Mono Monday: Something typically Swedish

I've told some of the tale of this bear before on Blip but it was a while ago, and as the Mono Monday theme set by Heanku this week is 'Something typically Swedish' I thought I would use it again, especially as I've found out a little more about it.

Back in the mid-1960's my older sister was in the Girl Guides.  One year they were visited by a group of Guides from Sweden, and each of the girls was billeted out to stay with the Guides families.  We had one of them staying for a few nights, a girl called Eva Fössberg.  I was probably about 12 years old at the time and she would have been around 19 and I have to confess to having quite a crush on her.  She brought with her a few presents and this bear was what she gave to me.

It is quite light and I have always assumed it was made from Papier Maché, but today I did a little bit of research as the name of the maker is still on a sticker on the base.  It turns out that it is actually made from a mixture of glue and moss from the forests of North Sweden.  They were designed by Swedish artist Carl Roos for Hammerdal and made in the 60's, and apparently quite collectable nowadays.

I've often wondered what happened to Eva; if she's still alive she would be about 80 years old by now.  I still know what she looked like in the 60's though; I found the photos of her I've put in the extra, together with my late older sister sporting a bit of a 'beehive' cut!