• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

Displaying Numbers From Windows (Teddy Bear Hunt)

Status
Not open for further replies.
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

ainsworth74

Forum Staff
Staff Member
Global Moderator
Joined
16 Nov 2009
Messages
27,533
Location
Redcar
Any chance of a link, photo or anything really so we know what you mean?
 

Mojo

Forum Staff
Staff Member
Administrator
Joined
7 Aug 2005
Messages
20,382
Location
0035
I've never heard of this.

Only thing I have heard of is people putting coloured cards in their front window to let neighbours know if they are okay or not; though I've never actually seen this in real life, only on Facebook.
 

Islineclear3_1

Established Member
Joined
24 Apr 2014
Messages
5,810
Location
PTSO or platform depending on the weather
Yes, I've heard of coloured cards:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...ard-green-red-use-the-telephone-a9413341.html

.In the battle against coronavirus, technology has often proved invaluable: online food shopping, video calls and the latest streaming services have all been used to help people cope with self-isolation.

In Ripon, however, something rather more rudimentary is being deployed in one neighbourhood: coloured card notes.


Elderly residents in the North Yorkshire town are placing the red and green slips in their windows to tell others if they need help.
Green means those inside are fine. Red means they require some sort of assistance, be that medication, shopping or transportation.
 

westv

Established Member
Joined
29 Mar 2013
Messages
4,201
Maybe this is the equivalent of numbers displayed on cards left in telephone boxes now that there are hardly any telephone boxes left?
 

Strat-tastic

Established Member
Joined
27 Oct 2010
Messages
1,362
Location
Outrageous Grace
Some clarification is necessary I think (thanks to mods for reopening this).

They are handwritten numbers on A4 paper, usually three digits long and seemingly random, and fixed to people's windows.

It is something I noticed on the house opposite mine, then taking a walk round the neighbourhood I noticed the same thing in many windows.

I have asked around and someone thinks it's a teddy bear hunt. Maybe it's just local to my town as I asked my girlfriend who lives 40 miles away and she wasn't aware of it either. I thought it may have been a national phenomenon but apparently not.
 

Peter Mugridge

Veteran Member
Joined
8 Apr 2010
Messages
14,751
Location
Epsom
Yes, it could well be a local thing. In some areas there is still a very strong sense of community and that sounds like exactly the sort of thing that would happen in such an area.

In my own road, about 65% of all the households are members of an e-mail group for residents of this road only, also supported by a Whatsapp group. At the present time a lot of the discussion is about supporting the more vulnerable with supplies etc, but also... in a similar vein to what the OP describes... one of the very young children in the road had a birthday the other day and people one at a time when on their legitimate business outside left chalked birthday messages and drawings outside the relevant house.

I think it is logical, therefore, that what the OP describes is indeed a local community support activity related to the virus lockdown.
 

Kite159

Veteran Member
Joined
27 Jan 2014
Messages
19,153
Location
West of Andover
Some clarification is necessary I think (thanks to mods for reopening this).

They are handwritten numbers on A4 paper, usually three digits long and seemingly random, and fixed to people's windows.

It is something I noticed on the house opposite mine, then taking a walk round the neighbourhood I noticed the same thing in many windows.

I have asked around and someone thinks it's a teddy bear hunt. Maybe it's just local to my town as I asked my girlfriend who lives 40 miles away and she wasn't aware of it either. I thought it may have been a national phenomenon but apparently not.

Could it be the last three digits of their landline if anybody wants to contact them by phone to check if they are alright. Locals already knowing the first three digits for phone numbers in that area?

Bit of a long-shot mind
 

Strat-tastic

Established Member
Joined
27 Oct 2010
Messages
1,362
Location
Outrageous Grace
It's just been confirmed to me to be a teddy bear hunt for children and adults out for their walks. The windows are supposed to display teddies too but I have to say I didn't spot many of those; there again I wasn't particularly looking for them.

Mystery solved :)

Maybe the idea can catch on....?
 

scotrail158713

Established Member
Joined
30 Jan 2019
Messages
1,797
Location
Dundee
It's just been confirmed to me to be a teddy bear hunt for children and adults out for their walks. The windows are supposed to display teddies too but I have to say I didn't spot many of those; there again I wasn't particularly looking for them.

Mystery solved :)

Maybe the idea can catch on....?
It seems that it may have. I’ve noticed a lot of rainbows in windows around me - apparently to make an urban walk with children more interesting.
(Although there’s no shortage of rural paths nearby so I don’t think it’s entirely necessary here)
 

bussnapperwm

Established Member
Joined
18 May 2014
Messages
1,506
Could it be the last three digits of their landline if anybody wants to contact them by phone to check if they are alright. Locals already knowing the first three digits for phone numbers in that area?

Bit of a long-shot mind

On my street we have a mixture of 48xxxx, 7xxxx and 8xxxxx phone numbers for landlines. Not everyone would know whos got what
 

AndrewE

Established Member
Joined
9 Nov 2015
Messages
5,063
I was going to guess something as prosaic as the last digits of a package ID code to help the parcels delivery people find the right address!
I live near the start of a very short cul-de-sac and people unfamiliar with the road often start counting at the back door of the house which is really on the main road and put our post in the house next door - instead of looking at the brass number on our green garage or the number in the glass panel over the door. I was thinking of a big plate saying 'This is number ''x'' - but that is too late when our post is already at (x-2)!
 

tbtc

Veteran Member
Joined
16 Dec 2008
Messages
17,882
Location
Reston City Centre
My guess is that it's a random three digits to differentiate the "bear" - as in, you can compare which ones you saw by asking other families "oh, we saw 141, 272 and 856, were they the ones you saw too?" - the bears in the windows round here don't have numbers with them, and it's mainly rainbows rather than bears, but it's a nice touch, something to distract in tough times.

(I'm just guessing re the numbers, but part of my assumption is that the vulnerable elderly people most in need of assistance aren't the same people who have teddies in their houses)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top