 Who owns a UK number plate like this ?
Answer below
 HELLO & WELCOME
My name is Jon Bratton. I say this because , when I visit a website, I want to know who created it.
(In truth, I say this so that the Googlebot will spot my name and give me immortality.......one crawler to another) I live in Low Fell, Gateshead, England, I am a Director of Imag-e-nation Ltd and I am a former pupil, very former, of Gateshead Grammar School. I have researched my own family tree
This website is about these things and for Brattons worldwide. The "Bratton WWWebsites" page is really for ego-surfers; ( the name for saddos like me who search for their own surname on the web), as well as genealogy, family tree, family crest and family history fans
HOW MANY OF US ARE THERE?
In this world, there are 4.5m Smiths and 3.7m Jones's but only about 10,000 Brattons
( The Bratton family name is 0.003% of all surnames in the English speaking world compared with Smith at 1.5% and Jones at 0.94% )
And here's where they are
UK 1100 11.0%
USA 8500 85.0%
Australia 130 1.3%
Canada 215 2.1%
New Zealand 55 0.6%
How come they all started out in the UK and now there are 8 times more in the USA?
Is it something in the water?
It is estimated that the spelling variations, confined to USA, number thus:-
Brattan 100
Brattin 500
Bratten 1000 (This may be a different surname root from Denmark)
Brattain 1000
Some purists might say that this website should only concern itself with the
main spelling but in fact all surnames are phonetic and the spelling matters little.
There is a 900 years history of the name but it is only in the last, say, 100 years that spelling has become consistent.
Why, even William Shakespeare, who was a right swot, spelt his name in several different ways
Since, it is this site's contention, that the Bratton family name was born in 1066 there's only 60 years or so to the 1000th Anniversary when all leaves, twigs and branches of the family tree will gather in one place.
Better start saving up, and one or two of you might consider getting cryogenically frozen while you're still fit enough to party
TIME OUT>>>THIS WEBSITE IS HUGE>>>COSTS LESS THAN 50p ($1) PER WEEK>>>ACTUALLY NOTHING AT ALL THRO' ADS>>>AND IS GREAT FUN. GET ONE IMMEDIATELY>>>GO NOW>>YOU CAN BORROW MY CAR TO GO
 <<This is JIM BRATTON with his partner Karen and his prized numberplate which is valued significantly more than the vehicle it adorns
This site is for genealogists, family history fans, ego surfers, arctophiles, old caprians, (Gateshead Grammar lads), Gateshead history folk, Geordie expats, Loxley Munsey and Steel family members, folk from Felling, Sacriston and Langley Park, locals and publicans of pubs called The Black Horse and scrapbookers & card makers. And even if you're a fan of leucippotomy or none of the above...
IF YOU CAME HERE LOOKING FOR JOHN W BRATTON and/or THE TEDDY BEARS' PICNIC HISTORY IT'S ALL AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE
This website is sponsored by imag-e-nation.com who bring card making supplies at staggeringly low prices
 John W Bratton said
..."There are Yankees by the dozens reaching out to British cousins"
..."our flags entwined will remind mankind ..that while the eagle soars and the lion roars..we'll sing I wish I was in Dixie and God save the King"
And we really ought to add in brief 'Waltzing Matilda' and 'The Maple Leaf'
"You can always tell a Bratton....but you cannot tell him much"
Said by Uncle Joe Bratton...often
(For family history genealogists that's Joseph Bratton, eldest son of Joseph Herbert Bratton)
 Bratton Brass Plaque
And this is the brass plaque that I, Jon Joseph Bratton, inherited from Uncle Joe
This website is five things in one:-
1) A Directory of Bratton websites worldwide
2) Two sections devoted to my own Bratton Steel (Gatehead, Felling) Munsey and Loxley (Langley Park, Sacriston) family tree, for the benefit of my whole extended family particularly of benefit to the genealogy fans of the generations to come. It also now corrects the long held belief in our family that our Grandad's cousin a John W. Bratton composed Teddy Bears' Picnic. It simply is not true. After extensive research and with the help of many experts I am now certain that it was written by the American composer John Walter Bratton ..full details at the bottom of this page
3) The Loxley Bratton section deals with my own immediate family and I have researched my father's WWII years, 4 of them being spent as a Prisoner of War ( POW ) in Stalag XVIIID (18D) Slovenia and Stalag XVIIIA (18A) Austria. Ambulance Driver John Steel Bratton of the Royal Army Service Corps ( RASC ) attached to the 4th Light Field Ambulance saw action in Verria, Greece and was taken prisoner in Crete when 10,000 British, Australian and New Zealand troops were ordered to surrender. The mass evacuation of troops from Crete was ended to save further Royal Navy losses. A precis of the story is in the Loxley Bratton section but the main POW story is HERE (click on the link)
4) A section which I am using to promote my old school with a view to organising a reunion. ..the school is Gateshead Grammar School and that's how most people would search for it, although, for the purists, and old Masters, I ought to use it's official name of The Grammar School for Boys, Gateshead.
Including Gateshead Grammar School in a Bratton family history genealogy website is not as obscure as it seems, for in the early Sixties there were four of us there; myself and brother Alan and half cousins Malcolm and Denis.
Primarily, for a reunion, I'm looking for those in my year (1960 - 65/67) and particularly my class but, of course, I'd love to hear from any Old Caprian.
You can sign into the Guestbook or email me
jon@jbratton.com
4) A section on the history of Gateshead. GATESHEAD, the 100% owners of THE GATESHEAD MILLENNIUM BRIDGE and 50% owners of the world famous TYNE BRIDGE, the place where NEWCASTLE BROWN ALE is brewed and from where TYNE TEES TELEVISION broadcast the region's television, the home of THE METRO CENTRE, Britain's largest shopping centre and the home of GATESHEAD INTERNATIONAL STADIUM, Britain's most important athletics venue outside London, the home of SALTWELL PARK, the region's biggest and best Victorian Public Park, the home of JOSEPH SWAN'S house ( the home first lighted by electricity ), the home of THE SAGE and THE BALTIC, the Country's latest centres of excellence for music and contemporary art, and the home of THE ANGEL OF THE NORTH, the most viewed public art in the world,and temporary home of THE COG ON THE TYNE and more tall ships than you can shake a stick at during the Tall Ships' Race 2005 visit to Newcastle / Gateshead
There's more about Gateshead History below
This is the titling on the website of Jerry Bratton
www.thebrattonfamily.net where, you'll find a Forum, the family crest and genealogy
<<<<<LOOK LEFT AND UP ......see Guestbook.....Sign in please
 Before going any further, here is a brief explanation as to why the domain name of this site is www.39steps.com
Dad liked to go to the local pub and he always said that it was 39 steps, to the pub, from our house in Low Fell. The pub in question is the Black Horse, Kells Lane, Low Fell, Gateshead and, it is shown, here at night, and on the homepage of my brother's website www.gateshead-pubs.com or CLICK HERE for a funky view of The Horse
 This picture is of the Black Horse way back in history.. indeed before my Dad's time and my Grandad's time when Kells Lane, the thoroughfare of my youth, was still in it's youth.
While on this subject I have decided to have a pint in all other Black Horse pubs in the UK. For details CLICK
Welcome to the John Bratton Party
Now, have you any idea how many people are called John Bratton (or Bratt*n) ?
Well there's lots and I shall invite them to The Black Horse, for a get-together party. And the person I'll get to put up the banners and balloons is the John Bratton who was the Set Dresser on the movie Titanic. Is that a big job or what?
(www.dicaprio.com and http://www.imdb.com/find?q=bratton;s=all will confirm that I'm not making this up.. amazing isn't it how many Brattons are in the movie business)
We shall dine on Bratton's Clam Chowder...oh yes there's a recipe that carries our name
The cynics may check it out at http://www.sacbiz.com/hagoth/nh1ward/cookbook/maindish.htm#006
Ignoring the fact that he is long since dead, Dr John Bratton can bring along some of his 139 slaves to serve us and the author Dr John Bratton can take notes. In case of accidents I shall ask John Bratton Risk Management expert to give the venue the once over and to show the party on the internet I'll get Jon Bratton's company to install the cabling
Unfortunately, there are no Johns to play the music so I will call upon
three called Bratton who will not be attending a "shared forename party" of their own.
I'll get Tripp
<<<<<<<
to play his MalletKat (as he did with the Lexington Jazz
Project www.lexjazzproject.c om )
 and, on guitars, Creed, who used to play with The Grass Roots >>>
That's Creed on the right but bear in mind this is over 30 years ago. He left to take up an acting career
( see Movie Stars in the Bratton Websites section )
Actually, Creed has now hit the big time as a star of The Office (USA)
 and Artie formerly of US rock band French TV
(see www.progressor.net )
<<<<<<<<<<
(The rodeo rider below is from the website of cowboy-loving Jon Bratton...he will, of course, be invited to the party)
 After a rousing chorus of Teddy Bears Picnic
composed by the American composer John Walter Bratton, we shall sing the very famous song
which goes:-
"So hurry along, the stag's afoot
The Master's up and away
Haloo, haloo, we'll follow it through
From Bratton to Porlock Bay"
If you want confirmation of the Haloo Haloo song go to the website of The Yetties, the pop group that made it famous ( among Exmoor folk ) by clicking here
Ensuring we can hear ourselves speak I shall ask Clint Bratton to be in charge of volume control. He is a New Zealander who is Director of Loud Response. I think you'll follow my thinking here
Dano Bratton will also be useful on the entertainment front.
He is a ventriloquist dummy maker and he knows loads of ventriloquists,
comedians and magicians. I'll leave it up to him. I'll just say
"Book 'em Dano"
Check out Clint in the Number Crunching section
and Dano would have been well worth a visit at www.ventriloquistpuppets4u.com but he's now quit.What's that about? You can still see a picture of Dano's dummies (Bratton Buddies) in the Websites section
 Trailer for the Gateshead History Section
Venerable Bede called it Goatshead. Christina Stead, in her novel, called it Bridgehead..see below
It was also called Gateside
 Governed by The Prince Bishops of Durham
Initially it was just one little area called Pipewellgate on the south bank of the Tyne
Daniel Defoe lived in Gateshead for a while, as did Joseph Swan, as did Lewis Carroll as did William Wailes of stained glass fame
John Wesley brought us Methodism and William Booth brought us the Sally Army
 Geordie Ridley of "Blaydon Races" fame, the poet Thomas Wilson, famous for "The Pitman's Pay" and Alex Glasgow, left wing songwriter, are all Gateshead lads
There was the Great Fire and Explosion of Gateshead and Newcastle
And the Cholera Epidemics
The Growth of Coal Mining
The Industrial Revolution
Glass works, potteries, windmills, iron works, steam engine manufacture
The Birth of the Railways..The High Level Bridge
The pubs, churches, hospitals, grand houses
The birthplace of Paul Gascoigne, Steve Stone, Chris Waddle, Laurie McMenemy, Bobby Pattinson and Leam Lane Lass Jill Halfpenny
The "dirty lane leading to Newcastle" slander
Get Carter Car Park
The Tyne Bridge
The Sage
The Millennium Bridge
The Baltic
The Angel of the North
Gateshead International Stadium
The Metro Centre
Dunston Staiths
Gateshead is south of the river Tyne
Rich in hills and Geordie Pride
There's Windmill, Carr and Sheriff Hill
Shipcote, Team Valley, Sunniside
As well, it's very well rich
Springwell, Swalwell, Saltwell wey aye
Bill Quay, Low and High Felling
And, without the ing, there's the Fell, Low and High
There's also tons of ton toons
Winlaton, Dunston, Wrekenton and Ryton too
And reflecting coalfields there's Team Colliery
And Cube Pit or is it Q?
There's hams like Whickham, Bensham and Deckham
There's Salt Meadows, Friars Goose and more
Crawcrook, Mount Pleasant and Blaydon
Windy Nook, Felling Shore and Pelaw
Eeh, there's Lamesley, Wardley and Birtley
Heworth and Rowlands Gill
The Teams, Eighton Banks and The Old Fold
And did I mention Lobley Hill?
The Famous Newcastle Grindstones were from Gateshead as was the writer of the Blaydon Races, the Geordie anthem. And guess what, even the famous Newcastle beer originated on the sooth side of the river. In 1770 John Barras, a wealthy home brewer of Whickham, established a Brewery in Gateshead. In 1884 John Barras jnr took over The Tyne Brewery and in 1890, with John Barras as the major player, Newcastle Breweries was established...and now Newcastle Brown Ale is brewed in Gateshead, where so called Newcastle Exhibition was born... a full circle
William Falla 1739-1804 and his son William Falla II 1761-1830 were nationally known Gateshead nurserymen specialising in trees and were involved in a number of local and national landscaping/parks/cemetary projects. The name lives on in Felling in Falla Park School and a couple of street names
Full of old and new pictures, postcards, prints, paintings and photographs. For more go to www.picturesofgateshead.co.uk
Gateshead residents include:-
Marcus Bentley Narrator of Big Brother Thomas Bewick Engraver William Booth Founder of the Salvation Army Catherine Booth William's wife Mary Bowes, Countess of Strathmore Author and celebrity sleep-about Harry Clasper Oarsman David Clelland Labour politician and M.P. Joseph Cowen Radical politician Steve Cram Athlete Emily Davies Educational reformer and feminist. Founder of Girton College Cambridge Daniel Defoe Writer and government agent Madeleine Hope Dodds Historian George Elliott Industrialist and M.P. William Falla (see above) Nationally-known commercial gardener Paul Gascoigne Footballer Alex Glasgow Singer Songwriter Jill Halfpenny actress Sharon Hodgson Member of Parliament Brian Johnson Current lead singer with rock band AC/DC James Leathart of Brackendene Low Fell -Industrialist and art collector John Thomas Looney Shakespeare scholar Robert Stirling Newall Industrialist
Bezalel Rakow Communal rabbi James Renforth Oarsman Geordie Ridley - Composer of 'Blaydon races' William Shield Master of the King's Musick Christina Stead Australian novelist John Steel - Drummer, The Animals Sir Joseph Swan Inventor of the electric light bulb Jonathan Tulloch Author, former Gateshead teacher William Wailes Stained glass maker Robert Spence Watson Author, arbiter and public benefactor Taylor Wane Porn star Sylvia Waugh Author of the 'Mennyms' series for children
Daniel Defoe is remembered as the father of the English novel but it is a little known fact that his most famous novel Robinson Crusoe was written in Gateshead. And Alice in Wonderland was partly written by Lewis Caroll, in the Ravensworth Arms, Lamesley
Christina Stead, the Australian author, set her only English novel, Cotter's England partly in Gateshead (called Bridgehead in the novel).
She was in the North East in 1949, accompanied by her friend Anne Dooley (nee Kelly), a Geordie girl, who was the model for Nellie Cotter, the heroine of the book. It appears that her friend's parent's house where she stayed was a tedious walk up the hill from Gateshead station: the Kelly family lived at 37 South Street (now demolished) opposite the school. That's a long haul up the bank from Team Valley to Sheriffs Highway. I'd recommend cutting through Saltwell Park.
And talking of steep streets...
