The Cinnamon Bear 🐻🌟

[Breanna]

Christmas is such a magical time, isn't it? Personally I'm not one for big celebrations but one thing I do every year is listen to a very *magical* little radio show from the 1930's called The Cinnamon Bear. 

It's rather silly but full of charm. I'm not sure the little bear's Irish accent is authentic 😂 but he does his best. I thought it would be fun to do a little listen-along throughout the month. For those who aren't up for listening to singing bears, I'll post a description of the episode in the comments each day. 

The first one is below! Feel free to listen ahead, of course.

Ep. 1: Paddy O'Cinnamon

Twins Judy and Jimmy are writing their letters to Santa when their mother asks them to help go through a treasured box of Christmas tree ornaments. The tinsel, ornaments and lights are all there, but the silver star is missing! Uncle Jed might have put it away in the attic so the siblings head up the steep stairs to search.

After racing up the stairs, they spot an old spinning wheel and a music box...and there's the old trunk mother told them to look for! It's heavy and covered with an old crazy quilt, but still no silver star.

The children begin to dig through the trunk and find some curious little things: a box of broken ornaments, a golden glass aeroplane, and a teeny little teddy bear with a green ribbon round his neck.

And, oh boy, there's a telescope too! Jimmy takes a look and it makes everything a million times bigger. The teddy bear is the smallest Judy has ever seen so the pair decide they might be able to take a look at him with the telescope they found. Bigger he grows indeed but then...he moves!

Garah! Garooh!

He talks! Judy is a bit frightened and asks Jimmy to ask the teddy who he is. He sings:

I'm the Cinnamon Bear
With the Shoe-button eyes
And I'm looking for someone
To take by surprise
I go growling and prowling
Each night after dark
But the folks say my growl's
Just a cinnamon bark...

Paddy O'Cinnamon is his name and the children ask him if he's seen their beloved silver star.

"Oh I've seen it lots of times," he says. But it's gone now. It's been stolen away by the Crazy Quilt Dragon who's terribly fond of shiny, bright things. Judy is rather distraught about the star, but Paddy offers to help them find it. He think Crazy Quilt will have taken it to the Lollipop mountains which is just through a little hole in the wall by the music box.

"But we'll never fit through there," says Jimmy. "Oh, yes you will," Paddy replies, "all you have to do is de-grow. Just de-grow! Get smaller and smaller and smaller until you're four inches high like me!"

The children think that is rather impossible, but the Cinnamon Bear says he'll tell them how to do it. 

See you tomorrow! 😉

[Cleoriff]

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@Breanna wrote:

I have totally forgotten how ridiculous this story is! 

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@Breanna 😂😂

[TallTrees]

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@Breanna wrote:

I have totally forgotten how ridiculous this story is! 

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That is true sillier and sillier but I'm reading it and getting lost sometimes 🙄

[Breanna]

Ep. 6 Samuel Seal

Time to check in on our friends Judy and Jimmy and the Cinnamon Bear. When we left them yesterday they had just narrowly escaped being thrown into the Immense Inkwell. Their rescuer, the Crazy Quilt dragon, had the clever idea to jump into the Root Beer Ocean (Inkaboos can't swim, you know) and when they did they spotted their beloved Silver Star. Unfortunately an unscrupulous whale swallowed it up in one big gulp!

Judy is getting worrieder and worrieder that they won't get the star back in time to put it on the tree for Christmas. Paddy, always full of optimism, assures Judy they'll do their especially best to get it back. 

The children want to wait on the ocean for Weasley the Whale to come up again, but Crazy Quilt might not be able to hold up that long. He's not exactly water tight, you see, and to make an extended sea voyage, he's got to consume at least four barrels of corks ahead of time. Since he was on a bit of a tight schedule to save them from the Inkaboos, he didn't have time to eat any at all.

Just then (and very conveniently) Jimmy spots a rock where Crazy Quilt might dry out so they head that way.

Ahoy! Avast there! Belay! 

Cinnamon Bear's sharp eye has spotted bubbles surging to the surface and up comes none other than Weasley the polka dot Whale.

"Woe is me, woe is me," Weasley moans as the dragon hails him. You see, Weasley is usually a bit of a hypochondriac, but he's got a real tummy ache today.

"Remember about an hour ago, you swallowed something floating around here?" asks Crazy Quilt.

"Ohhh yes. Oh yes, of course. Just a tea time snack, nothing heavy." replies Weasley

The children applaud his singing but Weasley figures he'd be even better if he didn't feel so terrible. "Well it's no wonder you feel so bad," says Judy, "the star you swallowed was made of glass!"

Thankfully he didn't chew up the star but it still sets him in a right panic and he dives down deep in the Root Beer Ocean again. All they can do is continue on to the rock so they won't end up sinking themselves. Crazy 

Quilt stretches himself out in the sun to dry out leaving Judy, Jimmy, and the Cinnamon Bear on one side of what turns out to be a fairly large island.

HO HO HO! Welcome to our city!

Well who would you expect to be on a remote island on a Root Beer Ocean? A seal, of course. And he's ready to put on a show (😂) . He's a true performer, too. He can juggle and balance a ball on his nose, and look at that, he can even give himself applause!

