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All of the information in the articles on these pages is copyrighted by PC Perspectives and Safety Net, Inc. and may not be used in any form without the written permission of the authors.
Ruth Fraser and Nola Hart
(appeared in the Dec/Jan 1999 issue of Beaniemania Magazine)
When the Attic Treasure line started in 1992, Ty Warner did something that was then considered innovative in the manufacturing teddy bear world. He used teddy bear designers and fully credited their unique patterns by including their names and in some cases, their signatures on their creations.This novel approach to creating the Attic Treasures line utilized the talents and creative ideas of established artisans. By recognizing the individuality of teddy bear artist's designs and by working to create and modify those unique patterns as manufactured pieces, Ty, Inc. introduced the art of teddy bear design to a new market of teddy bear collectors. Lately other lines of manufactured bears are following in Ty's footsteps, most notably the new line of Cottage Collectibles by Gantz . Two of the first designers brought on board by Ty Warner were mother and daughter co- owners of a teddy bear shop in Toronto . Ruth Fraser (mother) and Nola Hart (daughter) were already established teddy bear artists in Canada when Mr. Warner hand-picked them to help with his new line of small, jointed, stuffed animals.
Ruth Fraser was born in Canada and has resided there her entire
life. 
She is
the mother of two children, both of whom inherited their mother's artistic talent. Ruth
Fraser's daughter, Nola Hart, in addition to her work with Ty, Inc., is a recognized
teddybear designer and trained illustrator. Ms. Fraser's son is the lighting designer for
the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario. Ruth Fraser started sewing and creating
teddybears and other crafts when she was a child. Her first attempts at teddy bears were
the simple non- jointed variety but she quickly progressed to more advanced and intricate
patterns as she grew older. Until 1985, Ms. Fraser hosted craft shows and sold her
creations from her home. Although always a fan of teddy bears, even as late as 1983 Ruth
had only nine bears in her collection. There were no teddy bear clubs in the Toronto area,
so, by default she belonged to a doll club. Ms. Fraser and a few of the other members of
the club would bring their bears instead of dolls to show and tell. Finally the President
of the club grew quite exasperated and politely requested that they stop bringing in their
bears or start their own club. So, of course, that is precisely what Ruth Fraser did. The
Bearly Ours - a clever bear pun as ours means bear in French- club was founded in 1985.
This club continues today with over 100 members from the U.S., Canada and the United
Kingdom.
In 1990 Ruth and Nola opened the Teddy bear Garden store which
carried collectible manufactured bears such as Steiff, as well as artists bears by
Canadian bear designers. It was at this time that Nola started trying her own hand at bear
making. Nola remembers her first project, a jointed synthetic furred bear named Cubby,
which she still has at home. The Teddybear Garden provided a haven for Canadian Artists
who could work on their projects in the back room of the shop and sell their creations on
consignment through the front of the shop. Many excellent Canadian artists took advantage
of this nursery including Sue McKay, Hana Franklin, Joan Links and Linda Harris.During
this time, Ty Warner met and purchased designs from several artists at the shop including
Linda Harris, Ruth Fraser and Nola Hart. Ruth Fraser's designs for Ty included 
Henry, Fraser,
Grover and Mason. Henry originally designed and released in a gold color,had a special
artist's edition tush tag with Ms. Frasers's signature. Fraser, named after Ruth Fraser,
was also released with this special tag. Grover, a grown-up version of Fraser, Mason a
darker version of Fraser, and Henry Brown a darker color of the original Henry were all
released later without the special tushtag. Nola Hart's first designs for Ty included
Nola, Squeaky and Morgan. Ms. Hart's designs have her name, but at her personal request,
her signature was not imprinted on the hang tags of her creations. Nola - Nola Hart's
first pattern appropriately named after her- was soon joined by a sister bear named Emily,
who was named after one of Nola's children. Much later, they were joined by the third
sister in the family, Rebecca.The Teddy bear Garden continued successfully until Ruth
Fraser and Nola Hart decided to close its doors in 1995 and take their teddy bears on the
road.
Ruth Fraser and Nola Hart have started exhibiting their
creations at shows around the world including Tokyo, Japan, and at the Alexander Palace
(Aly Paly) in England. Currently, Ruth Fraser hosts a large show each May in Toronto
called the for bear artists. Every other year, including this coming May, the Hug-in is a
gala affair that includes a convention with workshops, banquets, auctions, and a one day
sale. Alternate year Hug-ins are limited to the one day sale event for teddy bear artists.
For more information about this wonderful annual event you may fax Ruth Fraser at
416.421.2895.
Ruth Fraser participates in many other Teddybear activities.
She is a member of the 
Teddy bear club in St. Catherine's which holds a paws across the border;
event with their sister club in Cleveland, Ohio each year. In addition to bears Ruth
Fraser is a internationally recognized Golliwog creator and member of the International
Golliwog Collector Club, a 500+ member organization based in Woodstock, N.Y. Ruth also has
a passion for antique Teddy 's and restores the elderly and infirm that are shipped to her
doorstep from across Canada. Her nine bear collection has now expanded to more than 500
bears including her own creations, other artist bears, antique bears and her own personal
teddy bear from childhood.
Nola Hart is also an avid bear collector.
While not quite as extensive as her mothers, Nola's collection contains over 300 bears.
Included in this collection are many wonderful artist bears including some from her
favorite bear artists, Helen Godfrey from Australia and Joan Links from Canada. Nola
confides that “ I've always slept with a Teddybear and still do. " Also
included in this collection is a special Paddington Bear that nine year old Nola begged
her mother to buy for her when they were both overseas in London.
While her mother concentrated on bears, Nola has expressed her
artistic talents in other areas. Nola also paints,quilts, and hooks rugs. Her
animal designs are not restricted to bears,she has created a menagerie of animals
including mice, and monkeys. Her design for Squeaky the mouse changed dramatically from
the original “Large eared white mouse prototype; to the all gray Squeaky that was
first manufactured by Ty, and finally to the Squeaky we know today.
Nola designed for Ty, Inc.from 1992
until 1995. She worked closely with Ty Warner to refine the designs to suit not only Ty
Warner's tastes but also to suit the feedback from retailers as well. Each Attic
Collectible, as they were then labeled, evolved gradually from prototype through final
production via experimentation with different fabrics and colors. Prototypes were made and
then not actually manufactured, like Woolie Brown. Or they were made and manufactured in a
completely
different color, like Reggie, whose original prototype is white. Ty would buy the patterns
from the designers and then change and redo them to suit his marketing needs. Clifford,
Digby and Tyler, all made from the same pattern but out of different material were
initially designed to have hump backs. Retailers and visitors to the Toy Fair were less
than enthralled with this feature and so design changes were made to give them straight
backs. stitched noses versus the horizontally stitched noses on the same style were more a
matter of factory changes than changes by design. Fraser, one of the first Ty designs,
changed from his prototype as well.The original Fraser was darker and less nappy but
gradually evolved to the Fraser we know today.
Nola, a busy mother of three, including a new baby, is now taking a break from the teddy bears. Eventually she hopes to get back to business. Perhaps her next ventures will find her concentrating on the arts of illustrating or quilting instead of teddy bear design. One of the charms of the Attic Treasures Collection for collectors has been the ability to get true artist designed bears at an affordable price. Lately, however, with no new designers announced to the line and the original designers creations retiring one by one, collectors have begun to ask themselves and each other why Ty, Inc. would change the direction of this line. I posed this question to Ms. Hart, who had worked closely with Mr. Warner in the very beginning of the Attic Collectible line. Nola Hart theorized that Ty Warner is an individualist who likes to retain complete control of his arena. When Mr. Warner began the Ty company he would make ten prototypes of a design and give them to retailers. Based on the reception they received, he would include it or exclude it from the line. Ms. Hart said that Ty Warner has a natural knack for knowing what will be well accepted. Nola said “He doesn't sew or draw. Mr. Warner will tell someone to make a cat' and then he would say 'make the cat's legs longer'. The person in Korea or China would be making the pattern from the modifications that Ty Warner directed. When Ty Warner decided to start a line that would compete with Boyd's, he had no experience with jointed plush pieces. He needed people with experience and talent to help him start the line. Rather than employ seamstresses to help him create patterns, Ty turned to established artists. Working withthese designers forced Ty Warner to lose some control in the creative process and it was likely difficult for him to accept an Artist's ideas of what a design should ultimately look like. Consequently, it is likely easier for Mr. Warner to drift away from his initial concept of crediting artists, and thus retain control, artistic and otherwise, over the process of creating and manufacturing the Attic Treasures. Avid Attic Treasure collectors hope that this is not true, and that Mr. Warner has new artists and new artists designs waiting in the wings for their grand introduction.
Maison D'Ours is not associated with nor endorsed by Ty, Inc.