 "We went te the shops me Mam and me, just after t'war..."
Included because I like it...it was somewhere in Gateshead, but where?
Catherine Str,apparently
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imag-e-nation.com
Card making and scrapbooking supplies at low, low prices. Hundreds of verses for crafters to use and a fantastic craft community with live chat and forums
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American John Walter Bratton, The Composer of Teddy Bears' Picnic (TBP)
 "The Teddy Bears' Picnic" 1907 (John W Bratton & Jimmy Kennedy) is like "Happy Birthday to you" 1893 (Mildred and Patty Hill) inasmuch as it will be around forever
It has long been believed in our family that John William Bratton of Newcastle, North East England, my Grandfather's cousin was the composer of TBP and, according to family oral tradition he sold the rights to it, lock stock and barrel, which was not an uncommon practice for new composers, to a London publisher, Bert Feldman
IT IS NOW KNOWN THAT THIS IS NOT TRUE
Australian Sheet Music
The irony of all this will not escape the Geordie family members now that it is absolutely clear that it was composed by the American John Walter Bratton of New Castle, Delaware North East America, who wrote some 250 songs, using a lyricist more often than not, but occasionally writing his own lyrics. Surprisingly, to me anyway, he left TBP as an instrumental. Perhaps because it sold so well as sheet music he never felt the need to do anything else with it
 Some 25 years on, << Jimmy Kennedy, the very famous lyricist, but then relatively unknown, was working in London's Tin Pan Alley employed by Music Publisher Bert Feldman and was asked by his boss to write words to the instrumental for a pantomime. Henry Hall of The BBC Dance Orchestra became aware that the instrumental now had lyrics and he broadcast the song in the kiddies' section of his
popular radio show
the very next day before it had been officially published. The publisher's office was deluged with requests for sheet music which did not exist. Kennedy was almost sacked and was punished by Bert Feldman by having his royalties withheld for the rest of Feldman's life...some 15 years or so. It was obvious from the listeners' reaction that this would be a hit and Henry Hall recorded it. The rest, they say, is history.
 Correcting the myth that a Brit, a member of our family, wrote Teddy Bears' Picnic is due, in no small part, to the expertise and research of Perfessor Bill EdwARds of www.perfessorbill.com
As he was harnessing his best resources to establish the facts I was checking out the genealogy route, determined to find John Willie Bratton as my Grandma described him. Well, guess what.. there is no John Willie Bratton to be found in our family
Meantime Bill ascertained that the primary publisher was the NY company M. Witmark & Sons (Feldman was merely a selling agent for UK, British Dominions [other than Canada & Oz] and Continental Europe) and that in the copyright records John WALTER Bratton is spelled out in full. If that wasn't enough he sought consensus by sending out parts of his research on TBP, as well as information from this site, to eight others. Four of them are sheet music collector/historians - one in Australia, one in Canada, and two in the US so not just American biased - and four are ragtime performers - one from Sweden, one from Canada, and two from the U.S.
He did not reveal for them the middle name logged in the Witmark books ( found in NYPL archives), but a lot of the other information.
He heard back from six of them - all four of the sheet music experts and two of the pianists. The consensus is unanimous among the six, three of which have other Bratton instrumentals, that the American Bratton was the composer. They also look at things like cover art clues, copyrights (again, why would the British Bratton copyright a piece in the US under his name AND Witmarks, but nothing else, when the American did this consistently) All the experts give (and rightly as it seems) little credence to oral family history. So, in the light of the overwhelming evidence, I am embarrassed that I ever believed it but Grandma told me it every week from when I was 5 till I was 11
 So << Granny if you're looking down at this I hope you're proud of your multi generational hoax!!
Some people think I'm being hard on you but what gets me is that you told me, not that it was John William Bratton but John Willie Bratton; that's how urban myths are perpetuated. I put a lot of store by that
What it does show is the power of the internet. Generations have gone along with this myth and in a 3 week period, through internet resources, it has been exposed as a nonsense. I apologise to all those kids in school playgrounds that I, and many others, have bragged to, about our famous relative.
Now did you know that a Brattain won a Nobel Prize for inventing the transistor!!
There's still a few oddities around which I am invesigating and will report back for example an historic American ragtime site fails to cite the Teddy Bears' Picnic which is clearly significant yet do cite The Teddy Bear by Albert A Williams which is not
______________________________________________________________________
APPENDIX
Links That Might be Useful to Those Interested In the Music Period 1890's-1920's and/or Teddy Bears
www.perfessorbill.com The rag time site
http://www.cymruted.com/index.html The Teddy Bear site
www.find-book.co.uk good because sheet music is allocated an ISBN No and they have a good site search engine. This where I found most of John Walter Bratton's work
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/ref=s_b_rs/202-1976893-2673428 ditto
http://levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu/index.html loads of old sheet music from wence came many of the sheet music shown here
http://www.parlorsongs.com/bios/composersbios.asp#johnbratton Excellent site for music of the period and a bio of JWB
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APPENDIX
JIMMY KENNEDY
 Born 20 July 1902
Died 6 April 1984
For more on Jimmy CLICK HERE
OR HERE But it's wrong at the end..he did not die in Northern Ireland but Cheltenham, England
OR HERE for the story on the writing of the words to The Teddy Bears' Picnic
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APPENDIX
NAME & SHAME THE WEBSITES THAT HAVE IT WRONG
http://www.sterlingtimes.org/children3.htm
Sterling Times is dedicated to Britishness and patriotism and then has the nerve to alter the TBP words from Mummies & Daddies, as written by Jimmy Kennedy, to Mommies & Daddies.
http://www.grainger.de/music/composers/bratton.html say this:-
"John Walter Bratton was an American songwriter ...whose instrumental piece The Teddy Bear's Picnic (1907) was very popular and enjoyed a revival after lyrics for it were written in 1939 by Ethyl Wood."...elsewhere on the same site they say the words were written by Paul West WRONG
http://www.williamgaddis.org/recognitions/I2anno1.shtml
The Teddy Bears' Picnic: written for solo piano by John Walter Bratton in 1908; lyrics added by Jimmy Kennedy in 1933. The song became famous first as a hit for Bing Crosby and later as the theme for The Big John and Sparky Show, a radio program of the 1950s WRONG DATE FOR MUSIC, WRONG DATE FOR WORDS, WRONG FIRST HIT
www.thestorytelling-resource-centre.com/Teddy.html
The Teddy Bear March & Two Step Music originally composed by J W Bratton and published by Albert A Williams 1907. In1930 American lyricist Jimmy Kennedy added words AS MIXED UP AS MIXED UP CAN BE..COMPLETE & UTTER RUBBISH..well named site!!
www.teddybearandfriends.com/archives/articles/history.html
www.theteddybearmuseum.com/teddyfacts.htm
www.anvil.clara.net/tedhist.htm
The three above all say The Teddy Bear March and Two Step was by J K Bratton and it became The Teddy Bears' Picnic.THERE IS NO COMPOSER CALLED J K BRATTON AND THE TEDDY BEAR MARCH & TWO STEP BY ALBERT A WILLIAMS REMAINED JUST THAT, IT NEVER MUTATED INTO ANYTHING ELSE
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APPENDIX
RECORDINGS OF THE TEDDY BEARS' PICNIC
On cylinder Edison's National Phonograph Co
1908 Edison Symphony Orchestra
1908 Arthur Pryor's Band
1913 American Symphony Orchestra
 1932 Henry Hall and the BBC Dance Orchestra
? Josef Locke
? Rosemary Clooney
1950 Bing Crosby
1953 Montovani
 Ann Stephens
 The Goons
 Acker Bilk- The Best of Ball, Barber & Bilk 1958
Frank Devol 1949
Russ Conway
Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead 1971
Richard Ruskin 1973 Takama Records
Anne Murray 1977 Album
Gary Rosen 1999
Robert Farnan
Willy Russell Play "Our Day Out" ends with Nic Jones version of TBP
TBP features in "Streetwise" 1984
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APPENDIX
M. WITMARK & SONS, MUSIC PUBLISHERS
 The firm of Marcus Witmark & Sons was a leading publisher of sheet music established in New York City in 1886
 Father Marcus Witmark was the legal head of the company, but from the beginning it was run by his sons Isadore, Julius, and Jay, who were under legal age when the company started (ranging in age from 17 to 14 years old).
 They had their own printing machine and started out publishing their own compositions. They were adept at plugging songs, and within a few years were publishing the works of such composers as John W Bratton, Gus Edwards George M Cohen and Victor Herbert
When the International Copyright Law was passed in 1891, Witmark pioneered publishing versions of British music in the United States and arranging for American hits to be published in the U.K.
 Their company was the first of its kind because they published “professional copies” and made them available to everybody in the industry, especially performers.
 In 1899, they published the Paul West song “I Want Dem Presents Back”, which became an instant hit, especially after the song was performed on Broadway.
 The Witmarks also published many of George M. Cohan’s songs, and his first big hit called “I Guess I’ll Have To Telegraph My Baby” in 1898.
One of the reasons why the Witmark’s business was successful was because of the popularity of “coon” songs, which had begun to dominate the Tin Pan Alley style.
It seems incredible that titles such as that one and strap lines like "Coon March", "A Darkie Misunderstanding" or "A Coondom Throwdown" was around barely more than a hundred years ago. See the Coon Song section below
 Ragtime also brought great success to the business although they missed out on the biggie... Irving Berlin was published by Ted Snyder
 They would use the space at the bottom of each page to promote other songs in their stable
 and often the whole of the back cover would be used to promote their publications
In 1907 they published the hugely popular The Teddy Bears' Picnic which sold worldwide
In 1929 M. Witmark was purchased by Warner Brothers
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APPENDIX
John Walter Bratton
(1867-1947)
 John Walter Bratton was born on 21 Jan 1867 in New Castle (Wilmington) Delaware
Watercolour of New Castle circa 1830 by Robert Shaw
According to the 1880 census he was brought up in the New Castle home of his Grandmother Sarah Bratten (note the spelling) b Pennsylvania 1826. (In 1896, see below, he wrote a song She's Been a Mother To Me and at the top of the sheet music he added "Dedicated to Mrs Sarah Bratton who has been a mother to me")
 His musical education was at the Philadelphia College of Music. He went to New York's Tin Pan Alley and early on, he was a stage performer in both plays and as a baratone singer. His main career was as a composer of light music and it was said "Bratton was musically very literate and used subtle changes in rhythm patterns and dynamics to great effect." Indeed in the 1930's the record of his best work, The Teddy Bears' Picnic was used by the BBC for calibrating & adjusting equipment, due to the recording's large dynamic and frequency range
 When he was 32 years old he became a Freemason, being raised in St. Cecile Lodge No. 568, New York City on 28 Feb 1899. His publishers the 3 Witmark brothers had joined that lodge 5 years earlier. It was/is the Mother Lodge of the Entertainers' Lodges and it also boasted as members, though not necessarily at the same time, Louis B Mayer (1912 ish), Al Jolson (1913), Harry Houdini (1923) and Film Director D W Griffith (1905 ish)
 Bratton wrote over 240 songs in a prolific 25 year period from when he was about 25 years old in 1893 till his early 50's in 1918 ( career essentially over but he still dabbled for the rest of his life, late on, turning the tables and being the lyricist for other composers, clocking up a grand total of 250 songs carrying his name)
Broadway, New York
 Walter H Ford wrote lyrics to 83 of the 107 Bratton songs in 1893-1901, 9 had 6 different lyricists, 13 were instrumentals and in two, Bratton wrote both words & music
 Paul West wrote the lyrics to 71 songs (1902-1907 mainly). In the 3 year period 1903-05 John & Paul co-wrote 61 songs, bettering the output (but not the quality) of the John & Paul team some 60 years later
JWB's composing peak was in 1903 when he had 40 songs published ( 8 instrumentals, 26 with Paul West and 6 with other lyricists) The production line period of his career was over by 1905, with 89% of his entire output in print.
 The Musical Comedies he wrote the music for are Hodge Podge & Co., Man From China, The Pearl & the Pumpkin and The Newlyweds and their Baby
Those in which he had songs featured include Star and Garter, Buster Brown, A Trip to Chinatown, The Toreador, Merry Go Round, The Rainmakers, The Old Holmstead Company, Gentleman Joe, The Land of Nod, The Gay White Way, The Office Boy, The School Girl and Charlot Revue 1925/26
In 1907 his best work The Teddy Bears' Picnic was published which sold well as a piece for piano.
 The theatre connection remains, because in Britain The Teddy Bears' Picnic was often used in pantomimes. Indeed it was for a pantomime that 25 years later, words were added by Jimmy Kennedy in London's Tin Pan Alley. It became a great record success... it has gone on to become a classic.
In 1909 Bratton teamed up with Leffler and the Bratton Leffler Co produced three Broadway shows, The Newlyweds and Their Baby (1909) Let George Do It (1912) and The Ding Bats (?)
 In 1914 Victor Herbert and others formed the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). John W Bratton became a charter member
His last published work during his lifetime, was as the lyricist, in 1945 at the age of 78, a career spanning 52 years...but note, I've seen reference to a work published 9 years after his death in 1956..I Watched The Rain w&m by Edith Temple, John W Bratton and Nancy O'Hara
John Walter Bratton died in his Brooklyn home on 7 Feb. 1947 a fortnight after his 80th birthday.
