Punkinhead, "the sad little bear", was a rubbery toy bear with a tuft of unruly orange hair. He was designed and developed into a storybook character by

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Charles Thorson. The bears were manufactured by Merrythought company. Punkinhead was the main character in a series of children's books published by the T. Eaton Company, a large department store in

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. To promote the sale of the stuffed bear and the books, the store created a song about him and sold recordings of it. Punkinhead became associated with Eaton's Christmas advertising. In 1947, Punkinhead appeared in Toronto's Santa Claus parade. The character also appeared on many of Eaton's toys, accessories and clothing. Among them were kitchenware items such as bowls and mugs, furniture such as chairs and rocking horses, and clothing such as

toque A toque ( or ) is a type of hat with a narrow brim or no brim at all. Toques were popular from the 13th to the 16th century in Europe, especially France. The mode was revived in the 1930s. Now it is primarily known as the traditional headgear ...

s and mittens. The Punkinhead doll and books have become

collectors' items ''Collectors' Items'' is a 1956 studio album by Miles Davis. There are two sessions collected on the album with largely different musicians. The first 1953 session is "Compulsion", "The Serpent's Tooth" (two takes) and "'Round About Midnight". The ...

Books

*''Punkinhead, the Sad Little Bear'' *''Punkinhead in Santa's Workshop'', 1950 *''Punkinhead and the Christmas Party'', 1952 *''Punkinhead and His Toy Workshop Adventure'', 1954 *''Punkinhead in Animal Valley'', 1955 *''Punkinhead and Jock the Jumper'', 1960

Books

References

Further reading