Oct. 3 (UPI) — A South Carolina woman has spent nearly two decades accumulating the world’s largest teddy bear collection.
Jackie Miley, 68, entered the Guinness Book of World Records after gathering 8,026 teddy bears from every U.S. state and 29 other countries.
“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,” she said.
Miley won her first bear, which she named “Grandma Jackie,” while on Vacation in 2000 and first considered sending her collection to Guinness for review after she wound up with more than 3,000.
“I checked into it…the rest is history,” she said.
Her collections contain bears of all sizes, shapes and designs with the smallest measuring 3/4 inches tall and the tallest measuring 8 feet.
