PADDINGTON BEAR PADDINGTON BEAR PADDINGTON BEAR PADDINGTON BEAR PADDINGTON BEAR PADDINGTON BEAR PADDINGTON BEAR MAGPIES VOLUME THIRTY A BEAR FOR ALL SEASONS The Story of Paddington

by FELICITY CARTER

It was a chilly London day and brown, and it was wearing a most odd- Barbara Ker Wilson was about looking hat, with a wide brim, just as Mr to go out for lunch, when yet Brown had said. From beneath the brim another manuscript arrived on two large, round eyes stared back at her. her desk. It didn’t seem partic- ularly promising and it had Seeing that something was expected of it been rejected by other pub- the bear stood up and politely raised its lishers before arriving at hat, revealing two black ears. 'Good William Collins where she was afternoon', it said, in a small, clear in charge of children’s books. voice. But she picked it up and began reading. By the time she fin- The bear — hailing from 'darkest Peru' — ished, it was long past lunch- has a tag around his neck: Please take care time. of this bear. The Browns take him home, name him Paddington after where he was even before she told her boss, Deluxe edition published to celebrate the found — and the adventures begin. Sir William Collins, about it 50th anniversary of Paddington Bear's arrival on the literary scene. she "rang up the agent and said Bond could not have found a better editor we would certainly publish it. for his manuscript. In 1949 Barbara Ker I just knew it was a wonderful Wilson began her career at the children’s when they were finally auctioned, they story for children". division of Oxford University Press. Later raised more than £930,000 (A$1.79 mil- she worked for Stanley Unwin, who owned lion) for the British National Society for Since it was published in 1958, A Bear both the Bodley Head and Allen & Unwin, the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Called Paddington — and its sequels — and her editing credits include The Last have sold more than 35 million copies. Battle by C.S. Lewis. A few years later she Paddington has also spawned plays, a They’ve been turned into comic books, was at William Collins & Sons whose back- cookery book, television adaptations and television series, and films, the latest of list of young books included Mary Poppins. even tea towels. More than a beloved which is an acclaimed big-screen affair, children’s character, he’s a cultural institu- starring Peter Capaldi, Nicole Kidman, It’s astonishing, now, to think there was a tion. Hugh Bonneville, plus a walk-on role by time when an editor had the authority to the author, Michael Bond, who is now in pick up a manuscript and simply buy it, The beginnings his late 80s. without testing the book on a focus group, or running it by the marketing A Bear Called Paddington is the story of In November 2014, the City of London cre- department. There were none of these silly a young bear found at Paddington Station ated a Paddington Bear trail to coincide meetings that happen today and waste in London by the Brown family: with the film. Fifty Paddington Bear sculp- everybody’s time, said Barbara Ker Wilson. tures were placed around London, each of It seemed a very unusual kind of bear. It I just knew it was something we had to which was created by an artist or celebrity; was brown in colour, a rather dirty publish.

