Teddy Bears of Social Media

Have you ever seen people get overly excited when they see a dog or a cat out and about, or when a picture of one pops up in their social media feed? Well, I'm like that about teddy bears. I always notice when there's a bear on screen in movies and television, and I'll never pass one by in a shop without giving them a closer look. In the same way that other people find that cute pets brighten their day, a teddy bear will never fail to make me smile and lift my mood.

So, of course I've found teddy bears to follow online, for whenever I need a little cheering up. Here are those I follow through their blogs, Twitter, and YouTube, which I'm sharing for those fellow teddy bear enthusiasts looking to add a dash of adorableness to their internet wanderings:

Horace the Alresford Bear

Photo by Karen Borek from Cotehele Daffodil Day

Horace is a teddy bear made in Alresford, England who was rescued from a charity shop in 2011 and now blogs about his adventures in Bristol and around the United Kingdom. Many of Horace's posts detail his trips to National Trust properties, so you can take in the gorgeous historic houses and gardens while getting a dose of teddy bear cuteness. Horace also posts photos on Instagram and Twitter, including some with his many siblings such as Nye, Theo, and Wilfred.

Jama's Alphabet Soup

Photo by Jama Rattigan from
Friday Feast: The Bear in the Window and Paddington's Bread and Butter Pudding with Marmalade

Jama Rattigan's blog is technically about culinary and literary matters, but her Teddy Bear Picnic category of posts is chock-full of adorable teddies, including the numerous Paddington Bears in her collection. Other literary teddies including Pooh, Corduroy, and Rupert also put in appearances, often with accompanying recipes.

Jane Hissey's Old Bear

Illustration by Jane Hissey via Twitter

Jane Hissey is the author and illustrator of the beautiful Old Bear series of books, and she frequently shares her exquisitely detailed and incredibly realistic drawings of Old Bear and his friends on her Twitter account, alongside occasional snapshots of the real toys that inspired the books. Hissey also recently launched a YouTube channel where you can watch the television series based on the show, completely for free. Each episode is ten minutes long and features stop motion animation and gentle narration--here's the first one:

Tatty Teddy

These short and sweet YouTube videos from British greeting card company Carte Blanche feature stop-motion scenes of their character Tatty Teddy, and are designed to be sent as e-cards. They seem to have stopped posting new ones years ago, which is a shame, but the collection they have features videos that can be sent for a variety of occasions. Here's a little montage from several of their Tatty Teddy videos: