Polar bears were popular as an image among the Grenfell mat hookers. The bears travel south from the Artic borne by the floating ice of the Labrador current. Eventually the large ice packs break into smaller ice pans or icebergs called "growlers" on which the bears are usually pictured. Early requests for various colours of cotton hooking materials often specified a need for white, important for depicting both snow scenes and the many animals that were white during the winter.