The children, being clever, ask him if he's any good at diving. Turns out, he thinks he's pretty Olympic material so down he dives to wake the wailing whale who will hopefully give up the Silver Star.

Retrieve Weasley he does and after some laughing, and tickling, and a bit of coughing, POP out comes the Silver Star and the seal, Samuel Seal, catches it right on his nose. 

Well, it's not often that our lone performing seal gets to juggle something so precious, so he's in no hurry to give it back, even though the children are rather eager to have it. Can you guess what happened next?

If you guessed that a pelican named Penelope swooped right down and snatched it out of a mid air, you'd be right!

So close but still so far...

[Cleoriff]

It's a good story but they are struggling to get this damn silver star @Breanna 😂😆

[Breanna]

It's really just quite a hindrance, isn't it? And honestly, all this trouble just hiding in the attic too 😂

[Breanna]

Alright and we're back with the next instalment of what seems to be turning into a real "nightmare before Christmas" type situation.

Ep. 7 Presto the Magician

Now that Penelope has swooped down and snatched the star, Judy wonders if they ought to just head out into the ocean to search but without the corks or any idea of which way she went, that might not be the best idea. 

By now everyone's been through quite a lot and is beginning to feel quite hungry. 

"I haven't had any cinnamon buns for some time and if I want to keep extra special ferocious, I just have to get my cinnamon buns," says Paddy.

All agreeing they should set off in search of something to eat, everyone jumps on Crazy Quilt's back to head back to shore-- being careful to land far from the Inkaboos shores, of course.

As soon as they make landfall, a peculiar sight greets them. Why there's a man with a hat so big it covers his face and at least twenty white rabbits following him. "Well fade my colours if it isn't that measley magician, Mr. Presto." says the dragon, "He takes magic lessons by correspondence and he's always trying it out on everyone."

It seems that Presto is full up on rabbits because he's just finished the lesson on pulling them out of his hat. Unfortunately the lesson on how to put them back was lost in the mail and now they won't stop yelling for carrots.

Since he's such a great magician, the children ask if he'd be able to conjure up some food. Loganberry lollipops for Crazy Quilt, ham and egg sandwiches for the twins, and cinnamon buns for the Cinnamon Bear, of course. 

"Well that's the easiest thing in the world," says Presto as he places his hat on the ground.

Hocus Pocus 

Ipso Facto

Abra Cadabra

Arazmataz

After saying the magic words, he tips the hat over and...

Not quite the ham and egg sandwich he was going for.

They wonder if he'd be any better and finding lost things--maybe he'd be able to find Penelope to return their Silver Star. Once more with his silk hat, he gives it a try. He pulls out a halibut, then a penguin, and finally right out comes Penelope the Pelican. 

She's rather angry about having been pulled through a hat, and a cheap one at that! Between threats to write her congressman about these ruffians, she tells the children she dropped their star over the island of Obie when she was taken.

Poor Presto is rather ashamed of himself and morphs right into a snake to slither away. Snake in the grass indeed.

Still having no food, and no closer to the elusive silver star, they group begins to walk. Just on the shore they spot a huge ship and it seems abandoned.

PRIVATE PROPERTY OF CAPTAIN TAFFY

HANDS OFF

And just like that, the Candy Pirates have them in their clutches. Oh my...

[Cleoriff]

Well Presto the magician seems like a real twit @Breanna (a bit like all the other 'oh so helpful characters') 
Now we have the Candy Pirates. If Cap'n Jack Sparrow, doesn't turn up, I shall be most disappointed. 😂

[Cleoriff]

@Breanna 

I did a bit of research into the Cinnamon Bear Story @Breanna 

Started in 1937 by Transco and broadcast every day from Thanksgiving until Christmas day.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cinnamon_Bear 

[Breanna]

@Cleoriff 

I had a read through the Wikipedia page and learned there's a cruise that runs even today with all the characters on board. 

I think we'll have to speed it along if we want to figure out this silver star business before Christmas 😂

[Breanna]

Ep. 8 The Candy Pirates

"What right have you pirates to molest us?" quavered Paddy Cinnamon, "We were minding our own business."

The pirates have decided to take Judy and Jimmy and the Cinnamon Bear onto their ship, but decide to let Crazy Quilt dragon go because he's simply too big (how convenient!). They hope he'll have a chance to rescue them later.

With the trio on board, the pirates heave ho away across the Root Beer Ocean to rendezvous with Captain Taffy's ship, The Suzie Q.

When they arrive, the captives are taken straight to the captain. Jimmy's heard a lot about pirates and tells Captain Taffy that he's going to protect his sister and no way is she going to walk the plank.

The Captain is quite amused at Jimmy's "outdated" thinking. "Walk the plank? Why would we make you do that? Bring the chest!"

The candy pirates bring around a big chest and open it to reveal all kinds of candies. Chocolates and taffies, and even cinnamon sticks!

At the sight of it, the pirates break into song: 

Candy ho, candy ho

There's candy to the starboard

Sing yo ho ho and a bottle pop

Turns out they're not the nasty type of pirates and they happen to be headed in the direction of the Island of Obie (where the pelican just might have dropped their silver star).

When the island was in sight, Captain Taffy offered his spyglass to Judy and Jimmy to take a look. Standing on the beach, they spot a police man who looks like an old Roly Poly doll and right on his chest...wouldn't you know it? The silver star.