Deans Rag Book Co.

Dean’s Rag Book Co. was founded in 1903 by Henry Samuel Dean. They originally produced rag books for children but they also produced various cotton toys, including teddy bears. The company’s trademark – a bulldog and a terrier fighting over a rag book – was designed by artist Stanley Berkley and reflected the durability of Deans toys. Some of Dean’s early toys had metal buttons fixed to their bodies as a trademark. By 1922-23, Deans had registered its trade name “A1 Toys”.

Deans produced their first catalogued teddy bears in their Elephant and Castle factory in 1915, and started producing a series of kapok-stuffed, mohair plush toys called Bendy Bears in the early 1920’s. Each of these “Bendy Bears” had an internal metal framework which allowed them to be manipulated. Their plush bears were not introduced until after WWI. By 1931, Deans tended to use artificial silk plush - there was no mohair in the 1935 range. However, gold, blue and pink mohair plush was reintroduced in 1936.

During WWII, the company gave priority to the production of war supplies, such as life jackets, and therefore few Deans teddy bears were produced during this period. During the 1960’s and 70’s, main production continued at a factory in Rye, Sussex. The company used the Childsplay Toys trademark until 1965, when Childsplay Ltd (one of the two divisions formed in the 1950’s, along with Merton Toys Ltd) became Deans Childsplay Toys Ltd. The fighting dogs logo was dropped from the label shortly after.

In 1986, Deans was taken over by the toy and gift exporters Plaintalk, forming the Deans Company (1903) Ltd. Two years later, Neil and Barbara Miller bought out the firm and revived the Deans Rag Book Co. Ltd. name, and launched a new limited edition range that used the old “fighting dogs” logo. The firm moved to Pontypool, Wales, in 1974, where they still operate today.

References

• Cockrill, Pauline, The Teddy Bear Encyclopedia, Dorling Kindersley 1993, 2001, ISBN 0-7513-3391-3
• Cockrill, Pauline, The Ultimate Teddy Bear Book, Dorling Kindersley 1991, ISBN 0-86318-655-6

External Links

• Dean's Bears
• Dean's Company History