From the Darkroom: Tina Slayter and her teddy bears

Tina Slayter poses with Edgar, the largest item in her collection of, at the time, 1,400 teddy bears. By 1996, her collection would more than double to a menagerie of over 3,000 bears of various sizes, materials and national origins, earning her the nickname "Grandma Tina, Teddy Bear Lady of Springfield."

Grandma Tina began her collection at the age of 6, having insisted on a teddy bear rather than a doll for a Christmas present. From that day forward, Tina was set on teddy bears, claiming in 1994 that "every time there's a bear around, I can feel him drawing me to him." She even found her teddy bears to be therapeutic as she underwent cancer treatment, requiring four operations in the span of a year.

Although her dream of opening a teddy bear museum was never realized, Tina was happy to share her collection with the community, exhibiting her bears in local library branches and elementary schools. Tina died in 2016 at the age of 90. If you have any information about the fate of Tina's teddy bear collection, contact us at localhistory@thelibrary.org.

This image is presented in partnership between the Springfield-Greene County Library District and the Springfield News-Leader. For more historical images of Ozarks visit: thelibrary.org/fromthedarkroom

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: From the Darkroom: Tina Slayter's massive teddy bear collection