The Cinnamon Bear

I was just watching two early Christmas videos, Hard Rock, Coco and Joe and Suzy Snowflake. Maybe you remember them too. Every time I see them, I am taken back to my childhood.

Arcadia, the publishers of the Image of America Series, put together the following YouTube video for a 2007 book about Christmas memories and State Street. You will catch a mention of my favorite childhood memory in the video. Christmas on State Street 1940s and Beyond.

My favorite childhood memory is not available on video. If it were available on video instead of in my mind, I'd be a happy lady. However, since he captured my attention before we had a television, The Cinnamon Bear is in my mind because I had to imagine him since his story was on the radio - and he was in the hearts of children across the land. My children couldn't quite get into the story. Maybe they were too old by the time I found tapes of the show, or maybe their magic memories are visual from the days of television instead of in their imagination.

The Cinnamon Bear story was first broadcast in Portland, Oregon in 1937 and still plays on radio stations throughout the country. The radio show we listened to was sponsored by Wieboldt’s Department Store. They also sponsored the short-lived puppet TV show of the Cinnamon Bear in the 1950s. According to Wikipedia, Wieboldt’s sold a stuffed teddy bear version of the Cinnamon Bear for $2.98 in the 1950s. Santa would give out free Cinnamon Bear buttons to children visiting Santa. Wonder what they’d cost on E-Bay today? The Cinnamon Bear was magic to me and my sister!

For those of you who don't know it, the story is about twins Judy and Jimmy Barton who go with the lovable Cinnamon Bear to Maybeland in search of the Silver Star that belongs at the top of their Christmas tree. Each day between Thanksgiving and Christmas we listened to a 15-minute adventure, as they met unforgettable characters as they traveled to the Lollipop Mountains, the Magic Island, the Picture Forest, and the Wishing Woods and on the Root Beer Ocean. Their adventures finally take them all the way to the North Pole in search of the elusive Silver Star. We even saw The Cinnamon Bear in a parade one year.

You too can meet Jimmy & Judy, Paddy O' Cinnamon, the Crazy Quilt Dragon and others on their adventure to find the Silver Star. The magical story is available online at: http://www.radiolovers.com/pages/cinnamonbear.htm