First Paddington Bear Book is Published

How Come He Wears a Hat And Yet No trousers?

On this day in 1958, a cute Peruvian bear wandered into bookstores and children’s literary history. A Bear Called Paddington, the first of the inimitable hat-wearing ursine’s adventures, was inspired by author Michael Bond spotting a lone teddy bear on the shelf of a toy store at Paddington Station which he purchased for his wife. He wrote the first book in a mere ten days, going on to write 25 further volumes that have sold over 35 million copies worldwide and have been translated into forty different languages. As well as the many book-based adventures featuring the marmalade loving bear, Paddington has been adapted into three different television series and a major motion picture. Remarkably, the first ever Paddington stuffed bear toy was created by Shirley and Eddie Clarkson in 1972, specifically for their son Jeremy, who went on to do something with cars, if I remember correctly.