Shortly before she died, my grandmother gifted me a blue apron with a small emblem of a cute bear holding balloons.
Years later, I looked at it and wondered, “Is this Paddington?” I didn’t grow up with Paddington, didn’t really become aware of him until after his second movie got a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes1.
I didn’t even watch the first movie until earlier this year (and haven’t seen the second). But I looked it up, and he’s been around for a hot minute, having been created in 1958.
Part 1: Is this paddington?
Now Paddington has four distinct features:
- He’s a small bear.
- He wears a particular jacket, with 3 clasps
- He wears a red hat
- He likes marmalade, and is often portrayed with it.
This bear in question is holding balloons, and not marmalade.
He is a bear, and he does seem to be wearing the jacket.
But his hat is yellow.
A bit of research2 shows at least one image of Paddington labeled as such with a yellow hat. Case closed, it’s Paddington.
Part 2: Did my grandma know?
For this, I decided to reach out to her only daughter, my aunt. I briefly considered asking my father, but quickly ruled it out. No way would he know.
There’s just one problem: I don’t have my aunt’s phone number.
But! I remember that my wife was touched after her (my grandma’s) funeral, when my aunt reached out to ask if she (my wife) wanted a particular piece of jewelry
I asked if she still had the number, and my wife passed it along to me.
This is where things get strange:
I could ask my mom if you’d like.
Either my aunt was climbing into her attic to grab the ol’ Ouiji board,
OR my wife had the number for one of my cousins instead.
I re-read my message, glad I had used proper titles instead of relationships!
My cousin confirmed what I already knew: the bear was Paddington, and it had belonged to my grandma. She handed it to me herself!
I clarified. Did Grandma know it was Paddington, or did she just like the bear?
My cousin suggested I shake down a different branch of the family tree, and so I continued my journey.
Why not ask my father, just to be sure?
The Bear is not uncommon
Now this is interesting to me because I did not gain knowledge of the bear until I was a grown man.
Is it possible that my father was raised in a Paddington household, bathed in his teachings, and, like the proverbial fish in water, did not realize the soup in which he swam? That Paddington is less uncommon, that is more rare than previously assumed, but that my Grandma was a particular fan?
More investigation is warranted!
Part 3: How common is the bear?
To this end, I reached out to my other grandparents, on my mother’s side. They lived in the same town at the same time my father was being raised. If they were somehow unaware of Paddington, this would be the hot gun of evidence my theory needs, proving to my satisfaction that he was not evenly distributed across Midwestern towns, but that my apron-owning Grandma had special affinity for this ursine Peruvian.
Alas, the evidence did not bear me out.
I asked my mother if her parents knew Paddington, and she responded simply:
“Yes”
So perhaps the bear is common after all.
Time to shake another branch of the family tree.
The world may never know.
Conclusion
It’s impossible to know my grandmother’s true feelings or relationship to Paddingotn. I think she was probably aware of the bear, and whether she was or not, I believe that she would have liked him if she was.
That’s enough for me. In this house, we love Paddington. And we love him generationally.
Now to get around to watching his second movie…