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Photos by Burrill Strong
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Chelsea Teddy Bear Co. owner Bob Turner will host a grand opening of the Chelsea Toy Museum this weekend.
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Robert Turner can barely contain his excitement. He's like a kid in a candy store - or better yet, an owner of a teddy bear company in a toy museum. It just so happens to be his toy museum inside his teddy bear company.
Turner, owner of the Chelsea Teddy Bear Co., may be married and have kids and look all grown up, but inside he's just a kid. His business is a model of efficiency. It employs many talented and hard working people, and his company continues to grow and expand.
Many people who have enjoyed this kind of success buy toys such as fast cars, boats and private jets - all for their own enjoyment.
Turner also enjoys toys. But these are real toys and he likes nothing better than to show them off and share their stories. All of this led to his creating the Toy Museum, another jewel in the ever expanding crown of Chelsea.
"The teddy bear has been the most popular toy in the world since it was first introduced in 1906, so teddy bears will obviously be a big part of the attraction, and some of the best early examples from companies like Steiff and Bing will be represented in the museum," said Turner. "On exhibit will be many rare and valuable toys that trace the history of toys around the world."
The Chelsea Teddy Bear Co. will officially open the new Toy Museum this weekend as part of the SummerFest activities. Tours and other family events are planned as part of the celebration.
The Toy Museum is a new addition to the company's downtown Chelsea factory complex, and is being billed as one of the finest toy museums in the United States.
"Ken Yenke has one of the greatest collection of toys in the world and he was excited about showcasing some of them here in Chelsea," Turner said. "The museum is based on his collection. What's really interesting is seeing the history of toys and how they have been a teaching tool for kids. These toys have taught generations of kids how to do things."
The exhibit includes many rare and valuable antique toys from Yenke's collection. One teddy bear on display in Chelsea has only one other like it that is known to exist, and that bear is on display in the Smithsonian.
Yenke, an author who travels the country giving seminars on his collection, was excited about the idea of sharing his passion with Turner.
"Two years ago I was doing a show in Ann Arbor and Bob introduced himself and invited me to talk in Chelsea," said Yenke, who lives in Strongsville, Ohio. "Bob went to Germany on business and spent a day visiting some of the museums there and he was so enamored with them that he asked if I had enough items to start a museum here."
Yenke didn't think they would be able to put everything together in time for SummerFest, but "somehow Bob got everything together and got everything in place."
Yenke, who often brings part of his collection on the road when giving lectures, was glad to have a place to showcase his collection. The items on display range from the late 1880s through the 1950s.
"The Chelsea Toy Museum will not be the largest in the world, but it will be one of the best," he said. "Visitors will be able to get a very good idea about the history and evolution of toys. They will see items that are seldom seen and possibly not on display anywhere else."
Breaking up his collection wasn't easy.
"The hardest part was separating ourselves from these things," he said. "Some of them are one of a kind or only one of a few known to exist. But we take comfort knowing they are in good hands and in the right place. They are displayed well and people young and old can know appreciate them."
Yenke, who has been collecting toys for over a quarter century, is more concerned about quality than quantity. While the Chelsea Toy Museum isn't the largest in the world, it's filled with unique and historical pieces.
"You don't want one of the largest museums, you want one of the finest museums," Yenke said. "And I think Chelsea has that with this collection."
That collection includes a 1905 16-inch Steiff Bear, one of only two known to exist. The other is on display in the Smithsonian. The Toy Museum also has another 1905 Steiff Bear, most likely the first teddy bear to be seen in Michigan. A year later, in 1906, the teddy bear became the No. 1 toy in America and has been ever since.
Turner points out a photograph of President Teddy Roosevelt along with a cartoon that was featured in the Washington Post. He then goes into story-mode, telling how the teddy bear got its start in America.
"In 1902 the president had to go down to Mississippi to help settle a border dispute between Mississippi and Louisiana," Turner said. "While they were there they went hunting and he came away empty. So they cornered, clubbed and tied a cub bear to a willow tree and called Roosevelt to the site and suggested he shoot it. He wouldn't shoot it because that wasn't really sportsmanlike.
"Well, a cartoonist from the Washington Post (Clifford Berryman) picked up on this and drew a cartoon of the scene. He then went on to include a small bear in many of his cartoons of Roosevelt. So Teddy adopted the bear as his campaign mascot."
The Chelsea Toy Museum features two of about a half dozen known "Teddy's Bears."
Admission to the museum is free.
"The museum will be free because we understand that families especially are feeling the pinch of higher gas and food prices," Turner said. "We want to offer them something to do that doesn't cost anything."
The Chelsea Teddy Bear Co. is located in downtown Chelsea at 400 N. Main Street in the historic Clock Tower complex. To contact them, call (734) 433-5499 or on the web at www.chelseateddybear.com
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