When John Blackburn was approached in 1978 by a young man who asked him to design a teddy bear for his grandmothers 80th birthday, little did we know then that the first Canterbury bear had come in to being.
Now 27 years later the company is still owned and run by Maude Blackburn and her family. We have always handmade all of our bears, gollies and rabbits in England.
In the early days of the 1980's our bears were made from both plush and mohair fabrics which were from the mills of Yorkshire.
We were the first bear manufactures to use loom state (unfinished ) Mohair, which we found on the factory floors during a visit. We continued to use English mohair until the early 1990s when the mills in Yorkshire closed and we went further a field for suppliers.
European manufactures were producing beautiful fabrics including double swirled, tipped and distressed ranges; which opened up new design ideas. From the beginning we have used natural materials including mohair, alpaca, cashmere, wool, silk leather and suede.
Over the past years John and Maude Blackburn have travelled thousands of miles worldwide, and have met shop owners, collectors, teddy bear lovers, and artists, many of whom have become life long friends.
Creativity forms the shape and character of our company. Much time and effort is spent on research and development. We pride ourselves on our strong design capability, which is at the heart of our business
Canterbury bears were one of the first companies to design and manufacture corporate bears, some of our commissions include Aquascutum, Daks, Liberty, Laura Ashley, Harrods, Hamleys , Orient Express and Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood.
