Dean’s Rag Book Company, who used to be based in the old Wright & Pankhurst building in Tower Street( are alive and well and living in Pontypool, South Wales.
In the sixties and seventies Deans employed many Rye people and it was a blow to the town when they moved their toy making facilities in Rye to South Wales.
The firm, now known as the The Dean’s Company, have continued manufacturing Teddy Bears and other soft toys, and their latest bear “Miss Tease”, designed by Janet Clark, has become the Temptation Club Bear for 2004.
According to the Dean’s Collectors Club Magazine, Teddy Bears are one of Dean’s best sellers, this is not surprising because the company was Britain’s first Teddy Bear producer.
To find out how the company has progressed after leaving Rye a trip to their factory at Pontypool, Gwent for one of the Open Days can be recommended or if that is too far they can be seen at many Bear Fairs around the country.
From Rye’s Own August 2004
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