wooden floorboards they used to walk on…and even, surely by some mistake, a little brown teddy bear.He was trapped amongst all the other unwanted things, and couldn't move.Then, one day…a very cold day, something fell from the sky……a little snowflake It landed on the teddy bear's little nose and then was followed by many more. He began to get cold, very cold indeed. More and more snow fell, heavier and heavier. The little bear was now so cold that his nose started turning blue…so cold that his brown fur started turning grey.He was cold, unloved and all alone in the world, and felt very, very sad.Winter finally passed and the weather got warmer.One beautiful spring day, a little girl was playing near the old house, when she spotted the grey bear in the pile of unwanted things. He was like no other bear she had ever seen and she pulled him out from where he was trapped.She dusted him down and lifted him high in the sky to look at him."A grey teddy bear…with a blue nose?" she thought. "How strange!"The teddy bear wanted to cry. He thought she didn't like him and would throw him back with the other unwanted things."But he's lovely!" she continued and she fell completely in love with him.She ran home as fast as her little legs would carry her, to see if her Grandma could patch him up as a lot of his stuffing had fallen out, and he was very much in need of repair.She looked on as her Grandma replaced his stuffing and patched up his holes.His stitches had started showing where the fur had worn away, but the little girl thought he looked perfect.It was all cosy and warm in the little girl's house and the bear felt all cosy and warm in his heart. However, his nose was still blue and his fur was still grey, and they would never return to brown.He was unique among teddy bears.The little girl gave him a great big hug. She loved him more than anything else in the world…her little grey, blue-nosed tatty teddy...

…Tatty Teddy.

Online Shop

[http://www.metoyoubears.com/en/ Me to you bears shop]

References