The Story of Snuffles the Bear‏

The Story of Snuffles the Bear‏

Once upon a time , many moons ago I met a lovely three foot
plush white bear named Snuffles.I had no idea what he was
or what he was worth but saw he had a FAO SCHWARTZ and
GUND hang tag so I thought he might be worth ten dollars
at least so I lifted him carefully into my arms.

It was pouring outside  that day so the lady at Goodwill
helped me fit him into a huge garbage bag and I put him
into another bag in my cart and hauled him all around
San Francisco that day looking for things to sell.He
got home quite dry and when I researched him I saw he
was worth  more than ten dollars ..maybe fifty?

Within one hour bidding had started and email
questions started flooding in.
'Was it nose worn ?"
"Are your sure he is that tall ?"
'Does he smell?"

Snuffles went up to $135.00 that day and stayed
that price give or take a few pennies for 6 days.
On the seventh day every time I looked, the price
was getting higher and higher. I go visit my sons
every year and it seems that every year there is
some sort of miracle that happens that pays for
my ticket.Snuffles was  definitely the summer
miracle that year.

When Snuffles closed at almost 600 dollars the
final day I cried. He would always be my miracle
bear. The man that bought him lived in Los Angeles
and I sprang for 'over night' shipping.He was
thrilled to have Snuffles.So thrilled he sold it
on the Internet for close to 3000 dollars a few
weeks later.

My son was upset.He said that I had settled for
too low a price. I had told him I ,for one had
no idea how much he would go for but was very
happy with the price. I asked him who was paying
for the air flight to go there.I asked him who was
paying for his birthday present.I laughed and
started screaming ,
"Why Snuffles the bear of course " :).We both laughed.

Years have passed and that particular Snuffles
has almost doubled in price.

Snuffles was designed in 1980 by Rita Raiffe who,
at the time, led the  GUND company with her
husband Herbert. She was inspired by the shape of
a beautiful crescent moon in the sky, and designed
a happy bear looking up at the moon. Snuffles
debuted in 1981 is now the oldest bear in Gund's
product line. The initial models were 12-inch tall
models available in brown or white.

Snuffles has been produced in a number of sizes
and colors. Most are between four inches and
three feet tall. The available colors have included
dark and light brown, blue, pink, as well as
rare green and yellow versions. In addition to the
traditional teddy bear, Gund has made Snuffles into
rattles, puppets and slippers. Some seasonal versions
have been released. Most of the colored bears have a
white snout, ears, and a white patch on their belly.
There has been a variety of fur types made over the
years including fur, velour, terry cloth and mohair.

Now I look for them all the time as Snuffles will
always be my miracle bear.,:)

This story was written for Boris who bought a
Hanukkah Snuffles bear from me this week.
His love for Snuffles has allowed him to create
a whole website for Snuffles and will soon move all
his Snuffles teddy bear collection to Germany with him.

May the GUND be with you.

Linda Seccaspina
Savannah Devilles.

I will post a picture of the gorgeous
Hanukkah Snuffles in a short while.

Thank you for the wonderful story, Linda.

Boris (creator of this snuffles bear blog)