Tambo Teddies: How a wool toy revitalised an outback Queensland town

After 27 years the Tambo Teddies are still a symbol of hope, hard work and the rejuvenation of a small outback town.

Toy store: Tambo Teddies in outback Queensland. Picture: Supplied

WILLIAM and Kate have one each for George and Charlotte.

Harry and Meghan were presented with one for Archie.

Then there are the Premiers, VIPs and new generations of little Australians who also own a Tambo Teddy, the cuddly output of a toy business in the tiny central west outback Queensland town of Tambo.

The concept was born in 1993, after the wool price crashed and the district was gripped by drought.

“I don’t think when teddies first started being made here — with the aim of helping the town’s economy — that many people believed 27 years later we’d still be making bears in the outback,” says co-owner Alison Shaw.

“We get orders for bears around Australia and the world each week and we’re currently looking at export opportunities in Korea.

“One day I had a phone call from the Premier (Annastacia Palaszczuk) because she was wanting a bear for Harry and Meghan and she said there’s nothing more Queensland than a Tambo Teddy.”

Since 2014 Alison, a former wool classer, has been co-owner of the business with netball buddy Tammy Johnson, a teacher. Initially they also worked with friend Kiralee Sanderson, who recently pulled out of the trio.

The business, though, was first started by three Tambo women, who at the time were taking part in a government initiative to bolster drought-hit outback Queensland towns, including sheep farms hit by the wool crash.

Next gen: Tammy Johnson and Alison Shaw. Picture: Supplied

“It was a brainstorming event and about 80 people turned up on the day, which was considerable given the town only now has a population of 400,” Alison recalls.

“Quite a few ideas came out of the meeting, including the Tambo sawmill and the tourist association, as well as the teddies.”

When those original three women retired, Alison and her buddies decided to take over the reins and have since transformed the business.

She says one of the big changes has been in the region’s sheep industry, which was hit about a decade ago by an increasing wild dog population.

“It had a big impact. As a wool classer I was working about 10 months of the year at the time. There were many more sheep farms then.

“In recent years we’ve had cluster fencing erected (to stop wild dogs) and there’s a more positive attitude to the sheep industry coming back. Sheep farmers are reporting improved lambing rates, without them being maimed.”

Alison says this, combined with a decline in Australian manufacturing and high costs, means Tambo Teddies sources its scoured, tanned and dyed Australian sheepskins from China.

With a staff of 10, Tambo Teddies process more than 3000 woolly sheepskins a year, each hand sewn.

Royal gift: Harry and Meghan with their teddy on Fraser Island. Picture: Annette Dew

While bears continue to be made in Tambo, a shortage of sewing personnel meant they now also manufacture in Toowoomba, making 250 bears a week.

It takes about an hour to sew a bear, each stuffed with recycled plastic.

There are two bear “families”: Basil (more traditional) and Toby (chubbier and with mixed coloured sheepskin), with small bears (30cm) costing $135 or large (45cm) costing $165.

No two bears are the same, each is individually numbered (they are currently up to more than 50,000) and each is named after a farming property in the Tambo district, about 40 farms in total. So Archie was given a bear called Stirling Downs Sussex, while Princess Charlotte was given Shady Downs Charlotte.

Some bears have clothes, including the Little Aussie Ringer, and Mr and Mrs Stockman — complete with Driza-Bone and Akubra — and they take special orders, including wedding bears, soccer stars and Disney princesses.

The company also makes bears for fundraisers, most recently one for a Royal Flying Doctor Service auction, and another firefighting bear.

Aside from the teddies, Alison works part-time as an arts and cultural officer at the Blackall-Tambo Regional Council. She says while online orders have skyrocketed in recent years, many people visit the town especially to pop by their
shop, usually on their way to Longreach.

“Part of my motivation in doing this business is that I love sheep and wool and the grazing industry of the region.

“I also see Tambo Teddies as an iconic business in this area. It has put the town on the map. If you go anywhere and say you’re from Tambo, everyone asks how the teddies are going.

“It’s so important for the community and town.

“People here are proud of it.”