Porcelain
Bear
Eight years. Eight Cinnamon Bears. Eight props — a top hat in 1983, a jingle bell in 1984, a candy cane in 1985, a gift in 1986, a stocking in 1987, a heart in 1988, a bag of candy in 1989, a miniature Christmas tree in 1990. One small porcelain bear, 2¼ inches tall, year after year, prop after prop — among the earliest numbered series in the Keepsake catalog. A decade of Christmases in eight quiet figurines.
The Same Bear — Eight Times, Eight Ways
The Porcelain Bear series launched in 1983 — just ten years after Hallmark began producing Keepsake ornaments in 1973, making it one of the earliest numbered series in the catalog's history. The series is also known as the Cinnamon Bears series — the bear's warm cinnamon brown coloring giving the character a name that collectors have used ever since. Artist Peter Dutkin sculpted the founding entry: a small porcelain bear, 2¼ inches tall, holding a top hat. Not dated. The same bear, the same size, the same warm cinnamon color every year, with a single new Christmas prop each December.
The series ran eight consecutive years from 1983 through 1990. Each entry gives the bear a new seasonal object — the jingle bell in 1984, the candy cane in 1985, the gift with an orange bow in 1986 (the 1986 entry also specifically features a button tummy, a detail collectors note with affection), the stocking in 1987, the heart in 1988, the bag of candy in 1989, and the miniature Christmas tree in 1990. The tree entry closes the series with the most Christmas-complete prop: the bear is now holding the very thing the ornament hangs from. Eight entries. The complete set spans a decade of early Hallmark Keepsake history — from the Reagan administration to the year Germany reunified — one small porcelain bear at the center of every Christmas in between.
"This ornament is the 4th in the Porcelain Bears Series and features a brown teddy bear with a button tummy holding a Christmas package with an orange bow behind his back. Hallmark first started crafting their ornaments in 1973."
— Amazon product description, 1986 Cinnamon Bear — Porcelain Bear #4 · QX4056 · Noted for button tummy detailWhy Porcelain — The Material That Defines the Series
The Porcelain Bear series name reflects its material — genuine porcelain, not the painted plastic that many Keepsake ornaments of the era used. Porcelain ornaments require different production techniques: the material must be cast, fired, and hand-painted rather than injection-molded. The result is a surface that has a subtle translucency and tactile weight that plastic cannot replicate — a quality that serious Keepsake collectors of the 1983–1990 era specifically sought out. The small size (2¼") makes the porcelain weight particularly noticeable compared to equivalently-sized plastic ornaments. Each entry in the series has this quality. Pick one up and you immediately understand why collectors distinguish the Porcelain Bear series from other early Keepsakes.
Tips for the Collection
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01Display all eight in numbered sequence — the prop progression is the collection's story. The Porcelain Bear series tells a story through props: from a jaunty top hat (#1) to a Christmas tree (#8) — the final entry where the bear holds a miniature version of the very thing the ornament hangs from. In sequence the eight entries are a visual countdown of eight Christmases, the same small bear holding a new object each year. A shelf, a mantel, or a wide branch that allows all eight to be seen together is the ideal display surface.
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02These are genuine porcelain — handle with the care the material deserves. Unlike most Keepsake ornaments, which are cast plastic, the Porcelain Bear series is made from genuine fired porcelain. This gives each entry a tactile weight and surface quality that plastic cannot replicate — and makes them more fragile than they appear. Store in original boxes when possible, handle by the body rather than any protruding prop, and hang on inner branches where they are less likely to swing into other ornaments.
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03The 1983 first entry (QX4289) is among the earliest numbered Keepsake series entries in the catalog. The Porcelain Bear series launched in 1983 — just a decade after Hallmark began making ornaments in 1973. Collectors of early Keepsake series history regard the 1983 Cinnamon Bear with Top Hat as a founding entry in the numbered series tradition that would define the Keepsake catalog for decades. It is a document of how early the annual numbered series format crystallized.
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04All 8 Porcelain Bear Hallmark ornaments — the complete series #1 through #8 · 1983–1990 — are at Already Christmas. The top hat, the jingle bell, the candy cane, the gift, the stocking, the heart, the bag of candy, and the Christmas tree. Eight props. Eight years. The same warm cinnamon bear. All eight here.
Every Porcelain Bear Hallmark Keepsake
Top hat to Christmas tree. The same bear, eight props, eight years. Click any entry to shop.
Peter Dutkin's 2¼-inch porcelain bear in 1983 — cinnamon brown, top hat in hand, the very first in a series that would run for eight consecutive Christmases. A jingle bell in 1984. A candy cane in 1985. A gift with an orange bow in 1986, the button tummy noted with fondness by collectors ever since. A stocking in 1987. A heart in 1988. A bag of candy in 1989. And in 1990, a miniature Christmas tree — the bear now holding the very thing the ornament hangs from. Eight props. Eight years. One bear. Among the earliest numbered series in the Keepsake catalog. All eight here.
✦ Part of our Collection: Hallmark Early Numbered Series, Explored ✦