In the middle decades of 20th century Germany, there were — apparently — quite a few people running around in polar bear costumes. They offered to have their photos taken with interested people.

Photo collector Jean-Marie Donat noticed the same or similar bears popping up in his perusals of old snapshots from the 1920s to the 1960s, and began to save them, eventually amassing a collection of thousands.

That collection became TEDDYBÄR, a 200-page book of found photos. In the book, artist and philosopher Klaus Peter Speidel offers speculation about the people inside the costumes, imaginatively writing from the perspective of two friends who decide to hustle for some extra cash by charging people for photos with the furry mascot.