Children from Portland would swarm to Toyland at Lipman’s downtown department store at Southwest Fifth Avenue and Washington Street in the late 1930s, where they could see Santa Claus, see a sound cartoon in the Thimble Theater for 25 cents, and—most importantly—meet Cinnamon Bear, his sidekick.
Up until the 1990s, when department store appearances stopped happening, Cinnamon Bear was one of the most popular holiday shopping customs for Portland families. Nowadays, though, kids are waiting in line to see Cinnamon Bear on a cruise ship.
The Cinnamon Bear radio series, which was then broadcast on KALEOregonian, is promoted in part of a 1938 Lipman Wolfe’s advertisement in The Oregonian.
Glanville Heisch, who worked at KFI AM radio in Los Angeles in the 1930s, created Cinnamon Bear, whose real name is Paddy O Cinnamon. In 1979, Heisch told The Oregonian that he had been requested to compose a 26-episode children’s serial to air between Thanksgiving and Christmas by a friend in the advertising industry. Heisch had composed a poem titled “The Cinnamon Bear with the Shoe Button Eyes” and his first of five daughters had just been born. The radio story was inspired by that poetry.
In a 1979 file photo, 4-year-old Jeanmarie Kitson dances with Lipman’s staple Cinnamon Bear.Oregonians
The show followed two kids named Jimmy and Judy as they went to their attic to get the silver star for their Christmas tree. A magical talking teddy bear informs them that a dragon took the star to Maybeland after they find it missing. The kids embark on a Wizard of Oz-style journey across a sequence of 12-minute episodes, meeting a cast of fantastical characters while they look for their tree topper.
The 1937 radio adaptation of the Cinnamon Bear story was played on stations all around the nation, but it was adopted as a local custom when the Portland-based Lipman’s department store used Cinnamon Bear as their Christmas mascot.
At Lipman’s flagship store, which now houses the Royal Sonesta hotel, kids could encounter the bear in addition to Santa Claus. After Lipman’s was sold and changed their name to Frederick & Nelson in 1979, the custom persisted.
In 1985, while shopping at Frederick & Nelson’s downtown store, Debbie Williams, a sales clerk, chuckles as 82-year-old Rachel Kafoury and 93-year-old Marie Haskell are hugged by Cinnamon bear.Oregonians
However, the last Frederick & Nelson store in Oregon, located at the Washington Square mall, closed in 1991, and the company’s downtown store shuttered in 1986. Despite a few community appearances in the early 1990s, Cinnamon Bear started to disappear from Portlanders’ collective Christmas memories.
until a rebirth was proposed by Dennis Corwin, general manager of Portland Spirit Cruises.
Corwin, 54, recalled seeing the Cinnamon Bear at Frederick & Nelson in Washington Square, sitting on his knee, and telling him what he wanted for Christmas. As a child, I recall listening to the radio series. It became a tradition once my parents listened to it and my grandma introduced me to it.
On one of his pre-Christmas visits in 1987, children at the Heidi-Ho day care center huddle around Frederick & Nelson’s Cinnamon Bear.Oregonians
Corwin attended a management meeting in 2004 to talk about Christmas cruises. For many years, Portland Spirit provided cruises that aligned with the Willamette River’s Christmas Ship parades. The December daytime program was light, but those evening excursions were (and still are) very popular. A Santa cruise in the morning was proposed.
According to Corwin, Meier & Frank owned the large Santaland downtown at the time. We don’t want to compete with that, I said. Santa is done by everyone. How about the Cinnamon Bear?
As it happens, the Cinnamon Bear needed a makeover. In contrast to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, another well-liked department store Christmas mascot, Cinnamon Bear was never protected by copyright.
To revamp the Cinnamon Bear suit, the Portland Spirit engaged a mascot business. The old Lipman’s bear featured a design that was best described as eerie: large projecting lips and black button eyes encircled by white rings. Even the bear from the 1990s was a little out of date.
A 1991 file photo from The Oregonian shows the Cinnamon Bear, flanked by Jimmy (J.D. Knight) and Judy (Kaitlin Olson, yes, the actress), getting ready for holiday performances based on the characters in the old radio play.Oregonians
A rounder face, oval eyes, a green bowtie, and a small sailor’s cap bearing the words “Portland Spirit” were all given to the new Cinnamon Bear. 2005 saw the debut of the first Cinnamon Bear cruise.
