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Vermont: Where Teddy Bears Come to Life Every Holiday Season

December 1, 2010 at 12:11 PM | by | Comments (0)


Umm, that's not us posing there. Just FYI

If you can’t afford a trip to the North Pole this year to go with Santa on a tour of his workshop, there’s another holiday factory tour worth checking out. Find out where Teddy Bears come to life, as the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory welcomes one and all to take a look through their workshops just outside of Burlington each and every day.

On the guided tour, you’ll visit the cutting station where about 20 different parts of fur are cut out to make all the bears, and then you can see where they start to put about 430,000 bears per year into commission in the sewing room. If you’ve ever been to one of those Build-a-Bear places you know the best part of the tour has got to be where the little bags of fur are stuffed. Even though the machines they use are from the 1940s, the workers are able to stuff the bears with fuzz and fluff at 100mph.

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Each and every stop of the process is part of the tour, so there’s no secrets when it comes to bear construction. It even looks like pictures are welcome, so no need to leave the cameras behind like so many other factory tours.

Employees and bears will be doing their thing from 9am to 5pm each and every day this holiday season; however, everyone needs a little break so things do close down on Christmas and New Year’s Day. Tours last about a half an hour or so, and it’s only $2 per adult—but your kiddos are free if they’re under 12 years old. We’d recommend going during the week, as production usually slows to a halt on the weekend—also avoiding lunchtime is a good way to ensure that you’ll actually see something worthwhile.

Of course there’s plenty of opportunities to bring a new furry friend home with you, so if you’re not the best at saying no to a stuffed animal in need—bring some cash. Even the most basic of bears will set you back at least $50!

[Photos: Bruce Tuten]



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