Broadway, NY
I have identified over 250 songs ( huge output but not compared with the later non-music writing/reading Israel Isidore Baline known as Irving Berlin who, allegedly, churned out 1500 songs)
Bratton's songs will be listed over the next few weeks...work in progress but here's some
1893 3
1894 15
1895 7
1896 12
1897 5
1898 13
1899 14
1900 23
1901 17
 Rose Glenroy (1893)
Marie (Gavotte) (1893)
Two Pictures (Dear Parents Faces) (1893) with Walter H Ford
<< My Dainty Cigarette (1894) with Walter H. Ford
The Bells of Fate (1894) with Walter H Ford
What d'ye think of Hoolihan? (1894) with Walter H Ford
His Little Sweetheart Nell (Nellie & Jack) (1894) with Walter H Ford
I Didn't Think He'd Do It But He Did (1894) with Walter H Ford
It's All Right But It's Awkward (1894) with Walter H Ford
<< Only Me (1894) with Walter H. Ford
Just A Word For Father Too (1894) with Walter H Ford
My Dear Old Chum (Dick & I) Walter H Ford
The Old Stage Door (1894) words & music by John Walter Bratton
<< She Didn't Do A Thing To Him (1894) with Walter H. Ford
Tell Me Ruby, Will You True Be (1894) with Walter H Ford
Under the City Lights (1894) with Walter H Ford
Waiting For Nora's Return (1894) with Walter H Ford
<< Tarry Carrie Till We Marry (1894) with Walter H. Ford
I'll Not Forsake You Tom (1895) with Walter H Ford
Just As If She Didn't Know (1895) with Walter H Ford
The Melody He Used To Sing (1895) with Walter H Ford
<< Henrietta! Have You Met Her? (1895) with Walter H. Ford
<< Honey Does You Love Yer Man? (1895) with Walter H Ford This "coon love song" featured in "Gentleman Joe"
<<The Sunshine of Paradise Alley (1895) with Walter H. Ford. This featured in "A Trip to Chinatown"
<< Songs We Hear on the Stage (1895) with Walter H. Ford .This featured in Frank Durmont's Farce/Comedy "The Rainmakers" playing in Boston and Washington in 1894
It's Sunshiny Weather Because We're Together (1896) with Walter H. Ford
In a Quiet Little Way (1896) with Walter H Ford
Sadie My Lady (1896) with Walter H Ford
<< Isabelle (1896) with Walter H. Ford
Like A Good Little Girl Should Do (1896) with Walter H Ford
She Always Dressed in Black (1896) with Walter H Ford
Since Maggie Bought the Parrot (1895) with Walter H Ford
Sunday Night in Lovers Lane (1896) with Walter H Ford
The Belle of the Season (PF) (1896)
<< She's Been a Mother to Me (1896) with Walter H. Ford
<< I Love You in the Same Old Way, Darling Sue (1896) with Walter H. Ford. This featured in Denman Thonpson's "The Old Holmstead Company" see sheet music below
<< ditto
 Obviously popular enough to warrant at least 3 print runs
<< Genevieve! (1896) with Walter H. Ford
Japanese Lantern Dance (1897)
 << Lurline (PF)
(1897)
Dance of the Waves (PF) (1897)
Mary's not as Green as She Looks (1897) with Walter H Ford
 Trilby Waltzes by John W Bratton
<< Gayest Manhattan (PF) (1897)
The Gayest Manhattan Musical ran for 65 performances fom 22 March 1897 at Koster & Bial's Music Hall
 << Hats Off to the Boys who "Made Good" (1898) with Walter H Ford
Have a Kiss With Me (1898) with Walter H Ford
I Didn't Marry All Yer Kin (1898) with Walter H Ford
I'm Nothing To You Now (1898) with Walter H Ford
Oh Liza How I Despise Her (1898) with Walter H Ford
 << My Sunday Dolly (1898) with Walter H Ford
 Don't Ask Me To Forget (1898) with Walter H Ford
 The Old Folks Are Longing For You May (1898) with Walter H Ford
The Queen of Hearts (PF)
You May Regret Some Day (1898) with Walter H Ford
At The Sound Of The Sunset Gun (1898) with Walter H Ford
Cinderella, the Girl of Girls (1898) with Walter H Ford
Gold Wine and Kisses (1898) (Gavotte) (PF)
<< The Pride of the Pier (1899) with Walter H Ford
Heigh Ho- Love is but a Bubble (1899) with Walter H Ford
 << I Got All I Can Do To Keep My Hands Off You (1899) with Walter H Ford
The Change Will Do You Good (1899) with Walter H Ford
Home Was Never Like This (1899) with Walter H Ford
My Queen Irene (1899) with Walter H Ford
Such Is My Love For Thee (1899) with Walter H Ford
That You May Be Mine Your Eyes (1899) with Walter H Ford
 << Rubber Neck Jim (1899) (PF)
 The back inside cover listing JWB's works up to 1899
 << Mandy, From Mandalay (1899) with Walter H Ford
The Touch of a Woman's Hand (1899) with Walter H Ford
 << You're Honey to yo' Mammy Just de Same (1899) with Walter H Ford
At Sunrise: Idyllic (PF) (1899)
 << Dear Old Soul (1899) with Walter H Ford
The Gay Golf Girl (1900) with Walter H Ford
Dream Days of Seville (1900) with Walter H Ford
Beneath the Evening Star (1900) with Walter H Ford
Billet Doux (1900) with Walter H Ford & G Hobart
Mon Cher Ami (1900) with Walter H Ford
My May Day (1900) with Walter H Ford
 My Sunflower Sue (1900) with Walter H Ford ...featured in the Musical Comedy
Hodge Podge & Co
Broadway Show by Bratton and Ford
73 performances
23 Oct 1900
22 Dec 1900
Hoyt's Theatre, NY
My Sunbeam from the South (1900) with Walter H Ford
Not for a Day but for All Time (1900) with Walter H Ford
I'm the General that History's Been Waiting For (1900) with Walter H Ford
 << My Little Lady Bug (1900) with Walter H Ford described as "A Blackville Love Ditty"
Was featured in John J. McNally's Vaudeville Farce "Star & Garter" 26 Nov 1900 till 15 Dec 1900 at the Victoria Theatre
as was
Star & Garter (PF)
A Scion of the House of Highball (1900) with Walter H Ford
Since Then There's Been No Light About The Place-The Taller Dip (1900) with Walter H Ford
A Soldier of Love Am I (1900) with Walter H Ford
Some Day When Things Go Right (1900) with Walter H Ford
Springtime Bells (1900) with Walter H Ford
Sweetheart That Was and That Will Be (1900) with Walter H Ford
You Can Never Tell What A Kiss Will Do (1900) with Walter H Ford
Didn't You Believe My Enemy (1900) with Walter H Ford
A Gentleman of Winning Ways (1900) with Walter H Ford
The Grand-Stand Belle (1900) with Walter H Ford
 When You Are Near (1901) with Walter H Ford
 Your Own (1901) with Walter H Ford
<< He Ought To Have A Tablet In The Hall Of Fame (1901) with Arthur L Robb
Featured in the Musical Comedy "The Toreador" Feb 1904
Recorded by Edward M Favor on Edison
Be My Little Apple Dumplin Do (1901) with Walter H Ford
I'm Not Coming Back (1901) with Walter H Ford
AND HE DIDN'T...WE SEE NO MORE OF WALTER H FORD except one where he co wrote words
 << In a Cozy Corner (1901)
Mister Hezekiah from Ohio (1901) with Chas n Douglas
Alice (1901) with Alfred Bryan
Alimony Alice (1901) with Alfred Bryan
My English Rose (1901) with John Ernest McCann
My Little Belle of Japan (1901) with Arthur L Robb
My Pansy Blossom Blue (1901) with Chas N Douglas and Walter H Ford
 << In a Cosey Corner...again...there seems to be some confusion over the spelling. The correct American spelling is "cozy". John W. clearly likes "cosey" because he used it again in 1903 in "My Cosey Corner Girl" ..see below
Sue (1901) with Alfred Bryan
Sue sued me & I sued Sue (1901) w/m by John W Bratton
The Barrymore Waltzes (PF) (1901)
Barn Yard Frolics (PF) (1901)
Locks of Gold & Grey (1901) with CD Bingham
Maimie B (1901) with Matt Woodward
Dream Days of Seville (PF) (1901)
1902 11
1903 40
1904 23
1905 34
1906 4
1907 3
1908 11
1909 1
1911 1
1913 3
1917 1
1919 1
1921 1
 Little Maggie Dooley's Tin Band (1902) with Alfred Bryan
<<Somebody's Waiting 'neath Southern Skies (1902) with Arthur J Lamb
We've Been Living in a Fool's Paradise (1902) with Arthur J Lamb
 << My Little Hong Kong Baby (1902) with Paul West
Columbine (1902) with Paul West
Ting Tang Kee (1902) with Paul West
Mary Ann McGuiness (1902) with Paul West
My Little Cup of Tea (1902) with Paul West
Nellie Mine (1902) with Paul West
 The Man from China
Broadway Show
By Bratton & West
41 Performances
2 May 1904
4 June 1904
Majestic Theatre, NY
The Man from China Overture
She Read the New York Papers Everyday (1902) with Paul West
Come Along Mah Emily (1902) with Paul West
details from The Man from China
<< The Amorous Esquimaux (1903)
<< Life is Too Short to be Wasting Your Time (1904) with Paul West
<< There are Fifty Seven Ways to Catch a Man (1904) with Paul West
 The Bower of Love (PF) (1902)
 << I Want to Play Hamlet (1903) with Paul West
Guess! Guess! Guess! (1903) with Paul West
<<Tell Me In the Golden Sunlight (1903) with Arthur J Lamb
The Roses Honeymoon (PF) (1903)
Star of India Morceau Oriental (PF) (1903)
 <<True Little Blue Little True Little Eyes (1903) with Geo A Norton
