Flashback: Creator and Big Ted are together again

ABC Play School Big Ted recently polled 32 out of 100 TV when viewers took part in an entertainment magazine survey. Not a bad effort for Big Ted - one of the leading characters from the ABC Play School team. 

Graham Byrne was born in 1938 at a place called Watford, England. All through his childhood the Second World War ground on. As a small boy, Graham had agonised over the same plight as most kids – he did not have many toys. 

During the war, most of the toy factories were converted to the manufacture of military equipment. Toys that were made in war time were mainly constructed of paper or card due to rubber, plastics, wood and metal being needed for basic war equipment. 

By 1952, Graham’s father, Arthur Byrne, decided to migrate to Australia where he hoped to offer a better life to his family. Graham was only 14 years old at the time. 

The Byrne family became part of the ‘Ten Pound Pom’ scheme, the colloquial term to describe British subjects who had to pay ten pounds for their fare, while their children travelled free. 

Main: Big Ted … all dressed up.  

Play School’s Big Ted … with his own profile.
 

In the 1960s, Graham’s father established a plush push-along toy business. Graham was also interested in the toy industry. He was specifically concerned with designing and making teddy bears. So, in 1965, Graham decided to join his father and share of the factory. 

Graham called the business Kutie Toys, so named because of his yearning to create a cute looking range of bears. 

To make the business stand out, he intentionally changed the spelling. 

He chose a durable, washable fabric that was safe for children, which he sourced from Germany. Kutie Toys distributed bears in Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong and mainly sold through toy shops and pharmacies. 

In 1966, the ABC needed a large teddy bear for a new children’s program. Time plays horrible tricks, but Graham is not sure whether his father was approached by the ABC; or if  

Arthur thought that it would be good for Graham’s business to donate a bear to the national broadcasting service for the television show. Graham agreed with the idea - it was great. A special type of fabric was used, woollen claws were sewn onto the pads and the finished bear was donated to the ABC broadcaster. 

Fast forward to 2016 … 

Graham happened to be watching the 50th Celebration of Play School when, suddenly, he reeled back in shock. He saw Magda Szubanski hugging a teddy bear just like Big Ted. He studied the bear and thought, “That's my bear!” he shouted. 
 

The ‘creator’ of Big Ted, Graham, flanked by his two daughters Fiona and Vanessa, with members the ABC Play School team. 
 

He called for his wife, Barbara, to come have a look. They both peered intently at the TV screen and it didn’t take them too long to realise “yes”, that was the bear Graham made and Nadine – were avid watchers of the show; yet the girls grew up with no knowledge that Big Ted was made by their father. 

When the place was buzzing with grandchildren, who came along in the early part of the 21st century, they also watched Play School; one of the comments was that Big Ted looked like one of their grandad’s bears! 

Graham mentioned to his children that his wished he could give the bear a big hug after all the medical treatment that he had been having all year. His dream had come true. 

On October 14, the ABC Play School team met Graham and two of his daughters at the Studios and they were shown around the Play School set. With Graham reunited with Big Ted; it was something to behold. 

<< By Fiona Byrne, daughter No 3, and Frank Morris. 
 

Remember When …   

Were the Dutch first? 
In Western Australia, a Dutch explorer was killed by an Aboriginal party in 1606. He could have been from the ship Duyfken, in which the first white men came to Australia. 

First white person buried by Cook  
“Last night departed this life”, reported Captain Cook in his log in 1770“, of able seaman Forby Southerland, who had been ill for some time of tuberculosis, dies and was buried on May 1. He was interred “ashore at the watering place”, which Cook has name Southerland Point “in his memory.” It is believed Southerland was the first white person buried in Australia. (According to a local historian, the original spelling of the village was Southerland. But by 1835, when the area was proclaimed a parish, the name has changed to Sutherland. 

<< FM from his Great Aussie First series.
 

Sutherland Shire: Deep down