Punkinhead

Punkinhead, "the sad little bear", was a rubbery toy bear with a tuft of unruly orange hair. He was designed and developed into a storybook character by Canadian cartoonist Charles Thorson.[1][2]

Not to be confused with Pumpkinhead.

Punkinhead was the main character in a series of children's books published by the T. Eaton Company, a large department store in Toronto, Ontario. To promote the sale of the stuffed bear and the books, the store created a song about him and sold recordings of it.[3]

Punkinhead became associated with Eaton's Christmas advertising.[4] In 1947, Punkinhead appeared in Toronto's Santa Claus parade.[3] The character also appeared on many of Eaton's toys,[5] accessories and clothing.[6][3] Among them were kitchenware items such as bowls and mugs, furniture such as chairs and rocking horses, and clothing such as toques and mittens.[7]

The Punkinhead doll and books have become collectors' items.[8]

Books
  • Punkinhead, the Sad Little Bear
  • Punkinhead in Santa's Workshop, 1950
  • Punkinhead and the Christmas Party, 1952
  • Punkinhead and His Toy Workshop Adventure, 1954
  • Punkinhead in Animal Valley, 1955
  • Punkinhead and Jock the Jumper, 1960

References
  1. Audrey Greer (2006). The Santa Claus Parade Story: 100 Years of Great Parades in Toronto. J.B. Greer. pp. 26–. ISBN 978-0-9781978-0-3.
  2. Gerry Bowler (23 October 2012). The World Encyclopedia of Christmas. McClelland & Stewart. pp. 756–. ISBN 978-1-55199-607-3.
  3. Doug Taylor (November 2010). Arse Over Teakettle: An Irreverent Story of Coming of Age During the 1940s in Toronto. iUniverse. pp. 330–. ISBN 978-1-4502-0531-3.
  4. Bruce Allen Kopytek. Eaton's: The Trans-Canada Store, Page 322
  5. Hockey Night in Canada Junior. Lulu.com. 2011. pp. 108–. ISBN 978-1-257-81680-4.
  6. "Punkinhead - Santa's Very Special Little Bear" Archived 2018-11-07 at the Wayback Machine. Archives of Ontario website
  7. MacGregor, Roy (24 December 2007). "The little bear from Eaton's catalogue of dreams". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  8. Judith Cowan (1 September 2014). The Permanent Nature of Everything: A Memoir. MQUP. pp. 83–. ISBN 978-0-7735-9624-5.

Further reading
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