As the Ivy Loves the Oaks (1903) with C N Douglas
Tender Hearted Jennie (1903) with Paul West
 << I'm On The Water Wagon Now (1903) with Paul West
This was featured in the Englander/Smith Broadway Musical called The Office Boy Victoria Theatre NY
2 Nov 1903
2 Jan 1904
Laces and Graces (1903) Instrumental composed by John W Bratton & Gustave Salzer
Sunshine & Roses (PF) (1903)
Finale i (1903) with Paul West
One of the Customs of China (1903) with Paul West
 For I am a Married Man (1903) with Paul West
Society on de Bowery (1903) with Paul West
Make Believe (1903) with Paul West
They've Never Been Married Before (1903) with Paul West
One Nice Little Million (1903) with Paul West
 << My Cosey Corner Girl (1903) with Chas N Douglas
Recorded
* Henry Burr on Columbia
* Harry Macdonough on Edison
Very unusually this cover does not credit the lyricist
Words
Beside the murmuring sad sea waves
Some lovers like to sit
And watch the white winged seagulls
O'er old ocean's bosom flit
While others claim a country lane
With moonlight bright above
Is the ideal and only real
And proper place for love
By silv'ry stream some say love's dream
Takes on an added zest
There ev'ry glance takes on romance
And kisses taste the best
Then cheek to cheek on mountain peak
Some love to flirt and kiss
But of all the lot the choicest spot
In my opinion's this
CHORUS
In a little corner cosey
Where I sit with my darling Rosie
With her dear little hand in mine
And gaze into eyes devine
Ah my cosey corner pillow
Beats the moonlight stream or billow
And my heads in a whirl as I kiss each curl
Of my cosey corner girl
With lamp turn'd low..naught but glow
Of soft and mystic light
I seek my cosey corner
And the girl I love tonight
Mid draperies and downy ease
Luxurious and divine
I take sweet sips from ruby lips
Of she...whose only mine
On moonlight tryst let some insist
By mountain lake or stream
Where rude mosquitoes interfere
And spoil love's sweet young dream
In wooded dell let others tell
Of love's sweet ecstacy
But when I spoon I want no moon
The place I choose will be..
CHORUS
 In a Lotus Field
(PF)
1903)
How I Thought I Look (1903) with Paul West
Le Banc Pre fe re (PF) (1903)
My Telephone Belle (1903) with Paul West
 <<The Love Song of the Flowers (1903) with Arthur J Lamb
A Pretty Little Peach from Orange (1903) with Paul West
The Amorous Esquimaux (PF) (1903)
Pretty Little Boarding School Girls (1903) with Paul West
 "Goodbye Teddy You Must March, March, March" with Paul West published in 1904 (3 years before TBP) during the presidential election campaign, basically tells Teddy Roosevelt to move out of the White House because Alton Parker, the Democrat opponent is going to win the election.
In reality, it was Teddy 1 Alton 0
That's the Girl (1904) with Paul West
Seeing New York in the Rubber Neck Hack (1904) with Paul West
I Love You Forever & Aye (1904) with Paul West
Resolved (1904) with Paul West
 << In a Pagoda (PF) (1904)
In Black and White (1904) with Paul West
 Happy Jappy Soldier Man (1904) with Paul West
Additional music & songs by John W. Bratton and Paul West is credited in Leslie Stuart's Musical "The School Girl" 1904
 The Pearl & the Pumpkin
Broadway Show by Bratton & West
72 Performances
21 Aug 1905
4 Nov 1905
Broadway Theatre
Featuring Honeymoon Hall and Jack O' Lantern Joe
A PRE-CURSOR TO THE TEDDY BEARS' PICNIC? Note, above, that in 1905 John Walter Bratton wrote an instrumental called The Squirrels' Picnic
Involved in the illustration of the book The Pearl and the Pumkin, on which the musical was based, was former newspaper cartoonist William Wallace Denslow (1856-1915) who was famous for the illustrations in The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz by L Frank Baum. Indeed he arrogantly believed that it was his pictures that made the book the success it was
 From the Broadway Musical The Pearl and the Pumkin based on the book by Paul West and pictures by W W Denslow
<< Honeymoon Hall (1904)
Recorded 1905 - Harry Macdonough on Victor
Mademoiselle New York (1904) with Paul West
Come My True Love (1905)
<< Jack O' Lantern Joe (1905) with Paul West
<< The Little Black Man (1905) with Paul West
This and many of the previously shown songs seem disgraceful in current times. For information about so called coon songs CLICK HERE or see below
<< When America Is Captured By The Japs (1905) with Paul West
 << Come On, Let's Two Step (1905) with Maurice Stonehill, as featured in the Revue,The Land of Nod, which opened 1 April 1907
The Girl I Left in Boston Town (1905) words Chas N Douglas and John W Bratton music Ernest Ball featured in the musical comedy The Rollicking Girl
Rosy Lips (PF) (1906)
Spangles (PF) (1906)
The Wooden Soldier (PF) (1906)
<< The Town at the End of the Line (1906) with Arthur J. Lamb
<< Note...change of lyricist & publisher
<< Ev'ry Baby Is a Sweet Bouquet (1907) with several
This featured in The Newlyweds and their Baby, a Broadway production by The Leffler Bratton Co., and written by Bratton & others, with 40 performances at Majestic Theatre
22 Mar 1909
24 April 1909
The Leffler Bratton Co also produced "Let George Do It" which ran from 22 April 1912 to 4 May 1912. It was also based on a book by Aaron Hoffman with words and music by Paul West and Nat D Ayer
The Leffler Bratton Co also produced "The Ding Bats" see below
 << Somebody's Been Around Here Since I've Been Gone (1907) with Paul West
This featured in The Gay White Way at the Casino Theatre for 105 performances 7 Oct 1907 to 4 Jan 1908
 << The Teddy Bears' Picnic (PF) (1907) with words added in 1932 by Jimmy Kennedy
<< Molly McGinnity You're My Affinity (1907) Words & music by JWB
<< My Boy Bill (1908) with Paul West This featured in Gus Edward's "Merry Go Round" described as a Musical Comedy-Two Balmy Breaths from Bohemia which ran at the Circle Theatre from 25 April 1908 to 18 July 1908
 In this show featured "Baby say Da! Da!" (1908) by John Walter Bratton and Paul West see below
<<Dimples (1908)
 Mandy from Mandalay (1909)
Mamzelle Fifi (1909) with Paul West
The Jungle Jubilee (1910)
The Rest of the Week She's Mine (1910) with Charles H Taylor
Patsy Rosenstein (1911)
r Man (1914) with Paul West
In Cherry Blossom Time (1914) E Salzer, Words by John W Bratton
 << Then I'll Come Back To You (1917)
Words & Music JWB
 << An Irishman was Made To Love and Fight (1918) Words By John W Bratton, Music by Joseph H Santly
When the Fightin' Irish Come Home (1919) w&m by John W Bratton
<< That's Why God Loves The Irish, One and All (1919) by Ernest R Ball with lyrics by John W Bratton
Bobbed- haired Baby's Ball (1921) by Percy Wenrush, Words by John W Bratton
 << On a Saturday Night (1922) by John W Bratton and W A Downs
How Is It By You, By Me It's Fine (1921) by Ray Perkins with lyrics by RP and John W BrattonMender of Broken Dreams
(1925) w&m by John W BrattonThis featured in Charlot Revue for 138 performances in the Selwyn Theatre NY from Nov 1925 to March 1926T
<< Sweetheart Let's Grow Old Together (1936) Leo Edwards with lyrics by John W Bratton
"I Talked to God Last Night" (1940) by David W Guion with lyrics by John W Bratton
"Lovely Little Lady" (1941) by Geoffrey O'Hara with lyrics by John W Bratton
 Lets Get Together by Geoffrey O'Hara with lyrics by John W Bratton
 << Defend Your Country (1940) by Leo Edwards with words by John W Bratton
I Watched the Rain (1956) w & m by Edith Temple, John W Bratton and Nancy O'Hara
____________________________________________________________________
APPENDIX
The Teddy Bear History
 In America, the teddy bear, according to tradition, began with a cartoon. The cartoon, drawn by Clifford Berryman and titled "Drawing the Line in Mississippi," showed President Theodore Roosevelt refusing to shoot a baby bear. Roosevelt had travelled to Mississippi to help settle a border dispute between that state and Louisiana, and his hosts,anxious to please this avid hunter, took him bear hunting. The hunting was so poor that someone finally captured an old (& half clubbed to death) bear and invited Roosevelt to shoot. Roosevelt's refusal to fire at such a hapless target inspired Berryman to draw his cartoon, taking cartoonist's licence by changing the old bear into a bear cub. The caption is a word play on the two ways Roosevelt was drawing the line—settling a border dispute and refusing to shoot a captive animal.