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how drama was put together, but he was station was named after the bear, rather also able to write both original scripts and than the other way round. adaptations. Noted British critic Amanda Craig, review- Educated at Presentation College in er of children’s literature for The New Reading, he was so unhappy there that he Statesmen, says the central character Bronze statue of Paddington, unveiled at left at 14; in November 2014, he told the being based on a teddy bear is part of the Paddington Station in 2000. It is based Guardian that his parents had chosen the appeal. For a young child between the ages on a black and white illustration by school for the simple reason my mother of 4 and 7 just starting to read, it’s the Peggy Fortnum. liked the colour of the blazers. She didn’t most delightful idea. A real teddy bear who make many mistakes in life but that was comes from this exotic place and gets She says although Bond was very anxious one of them. Bond worked in a solicitor’s adopted by a family, she says. about the book, as it was his first, it office for a year, and then as an engineer’s needed little editing. Children's editor assistant for the BBC. Paddington is a particularly beguiling Peggy Fortnum was commissioned to cre- bear, with his shapeless hat, his duffel ate the illustrations. Working in black and He was still in Reading in 1943, when a coat — bought for him by Mrs Brown — white — the illustrations were later building he was working in was hit by an ­and his suitcase stocked with marmalade coloured by others, one of whom was her air raid. Although he survived, 41 people sandwiches. It was a look that proved niece — Fortnum's drawings created were killed and many more left injured. perfect for merchandising. Shirley Paddington's unmistakable look. Today, Soon afterwards, he joined the Royal Air Clarkson, who ran a design company in signed pen and ink Paddington illustra- Force, but apparently had to leave because Doncaster, was so taken by the character tions by Fortnum are collectibles that sell of airsickness, and joined the British Army that she made Paddington Bear toys for for hundreds of pounds. She was very instead. her children ­— one of whom, Jeremy, dedicated to her art, remembers Barbara grew up to be the host of Top Gear. It was Ker Wilson, who says Fortnum’s illustra- Bond began writing at age 19 while sta- Clarkson who introduced the wellington tions played a key role in the ultimate tioned in Cairo during World War II. After boots to the character, to enable the toy success of Paddington. being paid seven guineas for a short story, to stand upright, and her rendering of the he decided the writing life was something bear propelled her company to multi-mil- The book was launched at Fortnum & he should aim for, and he went on to write lion pounds success. Bond added the wel- Mason’s department store in Piccadilly. short stories and articles, and even landed lington boots into a later book, to suit the Michael was very pleased, but there weren’t an agent. Today, he has more than 70 design strategy of the toy. a lot of people there, says Barbara Ker books to his credit. But A Bear Called Wilson. It was a small launch. Bill Collins Paddington was his first: It’s difficult to estimate the worth of came and we sold a few copies. The inter- Paddington Bear merchandise today, but it The opening paragraph was simply an esting thing about Paddington is that it encompasses clothing, toys, and collect- early-morning doodle brought on by the completely sold by word of mouth, and that ables. Yet many characters from children’s certain knowledge that if I didn’t put was how it became known. She says it had books could have become a marketing jug- something down on the blank sheet of to be reprinted early on. It was becoming gernaut. Why has Paddington Bear taken paper in my typewriter nobody else known as a good bedtime story and both such hold of the imagination? would. parents and children loved it. It became clear it was going to be one of our leading However, it caught my fancy, so I wrote The post-war imagination children’s books. a second paragraph, then a third, until by the end of the day I had completed a Barbara Ker Wilson notes that there were Michael Bond was a 32-year-old BBC cam- whole story … Ten working days later, many books starring bears around the time eraman. In his autobiography, Bears & having completed seven more stories, I that Paddington appeared, from Winnie Forebears, Bond says he was fortunate to realized I had a book on my hands.¹ the Pooh onwards, all helped along by the have entered television just as it became appearance of the teddy bear. But what commercial. Established talent at the BBC His inspiration was a toy bear sitting on made Paddington stand out? were being offered huge sums to go and the mantelpiece which he’d impulsively work at rival broadcasters, meaning the bought as a Christmas present for his wife It was such fun to find a new voice — that people left behind could expect rapid pro- the year before and called it Paddington, was what one looked for. All the other bear motions. Bond not only got to work on a because he liked the name of Paddington books had become rather old hat says wide variety of television genres and see Station. Today, many people believe the Barbara Ker Wilson It’s hard to describe

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London during the war, each child with a make money out of children’s books, she label round its neck and all its important points out. In the 1950s, there was this possessions in a tiny suitcase, that great post-war baby bulge and you had a prompted me to do the same for lot more books for children. Reading a book Paddington. 'Please look after this bear' was one of the ways parents could spend was a message the Browns could hardly time with their children. resist, and the addition of 'Thank you' said Toy Paddington based on Peggy Fortnum's illustrations as designed by Gabrielle Designs. even more.² Given that Britain is experiencing a mini baby boom right now, it’s conceivable that Craig thinks that Bond was part of a gen- there will be another golden age for chil- this, but they were a bit snobbish. She says eration of writers who were sort of process- dren’s literature in the next decade. But that while the world was changing rapidly ing the Second World War, adding that the for now, children can be content with in the 1950s, and those previous bear sto- other book that’s comparable to Paddington Paddington, a bear with a very special ries seemed to assume that they would be is Dodie Smith’s 1956 novel The 101 quality that gives him his enduring appeal. bought for middle-class children by middle- Dalmations, which was inspired by the class parents. Kindertransport — the rescue mission to It is something I recognised when I first save children from the Nazis. read it, said Barbara Ker Wilson. It’s got Paddington often pokes fun at elements of heart. middle-class life and middlebrow culture; Britain was also experiencing a wave of when he touches up a painting with post-war migration that was to change its 1. Postscript, A Bear Called Paddington abstract explosions of colour, it wins an character forever; Paddington embodies the (1958) Michael Bond art prize; when he goes to the theatre to best that such an experience could be ­— 2. p.145 Bears and Forebears: A Life So Far watch a famous actor, he ends up working the kindness of strangers, coupled with the (1996) Michael Bond as the prompt, because the actor hasn’t migrant’s urge to fit in. Fifty years later, the learned all his lines. But throughout, he question of migration and refugees has A SELECTION OF PADDINGTON maintains a very strong sense of right and become a fraught one in Britain, which BEAR BOOKS Bond tackled in his 2008 book Paddington wrong and gives hard stares to anyone All published by Harper Collins Publishers behaving badly. Here and Now, which sees Paddington questioned over his residency status. While A Bear Called Paddington (1958) Craig says Paddington has all the elements everything turns out well, Bond said it was 978 0 00 752862 2 Hb of a perfect story, because it’s about fam- important for authors — and, presumably, More About Paddington (1958) ily life and getting things wrong and them readers — to understand that life isn’t easy 978 0 00 675343 8 Pb turning out right. It’s also very funny. Other for someone who has left their country and Paddington Helps Out (1960) books of the time, like My Naughty Little can’t go back. 978 0 00 675344 5 Pb Sister or The Borrowers, don’t quite have Paddington Abroad (1961) that magic combination of ingredients, she In January, Pico Iyer wrote an essay for the 978 0 00 675345 2 Pb says. My Naughty Little Sister is just a New York Times on what Paddington Bear Paddington at Large (1962) bit too domestic and The Borrowers a bit had meant to him. Iyer, of Indian ancestry 978 0 00 675363 6 Pb and born a year before Paddington, was too wild. Paddington Marches On (1964) also small and brown and foreign, and also 978 0 00 675362 9 Pb But Paddington has an even deeper layer, had to grapple with the complexities of life Paddington at Work (1998) which resonates as profoundly today as it in the British Isles. Paddington Bear 978 0 00 675367 4 Pb did in the 1950s. He’s a refugee looking became so important to him that, as soon (1998) for a better life, as is his friend Mr Gruber, as he left school, he worked to save money Paddington on Top 978 0 00 675377 3 Pb the Hungarian who runs an antique shop: to visit Peru (only to discover that Homes Paddington Goes to Town (1998) for Retired Bears were a little thin on the 978 0 00 675366 7 Pb To me, one of the saddest sights of any ground). conflict is that of refugees, trudging Paddington Takes the Air (1999) 978 0 00 675379 7 Pb along some dusty road, leaving every- Craig makes another intriguing point ­— thing they have known and loved behind Paddington Takes the Test (1999) that authors like Michael Bond and Dodie 978 0 00 675378 0 Pb them as they head into the unknown. Smith were writing for children at the per- Paddington Here and Now (2008) It was the memory of seeing newsreels fect time, because Britain was in the mid- 978 0 00 726941 9 Pb show trainloads of evacuees leaving dle of a baby boom. It was very easy to

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