Tony the Bear was created a long time ago by Joe's cousin, Cecelia. We named him Tony for two reasons. One, Tony was the name of Joe's imaginary friend when he was a little boy. Joe had such an imagination that he had some of his aunts convinced that Tony was a real boy! Two, Joe's first name is Anthony and he decided in 7th grade that he wanted to be called Tony. He asked everyone to call him Tony and even signed his school papers as Tony Batchelor. Needess to say, it didn't stick!