The cartoon appeared in a panel of cartoons by Berryman in The Washington Post on November 16, 1902. It caused an immediate sensation and was widely reprinted .
 << Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President 1901-1909 with his picture of the cartoon and his bear-inspired hat & umbrella stand.
A Russian emigrant Morris Michtom and his wife Rose of Brooklyn, New York saw the Berryman cartoon and made a toy bear from brown plush material with button eyes and movable arms. They called it appropriately ‘TEDDY’S BEAR’, and asked the President if he could use the name Teddy. In a handwritten reply Roosevelt said; “ I don’t think my name is worth much in the toy bearcub business, but you are welcome to use it”, and so the world’s favourite toy was born out of an act of soft heartedness by President Theodore Roosevelt.
In 1907 John W Bratton wrote a piece of music he called The Teddy Bears' Picnic. In 1932, Jimmy Kennedy, penned the words, taking the lead from JWB's original title
 This, The Teddy Bear, is often confused with The Teddy Bears' Picnic. I don't know why because the word "Picnic" is clearly not there. It was written and published by Albert A Williams, allegedly in 1907 but I'm not sure I believe that
Also, allegedly, in 1907 John Sylvester Fearis wrote March of the Teddy Bears, Teddy Bear Waltz, Dance of Teddy Bear and The Teddy Bear Rag. That needs further investigation
Also Teddy Trombone 1918 by Henry Fillmore
And not forgetting Teddy Bear by K Mann & B Lowe 1956 recorded by Elvis Presley
CHILDREN's TOY BEAR HISTORY pre TEDDY BEARS
1834 Robert Southey writes Goldilocks and the Three Bears
1847 Margarete Steiff is born on July 24
1894 German toy company Gebrüder Sussenguth show a stuffed bear toy in their catalogue.
1897 Bear skittles and ‘roly-poly’ toy bears feature in the Steiff catalogue and the Steiff company takes its own stand at the Leipzig toy fair.
1899 Margarete Steiff registers patents for 23 of her soft toy designs, including a dancing bear and a bear handler with a brown bear.
TEDDY BEAR, and other Childrens' Bear, HISTORY
1902 The above Berryman cartoon appears in newspapers in America prompting Morris
 Michtom to produce and sell the first ‘Teddy’s Bear’ in his Brooklyn shop.
1903 March. Steiff Company sells 3000 of its 55PB bear to America following showing at Leipzig toy fair. Deans Ragbook Co. established in August.
Steiff introduces the button in the ear in March; registers Bar 35 PB with string jointing.
Steiff introduces rod-jointed Bar 28 PB.
Steiff registers Bar 35 PAB, first disk-jointed teddy bear design in February.
Seymour Eaton's Roosevelt Bears first copyrighted.
Toy magazine Playthings first uses term teddy bears in May.
Steiff produces 975,000 bears.
1906 May. First advertisement for plush bear toys, still called Bruins, in the American toy trade magazine Playthings.
1906 November. First advertisement using the words Teddy Bear, by American manufacturer E.J. Horsman, in the American toy trade magazine Playthings.
1907 Dean’s Rag Book Company publishes Teddy Bear, by Alice Scott, illustrated by Sybil Scott Paley.
1907 Seymour Eaton publishes The Roosevelt Bears newspaper strip in book form (USA)
1907 Music of the famous song, The Teddy Bear’s Picnic, written by American composer John Walter Bratton and about the same time several other pieces of music with Teddy Bear in the title
1908 Dean’s Rag Book Company advertises cut out and sew teddy bears in Home Chat magazine. Steiff first mentions tilt growler in catalogues: first uses glass eyes for British market.
First lawsuits between Steiff and other German companies over button in ear.
Large plush bear, unidentified, appears in a Dean’s advertisement.
J.K. Farnell company makes the first British teddy bears.
1909 First cartoon animated teddy-bear cartoon, Little Johnny and the Teddy Bears, made in the USA.
1911 The Bruin Boys first appearance in Arthur Mee’s Children’s Encyclopaedia.
1912 Steiff create black teddy bears to give as mourning gifts after the sinking of the Titanic.
1915 Dean’s advertise plush teddy bears, made in their new workshop, in their Kuddlemee toys catalogue.
1919 First non-stop Atlantic flight by teddy bears when aviation pioneers Alcock and Brown take teddy bear mascots with them on record breaking flight.
1919 First British comic-strip teddy bear character, Bobby Bear, published in the Daily Herald . Other animal cartoons were Charles Folkard's Teddy Tail (mouse) in the Daily Mail and Austin Payne's Pip Squeak and Wilfred (dog, penquin and rabbit) of the Daily Mirror
1920 First Rupert Bear picture story, << Little Lost Bear, written and illustrated by Mary Tourtel, appears in the UK newspaper, The Daily Express. Mary was born in Kent in 1874, the daughter of a stained glass artist and stone mason. After Art school training, she became a professional book illustrator and married Herbert Tourtel, a sub-editor of the Daily Express. Mary loved to draw landscapes, animals and people. In unashamed nepotism, Herbert arranged that Mary would draw a small cartoon feature telling the tale of, at that time, a nameless "Little Lost Bear" (largely to rival Teddy Tail of the Daily Mail.)
As new artists took over there have been minor changes and it still runs today
1921 German company Schuco patent the Yes/No bear
1921 J.K. Farnell set up the Alpha works, making bears designed by Cybil Kent.
1924 First colour animation film with a teddy bear theme when Walt Disney produces Alice and the Three Bears
1926 First Edition of Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne, published.
1930 First teddy bears made by UK firm Merrythought with designs by Florence Atwood 1932 Lyrics of The Teddy Bear’s Picnic written by Jimmy Kennedy and set to the original music written in 1907.
1938 H.M. Queen Elizabeth (now The Queen Mother) grants a Royal Warrant to
1939 British teddy bear makers Chad Valley. 1944 Smokey Bear adopted as the mascot of the United States Forest Fire Prevention Campaign.
1945-1951 Teddy Bears commonly made with nylon and rayon plush.
- Merrythought's Cheeky first appears in catalogue.
