Berenstein or Berenstain Bears?

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Naked Apple

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Growing up, I was always fond of the Berenstein Bears. It seems however, that their name was BerenSTAIN. I would have remembered "stain" being in the name. Now there is a controversy regarding the correct spelling of the name. People who remember them being called Berenstein have even gone up in their attics to locate old books and they will say Berenstain. Do we all have false memories? Was there some time slip? I know they were Berenstein, not Berenstain. Which spelling do you remember?




http://mandelaeffect.com/berenstein-or-berenstain-bears


Many people who visit the Mandela Effect website have fond memories of the Berenstein Bears books. They read them as children, or family members read them aloud. It’s a cherished childhood memory.
However, the books in this timestream are Berenstain Bears. A, not E, in last syllable.


That’s not what most visitors seem to remember. The following are among the many memories people have shared, sometimes as part of longer comments. The vast majority recall the books as Berenstein Bears
.

MORE AT SITE
 
I remember them as Berenstein Bears! I remember seeing it as "stein"! OK...so when did we jump timelines again??? It appears that when the Mandala effect strikes, it's got a spell check changing component, too. That's just very weird, because with my obsession with grammar I'm always looking at words and spelling very closely, and I swear it was Berenstein back in the day.
 
On eBay, there are 77 hits for Berenstein, and 6,853 hits for Berenstain. I'd have to go with the "stain" if I were a gambling man, despite the fact that Monk and I hate stains! :p
 
I remember them as Berenstein Bears! I remember seeing it as "stein"! OK...so when did we jump timelines again??? It appears that when the Mandala effect strikes, it's got a spell check changing component, too. That's just very weird, because with my obsession with grammar I'm always looking at words and spelling very closely, and I swear it was Berenstein back in the day.
I'm POSITIVE it was!
 
On eBay, there are 77 hits for Berenstein, and 6,853 hits for Berenstain. I'd have to go with the "stain" if I were a gambling man, despite the fact that Monk and I hate stains! :p
I would have remembered "stain". In fact, I thought they were Jewish bears even though it was not a religious themed book. I know that when the original authors died, their Bible thumping kids took over. I thought it was at that time that maybe they changed the name so that there would not be any Jewish overtones, but upon research, it says the name was ALWAYS Berenstain. (?!)
 
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http://mandelaeffect.com/berenstein-or-berenstain-bears

Jennifer Shepherd said:

I had overlooked the material here about people remembering the popular children’s books as being Berenstein Bears, not Berenstain Bears; I just saw that today and it blew my mind! I was a meticulous spelling nerd as a child and have ZERO doubt that the books the kids were reading were about the Berenstein Bears. I tried to research Library of Congress and trademark info today, to see if maybe there had at some point been a changeover due to multiple parties using variations of the name. Nope, the official records state that the series was always Berenstain, after the very real last names of the authors (Berenstain.)

In April 2014, Tee said:
I notice changes everyday. For one I saw the Berenstein/Berenstain Bears thing mentioned and I always knew them is Berenstein.

Nat replied:

Berenstain Bears?! I could’ve sworn it was spelt Berenstein too. Wow, how peculiar…

In May 2014, Heathyr said:

…We both remember berestein bears rather than berenstain,

In June 2014, Louis asked:

Does anyone remember the Berenstein Bears? I do. Although somewhere along the line the name has changed to the Berenstain Bears. No record of “stein” which is definitely how it was when i was younger. No question about it.

Matt said:

I specifically remember Berenstein Bears, not Berenstain Bears. My wife didn’t remember, but I did, I liked them a lot.

Mary Garcia said:

…it was always Berenstein and now it is Berenstain. My 20 year old daughter, who had ever Bear book was just as creeped out when I showed her this, she said “no Mom it was always Berenstein”. I joked that at least we came from the same reality together, so I took great comfort in that.

Sandi said:

It was always Berenstein bears for me. I was a voracious reader as a child and pronounced it as either “stine” or “steen” I eventually settled with “steen”. Now if it had been spelled “stain” there would have been no question of my pronunciation of that. I noticed this difference about 5 years ago and chalked it up to new editions being re-labelled. Now it seems it was NEVER called that to begin with.

Stephen Comer said:

I would like to say that I VERY CLEARLY remember “Berenstain Bears” being Berenstein Bears. I very specifically remember it being pronounced “STEIN” on the show.

aldooze said:

Another one worth mentioning is the children s books about the ‘Berenstain Bears’ . Every single person I have talked to swears it was spelled ‘Berenstein Bears” .

LadyJEM5 said:

While my children were small my mother & I purchased the entire Berenstein Bears library collection. At no time have I ever known them to be anything other than that, however I will confirm this for my own peace of mind by digging them out of storage.

John said:

Absolutely 100%. Berenstein/stain had me spooked

KingKen6669 said:

I, too, remember pronouncing Berenstain – “Burn-steen” my entire life. The books were a big part of my childhood; my grandmother read them to me until I was much too old, and i enjoyed every second of it. I was quite surprised when I saw the thread and the claim – it’s a hard thing to swallow. My first thought, naturally, was “i’m misremembering” – that wasn’t enough, I tried to make some sense of it in my post here.

When did this Berenstein vs Berenstain debate begin? I can remember an event less than 5 years ago – I was referencing them in a text message to a friend, and do remember looking up the correct spelling on my phone – I remember it clearly being STEIN. However, part of me feels that i’m buying into the “crazy”, and the other part of me trusts that i’m not mis-remembering.
 
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I would have remembered "stain". In fact, I thought they were Jewish bears even though it was not a religious themed book. I know that when the original authors died, their Bible thumping kids took over. I thought it was at that time that maybe they changed the name so that there would not be any Jewish overtones, but upon research, it says the name was ALWAYS Berenstain. (?!)
Very strange. I looked at several of the listings, and they do all say "stain"... :confused:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&ghostText=&_sacat=0&_nkw=berenstain bear&_fscr=1
 
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