According to Corwin, the first year, right out of the gate, the phones rang nonstop. It was incredible. Grandma and Grandpa knew the character, so Grandma would bring all of her grandchildren, even though the children and some of the parents didn’t.
Cinnamon Bear was the only character on the inaugural trip, but as time went on, other characters from the original radio series were added.
In the 1937 tale, Captain Taffy pilots a boat carrying the kids over the Root Beer Ocean. Highlighting this element in the Portland Spirit edition was a logical choice.
Children on the Portland Spirit cruise are greeted by the Cinnamon Bear.Oregonian Samantha Swindler
According to Corwin, it was decided fairly early on that Captain Taffy would serve as the cruise’s Santa. Although Santa appears in the Cinnamon Bear tale, we determined that he would never be included in the voyage as the Cinnamon Bear was the main focus. One of the things that can outshine Cinnamon Bear is Santa.
Queen Melissa and the Crazy Quilt Dragon are examples of supporting characters. Presto the Magician was a figure on early cruises, but when the actor who played the part retired, Corwin realized he couldn’t just replace him because so many kids are returning customers.
“My families know every player because they have been with me every year for 20 years,” he remarked.
Thus, the new magician was presented as Jack Frost, who also made an appearance in the original plot.
Many aspects of the Portland Spirit trip are unique, even if they were influenced by the original radio series. For the voyage, Portland Spirit collaborated with a publisher to create their own Cinnamon Bear children’s book adaptation of the tale, and local musician Rick Lewis produced five brand-new musical numbers. (Incidentally, the book and those tunes are protected by copyright.)
The Portland Spirit is selling Cinnamon Bear goods.Oregonian Samantha Swindler
Parents can purchase plush bears, novels, decorations, dragon or fairy wings, and other Cinnamon Bear merchandise while on the Cinnamon Bear cruise.
Fortunately, they can also visit a cocktail bar while the children take in the magic show or story time.
During the COVID outbreak, the voyage was halted for two years. Corwin changed the program to include sit-down breakfast service instead of a buffet when it came back. It required the cost of the cruise to increase. Corwin wasn t sure it would work but parents loved the changes. Today, the Cinnamon Bear cruises which can hold up to 220 guests are near sell-outs, especially closer to Christmas.
Jess Lawlor is a Portland transplant, so she hadn t grown up with Cinnamon Bear. But last year, she took her children, then ages 3 and 5, on the cruise for the first time.
It s kind of like a Disney cruise or character cruise, but it s so charmingly low budget, and my kids loved it, she said.
The family is going again this year, and Lawlor anticipates it will be an annual excursion for at least a few more Christmases, until the kids become a little too old for Cinnamon Bear.
It s fun as an adult to experience this weird, campy thing, she said. There are pictures, a magic show, story time, there s so many things to engage the kids.
This is the 20th year of the Cinnamon Bear cruise, and Corwin attributes Cinnamon Bear s longevity to nostalgia. It s become a tradition, passed down from each generation, and Cinnamon Bear himself has become an unofficial mascot for the company.
I only do 12 Cinnamon Bear cruises, and we do about 2,000 cruises a year, so to put this much energy into 12 cruises, most of our industry thinks we re insane, Corwin said. Why would you invest that kind of money and that kind of time into 12 cruises? I don t know. It s now become almost part of our identity, and that s why we do it.
In a 1969 file photo, Cinnamon Bear intrigues 9-year-old Leonard Larson.Oregonians
Want to listen to The Cinnamon Bear?
KBPS-AM radio, run by Portland Public Schools, still broadcasts the original radio series. It begins airing at noon this Friday and will run daily the rest of the month. Listeners can also find it for download on Apple podcasts or Spotify. Online radio station ICAN, based in Portland, broadcasts episodes at noon and 6 p.m. daily throughout the month. You can even find an updated version of The Cinnamon Bear serial, produced by Audible in 2019, with actor Alan Cummings playing Paddy O Cinnamon.
Want to take The Cinnamon Bear cruise?
Cinnamon Bear cruises take place Saturday and Sundays before Christmas, and the week of Christmas Dec. 23, 24, 26 and 27. Each two-hour cruise begins boarding at 9 a.m. and leaves at 9:30 a.m., and it includes breakfast, gratuity and a souvenir photo. Tickets are $80 for adults and $60 for children. Reserve tickets at portlandspirit.com.
Samantha Swindler covers features for The Oregonian/OregonLive andHere is Oregon. Reach her [email protected].
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