- Yogi Bear debuts on Huckleberry Hound; has own show 3 years later.
- Wendy Boston introduces new safety eye.
- Berenstain Bears appear in first book.
- Benjamin Michtom, Ideal founders son, gives a 1903 teddy bear to Roosevelts grandson Kermit, who donates it to Smithsonian.
 24th January
1948 Issue No 327
'Biffo' The Bear appears for the first time in The Beano
1952 First appearance of Sooty, the teddy bear glove puppet and magician, on British television.
1953 Steiff celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Steiff bears with a new style bear, ‘a comical young bear cub’, called Jackie Baby.
1954 Wendy Boston, Welsh toy maker, produces the first truly washable teddy bear.
1956 Elvis Presley recorded 'Teddy Bear'
1958 Publication of the first Paddington story, A Bear Called Paddington, by Michael Bond.
1959 Walt Disney acquire the rights to Winnie-the-Pooh.
1962 Colonel Bob Henderson launches The Teddy Bear Club
1962 Margaret Baker publishes The Shoe Shop Bears
1965 Russ Berrie is established, starting with Fuzzy Wuzzies.
- Baloo sings Bare Necessities in Disney's The Jungle Book.
- Good Bears of the World started.
- First artist bear shown by Beverly Port.
- Steiff introduces first replicas.
- North American starts VIB line.
- Doll Reader first uses term bear artist
- Care Bears are introduced.
- Teddy Bear and Friends magazine started.
- Good Bears of the World name this the International Year of the Teddy Bear.
- First teddy bear museum opens on Berlin.
- Teddy Bear Review magazine started.
- Steiff collectors club started.
- A record $158,000 is paid for a 1905 Steiff bear at a London auction.
- US Postal Service issues a teddy bear stamp for its celebrate the Century program.
- Steiff's Louis Vuitton bear sells for around $210,000 in Monaco , highest ever.
-
- US Postal service issues 4 stamps of teddy bears by American companies.
- Guinness World Records reports the smallest handmade teddy bear is 9mm long.
- Many celebrations for the anniversary; Steiff and Disney hold first event together in November.
2005 40th Anniversary of Russ Berrie.
1969 Peter Bull publishes Bear With Me (USA The Teddy Bear Book)
1969 Jim Ownby launches the charity Good Bears of the World.
1975 Walt Disney’s first animated film of Winnie-the-Pooh appears.
1979 Peter Bull designs his traditionally styled Bully Bears for House of Nisbet.
1979 Marquis of Bath organises the Great Teddy Bear Rally at Longleat.
 1980 Pudsey Bear and BBC Children in Need Appeal launched
1981 Peter Bull’s 1907 American bear, Delicatessen, stars in the television adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s novel Brideshead Revisited.
1985 Christie’s of London hold the first ever teddy bear only auction.
1988 Gyles and Michele Brandreth found The Teddy Bear Museum in William Shakespeare’s home town of Stratford upon Avon
1989 First British Teddy Bear Festival held in London.
1989 Happy Anniversary, a 1926 tipped mohair Steiff bear, is sold at auction in London for £55,000 to American Paul Volpp as a 42nd wedding anniversary gift for his wife, Rosemary.
1990 First Steiff UK Limited Edition.
1990 Hermann Teddy Original 75th Anniversary Limited Edition
1990 Merrythought Diamond Jubilee Limited Edition.
1994 Teddy Girl, a 1904 cinnamon Steiff bear formerly owned by Colonel Bob Henderson, is sold at auction in London for £110,000 to Yoshihiro Sekiguchi, founder of the Teddy Bear Museum in Izu, Japan.
1996 Teddy Edward, the world’s most travelled bear, is bought at auction by Yoshihiro Sekiguchi of the Izu Teddy Bear Museum for £34,500
1998 Guinness (8.5 mm tall), made by Lynn Lumb of Halifax, England, enters The Guinness Book of Records as the world’s smallest teddy bear.
2002 100th anniversary of the teddy bear.
_____________________________________________________________________
SHEET MUSIC COVER ART
_____________________________________________________________________
COON TUNES
 "Coon" is a derogatory term referring to black people and principally used in the minstrel shows of the 19th century. The so-called coon songs cruelly mocked black language, attitudes and manners. Titles such as "All Coons Look Alike to Me," by << Ernest Hogan were typical. But note Hogan allegedly didn't regard the term to be derogatory...yeah right!
( By the way, Ernest Hogan's first big hit was the first of a new genre of music, which he coined "ragtime" in 1895. He grew up in the Shake RAG District of Bowling Green, Kentucky..hence the name.)
The so called "Jim Crow" laws and customs rested upon the racist characterization of black people as ..
 ..culturally, personally, and biologically inferior.
 The term Jim Crow started
in 1830 when a white performer blacked up and danced a jig singing "Jump Jim Crow."
 The song became an immediate hit and was widely distributed, becoming one of the first large distribution sheet music songs in America. Other performers began to impersonate Blacks and soon, entire troupes of performers did, beginning with the Virginia Minstrels in 1843.
In 1865 The Thirteenth Amendment marked the abolition of slavery in the USA at the end of the American Civil War. Slavery might have been outlawed but the Whites' behaviour to coloured people continued to be disgraceful and not just in the South. Over 600 coon songs were published between 1886 and 1900 and some were written/performed by blacks ..could they have earned a buck otherwise?
This is the British version of the sheet music...which announces that the celebrated nigger song received unbounded shouts of applause at the Royal Surrey Theatre..so let's not us Brits get smug!!
 To their shame it was still accepted by Whites that blackness was synonymous with silliness, deprivation, and ignorance.
 Most believed that all Africans and their descendants were racially inferior to whites.
Black people had been portrayed as inferior almost from the time of their enslavement in the colonies in the 1620s.
This had enabled whites to justify slavery In America using racial stereotypes to justify the enslavement
 of blacks was especially pronounced after 1830 as
white Southerners defended slavery against northern abolitionists.
This historic view of blacks became deeply
 embedded in popular culture. By 1900 the image of silly and exaggerated black men and women in comic routines was the mainstay of musical acts, songs, and skits.
 Representations of blacks with ink-black skin, large thick red lips, and bulging eyeballs appeared almost everywhere in the public arena.
 Graphic artists prospered by drawing such images to sell products and to illustrate show bills sheet music and magazines.
 There are so many of these coon songs that there was obviously a despicable band wagon which was being jumped on by composers who might not, otherwise have held these views
 Indeed would not the song writers of NY's Tin Pan Alley have been of the ilk of the Northern Abolitionists who fought a Civil War over the ill-treatment of blacks?
 It amazes me that there was not some sort of public opinion backlash. This was, afterall, still going on well into the 20th century
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Miscellaneous
I Never Knew That About England by Christopher Winn claims Robinson Crusoe was written while Defoe was staying in Gateshead in 1720.
The book also goes on to tell us that Gateshead was a place of great enlightenment, because the first house in England to be lit by electric light bulbs, was in the town.
But the book holds a wealth of information.
Jack Higgins, author of The Eagle Has Landed, was born as Harry Patterson in Newcastle?
Ebenezer Landells, who launched Punch magazine, was also Tyneside-born.
The first electric light bulb factory in the world was at Benwell.
Newcastle staged not only the first dog show in the world, in1859, but also the world's first beauty contest, in 1905.It was called the Blonde and Brunette Beauty Show and was open to young ladies over 16. It was staged at the Olympia Theatre.
Lucozade, Domestos, Fairy Soap and Be-Ro Flour were just a few of the products invented on Tyneside?
I don't know about you, but I am not disappointed that I have never received a flatulating brevet but I do like this site www.googlewhack.com
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