When Winnipeg-created Punkinhead made Canadian retail history for Eaton's

Winnie-the-Pooh isn't the only famous or partly-clothedbear with ties to Winnipeg. For a while inthe 1940sand '50s, he wasn't even the most beloved.

Theaffection, instead, was directed at amop-topped misfit cub named Punkinhead.

Born on a drawing board in Winnipeg's West End, Punkinheadcame from the pen of cartoonistCharles Thorson.

The bear with the felt knickers became amid-century phenomenon,a cherished symbol from the baby boomer generationand a rival to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

"To say Punkinhead took off is an understatement. He was featured in a story about the little bear who ends up leading the [Santa Claus] parade and in a dozen other little books," Roy MacGregorwrote in a Globe and Mail article in 2007.

The Punkinhead idea took root in 1947,when executives at the Toronto headquarters forEaton'sdepartment store decided to take a page fromU.S.-based retailer Montgomery Ward.

Eight years earlier, in 1939, the latter had introduced the world to Rudolph through colouring books given out each Christmas to attract shoppersinto its store. The flying reindeerbecame awildly successful marketing mascot.

So Eaton's came up with the idea of a teddy bear who would beSanta's favourite little helper. Theytook their story ideato Thorson, someone they knew well.

From1914 until 1934,he had beenchief illustrator for the Eaton's catalogue, asgoods were all hand-drawn.At that time Thorson workedfor Brigdens of Winnipeg Ltd, a graphic design firm, whichproduced the catalogue.

When he left Brigden's in late 1934, Thorson became aninnovative figure in the development of animation in the United States. Hemoved toCalifornia to try his hand in cartooning and was hired on the spot by Walt Disney himself.

During his time south of the border, Thorson eventually designed and developed characters at nearly every major Hollywood animation studio before shifting to studios in Miami and then New York.

Hewould dream up and draw the charactersin a range ofposes and then studio animators would bring them alive.

Among his creations are Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Snow White and six of theSevenDwarfs (the seventh, Dopey, was added later), Sniffles the Mouse, Little Hiawathaand more than 100 characters and creatures for an ill-fated animatedTV series called The Stone Age. That cartoon would eventually be producedas TheFlintstones.

He also redesignedPopeye and the Raggedy Ann and Andy characters.

After his U.S. sojourn, Thorson who gained the moniker of Cartoon Charlie returned to his birth city of Winnipeg in 1946. Hesettledinto a rooming house in the West End and and was looking for workjust as Eaton's was hatchingits mascot idea.

Working with the Eaton's story outline, Thorsondesigned the bear and came up with the namea term of endearment he used for his own son.

Thea mop-topped cub debuted in 1948 in the storyPunkinhead: The Sad Little Bear, a hard-luck tale with strong echoes of the originstory of Rudolph, who was mocked and shunned for his light-up nose.

Punkinhead lived inBear Land butstood out due to a shock of floppy, ginger-blondhair. Theunruly 'dowouldn't stay down, no matter how much he tried to slick it back.

He was jeered and ostracised and left alone.

Then just beforeChristmas, Santa and his crew of fairies, gnomes, clownsand elveswere on their wayfrom the North Pole to Toyland (Eaton's)when they made a pit stop for some honey soda drinks at Bear Land.

One of the clowns in Santa's upcoming parade overindulged and was stricken with a roaring tummy ache.

Santa turned to the bears to find a last-minute replacement. They tried to fill the role but the clownhat kept slippingoffthevelvety smooth heads of the bears. All of them except for one.Punkinhead's knot of hairkept it in place.

From that moment, hebecame an importantpart of the Santa Claus Parade, first appearing in the Toronto event the largest Christmasparade in North America in 1948.

WATCH | Punkinhead and Santa in an Eaton's ad from 1955

Punkinheadwas a smash success and became a major feature inEaton's paradein Winnipeg as well. Cheers for the little bear easily matched those for Santa, and soon Punkinhead was promoted to the highest profile spot in the parade in the sled as as Santa'ssidekick.

His imagebecame a ubiquitous part of Eaton's Christmas advertising for the next decade. His image was on everything and used tosell millions of dollars worth of merchandise.

It was branded onhigh chairs, rocking horses, hats, watches, baby bottle warmers, bibs, bedside lamps, pyjamas, balls, bath towelsand bowls,snowsuits,sweaters,slippers and much more.

There were posters and TV commercials, and Eaton's even created a song about him and sold recordings of it.

A series of Punkinhead stories were published every yearuntil 1959, and given to kids who visited Santa at Toyland in thedepartment stores.

Punkinhead was the most successful advertising character in Canadian retail history, according to The Canadian Encyclopedia.

And of course, there wereteddy bears. The originalswere made in Englandspecifically for Eaton'sof mohair, stuffed with fine wood shavings, and fitted with glass eyes, a tuft of shaggy hairand little shorts.

Those originals, produced from 1948 until the mid-1950s by a company called Merrythought, have become collectors' items, sellingbetween $1,200 to $2,000 and as high as $5,000, according to a Maclean's magazine article from March 2003.

Unlike the enduring enchantment of Rudolph, who has become ingrained in the Christmas season, Punkinhead's appeal eventually faded.

Hecontinued to appear in the Santa Claus parade until 1982, whenEaton's ended its association with the event. It had been paying for the parade from the start 1905 in Torontoand 1909 in Winnipeg but could no longer afford it.

Eaton's briefly revived Punkinhead in 1992 as the retail giant struggledto win back its customer base, which had dwindled from the store's heydays.

The nostalgia didn't help much. The 130-year-old company declared bankruptcy just seven years later. Itsassets were purchased bySears, which ran a number of stores under the Eaton'sbanneruntil 2002when the brand vanished.

As for Thorson, he missed out cashing in on his creation. He was a man with a history of poor decisions and burning bridges with employersincludingconfronting Disney, then quittingover a lack ofscreen credits for his work.

Though hecould likely have retired on Punkinhead royalties, Thorsonhad sold the copyright to Eaton's for $1 in 1949, according to the University of Manitoba Archives and Special Collections,which contains much of his work.

In fact, Thorson was only involved in the illustrations and story ideas for the first three Punkinhead booklets before his temper got the best of him, leading to an unceremoniousparting ways with Eaton's.

According toGene Walz's book,Cartoon Charlie:The Life and Art of Animation Pioneer Charles Thorson,the artistwas drunk during a party at the Fort Garry Hotel and got into an argument with an Eaton's executive. Thorsonthrew a punch and was promptly fired.

In 1952, down on his luck and looking for work, Thorsondesigned Elmer the Safety Elephantfor the Toronto police department's traffic-safetyprogram.

He struggled to find animation work beyond that and eventually finished his career where it began in Winnipeg doing advertising that appeared on billboards, magazines, newspapers and TV.

After retiring, hemoved to Vancouver to be closer to his son in 1956.He died there decade later at age 75.