Vintage Cherished Teddies Margy Christmas Figurine – Avon Exclusive 475602, Holly Wreath Gift Box, Enesco Priscilla Hillman Resin, 1998

This bear never sat on a shop shelf. The base says Avon Exclusive — in the late 1990s Enesco made certain Cherished Teddies only for Avon, which meant they reached homes one way: through the Avon lady, part of a door-to-door sales network millions strong, spreading her catalogue across a neighbour's kitchen table. Past the lipsticks and the face cream, near the back, were the Christmas bears. Margy travelled that route into someone's living room, and her motto reads accordingly: "I'm Wrapping Up A Little Holiday Joy To Send Your Way."

She sits in a holly wreath crown — leaves and berries carried right around the back, the way the 1990s pieces were finished before later years began economising on the hidden side — with a wide white bow at her neck hung with a red gingham parcel charm, and a red gift box with a foaming green-striped ribbon between her paws. Under her right foot is the little pressed bear-head seal that marks a genuine Cherished Teddy.

The plaque records Margy, Avon Exclusive, ©1998 Priscilla Hillman, Licensee Enesco Corporation, 475602, with a handwritten registration number, BP24/316 — an Avon customer once mailed in the card to formally adopt a bear she'd bought at her own front door.

For the Avon-exclusive sub-collection, the Christmas shelf, or anyone who remembers the doorbell.