Perhaps you would still like to learn a little more about Teddy Bears!
Well, here are the most important facts in brief:
Origin: Bears as toys were brought on to the German and US markets in 1903.
Names: Margarete Steiff, founder of Margarete Steiff Ltd., Giengen/Brenz, W. Germany, trademark: "Button in Ear". In 1877 foundation of a felt-wear shop, in 1880 development and sale of the first 8 felt elephants, in 1888 sale of the first felt animals on wheels, in 1890 sale of 11 different types of animals, a total of 5,480 pieces, in 1894 sale of the first doll with felt body and composition head, in l900/03 development and sale of the first toy bears of gray plush mohair by the nephew of the founder, in 1903 sale of 3,000 plush bears in Springtime at the Leipzig Fair.
Morris Michitom and his wife, founder of the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company in USA, in November 1902 apparently displayed some jointed bears in the show-window of their small shop, sewn together by Mrs. Michtom. These handmade bears served as future ordering samples for the factories. The wholesaler Butler Brothers, USA, undertook the marketing of these bears at Christmas in 1903. Since 1907 their business was named "Ideal Toy Corporation". In the Thirties they produced Shirley Temple-dolls.
Before the plush bear as a toy commonly had been designated as "Teddy Bear", children in Russia called him "Mishka", in Britain he was named "Bruin" and in Germany he was termed "Meister Petz".
There are different versions of the story as to how the toy bear got his name "Teddy". It is definitely ascertained that he was named after the US President: Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), who in his spare time indulged in bear hunting. "Teddy" is the pet name of "Theodore".
Appearance of German Teddy-bears since 1903: Long snout, large hump, very long and sickly-shaped arms (curved at the ends), short legs, large feet, plush mohair. Since 1908 automatic growling voice, glass eyes, since 1909 the first plush animals with spring-loaded mechanism, since 1910 slimmer body, longer legs, shorter feet, shorter arms, partially, smaller humps, partially, smaller snouts and the ears are no longer sewn on as low as before.
Material: Plush mohair, plush wood, plush (silk) cotton, velvet, felt, fabric wool, fabric cotton, plush rayon, plush Dralon, plush synthetic, etc.
Workmanship: Movement of the bead and limbs by disk joints or wire sliding joints. Ears hand-sewn on or glued into slots. The quality models of the Teddies had as a rule their ears hand-sewn on and disk joints.
Fillings: Wool, wood-wool, plant fibers (Kapok), material and wool remnants, foam-rubber, styrofoame, synthetic wadding, etc.
Eyes: Between around 1902-1920 shoe-button eyes, between around 1908-1960 glass eyes, from about 1928 plastic eyes. The German factories of Steiff, Bing and Schuco mainly used clear glass eyes with black pupils, whose back side was coated with brown paint. Other companies used the slightly cheaper colored glass eyes in many color variations. The safety-minded factories used glass eyes with embedded wire slings for attachment.
In more inexpensive Teddies (for instance those for fairs) the wire was solely pierced into the plush and the eyes were glued in.
For the little and adult Teddy-bear collector with a heart it is unimportant whether an aged Teddy has been manufactured by a renown company or fabricated for fairs in "throw-away" quality. What counts is the Teddys' loving glance at you and the wonderful tales he can tell you of his long bear life! And don't you agree that Little Bear Yellowy has a special charm all of his own? After all it is not only the outer beauty that counts! Right?
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