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The Case of the Tootsie Roll Bear
A Tootsie Roll Teddy Bear with a He-Man vinyl figure, from The Wizard's Nightshirt Podcast.

The Case of the Tootsie Roll Bear

The Tootsie Roll bear, sold through Giftco, Inc., in fundraising catalogs during the late 1980s and early 1990s.

TOOTSIE ROLL BEAR CASE SUMMARY:

Name/Aliases: Unknown, Tootsie Roll Teddy Bear, Mama Bear

Company: Giftco, Inc

Availability: Fundraiser Gift Catalogue (Formerly), eBay (Currently)

Years Active: Late 80s and Early 90s

Frequency: Very Rare

Investigators: Will, Rebekah and Scott (The Wizard’s Nightshirt Podcast)

Case Status: Solved!

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You must be looking for information about the Tootsie Roll Teddy Bear, an elusive yet delightful pink bear with a terrycloth robe, slippers and signature red curlers to hold about a dozen little Tootsie Rolls. Produced by the Giftco company, the bear was sold in school fundraising catalogues from the late 1980s through the early 1990s.

The official name for the bear is unknown in the absence of an original catalogue, but online sellers have described this unusual yet charming gift item as “Vintage Plush Bear” and “Mama Bear” with Tootsie Roll curlers.

Whatever alias you know her by, you’re talking about the Tootsie Roll Teddy Bear. And we can confirm: She’s real.

How Our Podcast Caught the Case of the Tootsie Roll Bear

Our podcast became obsessed with finding one of these bears after an off-topic discussion during one of our regular episodes. Now, we’ve created this article to record the story of our successful investigation into the bear’s whereabouts – and as an official record of the bear’s existence, so others can learn about Tootsie, validate their memories or even find a bear of their own.

To explain how we found our Tootsie bear in the wild, we should first explain how a podcast like ours (which reviews 80s cartoons and writes a Halloween comedy series) started looking for one in the first place.

The Tootsie Bear Mystery began in the early days of the podcast, back in Episode 7 (“Diamond Ray of Disappearance”). Our hosts (WIll, Rebekah and Scott) were discussing how He-Man’s adversaries always seemed to find new magical artifacts. (Did they build them? Order them on Amazon?) Will suggested that Skeletor might find his best gadgets in a school fundraiser catalogue, like the one that sold the Tootsie Roll Teddy Bear. Though Rebekah and Scott were skeptical such an item ever existed, we were all taken with the image of a toy that seemed like a Hee-Haw character come to life in bear form, looking ready to chase her rascally husband out the door with a bread pin, and wearing – yes – curlers.

We had to have this bear … if it existed.

Going on a Bear Hunt

And so we put out a call to listeners to help us find one, so we could determine whether it once existed in the world or resided only in Will’s mind. During a recurring special segment, we would check in with our research progress and read tips submitted to our “Tootsie Tip Line” email address. We began to hear from all kinds of folks: people who stumbled onto our site while searching for the bear – and who hoped we had already found one; family members with faint memories of seeing the bear in a catalogue; and, eventually, a couple of listeners who were able to find an expired listing for the Tootsie Roll bear on eBay.

It did exist!

With new details from our expired listing, we could refine our search. Our hope was to contact someone from Giftco, who could help us find a bear or tell us about its history. But, alas, the Illinois-based fundraising company apparently filed for bankruptcy around 2009, a fact that was only briefly mentioned in the press and trade blogs.

But, yes, we had our proof! As promised to our listeners, we had located “Mama Bear with Tootsie Roll Curlers,” and her pictures looked exactly as Will described – and as others could corroborate. Perhaps most importantly, everyone had to admit that Will was correct about everything and always has been. We had had some good fun with our search, and believing the case had come to a close, we moved the investigation off the board. Solved.

And yet … the case felt unfinished. It stuck with us, like an old wad of chewing gum that tends to get lonely. We still wanted a bear.

A Break in the Tootsie Bear Case

We set up eBay alerts, trolled online auctions and contacted previous sellers – all to no avail. But then, about a year later, after a routine scan of the auction sites, we stumbled onto a listing for something called “Vintage Giftco Bear.” And there was the photo. It was Tootsie. We’d know her anywhere. After all these years, she had been found. Proof, at last. Peace. We placed a bid.

The bear arrived in a brown box, now missing her original Tootsie Rolls, but otherwise in perfect condition. With the addition of some new Tootsie Rolls, she was as good as new. In Episode 83 (“Enemy with My Face”), we were able to tell our listeners – who had followed the case with us since our earliest days – that the bear had been found. And – even better – it was going to a new, loving home.

Tootsie Bear Epilogue

As it turns out, we had been contacted earlier by someone who had spent years searching for one of these bears – ever since his daughter had lost hers about 20 years ago. He wanted to give one to her as a surprise gift. And now we could help make it happen! This was the perfect ending to the Case of the Tootsie Roll Teddy Bear.

So! If you’re wondering whether the Tootsie Roll bear really existed, it totally did. And, if you set those eBay alerts, you might get lucky too.

(Note: To really put the button on our case, we’re dying to find an old Giftco catalogue, especially if it includes a Tootsie Roll bear. If you have one, we’d love to hear from you. Please email us at rumors@thewizardsnightshirt.com.

References and Sources

Tootsie Saga Episodes

Try Our Podcast

Oh, and one more thing. If you appreciate the lasting value of quirky, sometimes-disposable pop culture, why not give our podcast a try. Join us as we watch Masters of the Universe with modern eyes, or listen to our original serialized Halloween podcast about the denizens of Curdle Holler.

You can download episodes of The Wizard’s Nightshirt Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.