You might remember our post about Jackie Miley a few months ago. She is the owner of the official world’s largest collection of teddy bears.
Jackie is entered in the 2018 Guinness World Records book. Officially she has 8026 different teddy bears that are recognized by Guinness.
She probably has more than 10000 as a whole though. “I never had a teddy bear as a child — didn’t even know what one was until I was eight-years-old and saw one at the Minnesota State Fair,” Miley told Guinness World Records.
In the year 2000 Jackie won a bear while on vacation. She called it Grandma Jackie and that’s how her love for teddy bears really kicked off.
When she had around 3000 teddy bears, her friends started asking her if she’s submitted her collection to Guinness World Records. She didn’t, but after the 8th person asked, she decided to give it a go.
Miley’s collection features pretty much any teddy bear you can imagine. The smallest is 3/4 of an inch tall, while the largest is nearly 8 feet tall. The bears come from all 50 states and 29 countries. Her oldest bear is from 1905, making it 112-years-old!
She keeps her collection in a special Teddy Bear Town in Hill City, South Dakota. It’s a small house right next to her own house. It’s free to go there and see the bears, but you can always donate to keep the Town going.
Guinness have now posted a video of Teddy Bear Town. Check it out:
