History of Steiff Bears

The story of the Steiff bear began not long after the history of teddy bears themselves. The first soft plush bears were made as novelties in 1902 to celebrate an incident in which President "Teddy" Roosevelt had spared a bear during a hunt.

History

Margarete Steiff began making Teddy Bears in 1903 and sold 3,000 in the United States that year. Steiff sold millions of bears in the United States, Britain and Germany before World War I.

Biography

Margarete Steiff was born in 1847 in Giengen, Germany, and contracted polio in 1849. She was confined to a wheelchair and made her living as a seamstress.

Versions

The earliest Steiff bears looked much more like actual bears than today's teddy bears. They were modeled after the baribal bear, rather than the grizzly, and had long snouts, humped backs and long arms with curved paws.

Fun Fact

In 1880, Steiff created her first stuffed animals, elephants, which were intended to be used as pincushions. However, even these early creations were adopted by children as play toys.

Special Editions

Steiff produced an all-black bear after the Titanic disaster. Only 600 were made; one sold at auction for £28,200 (almost $46,000 U.S.) in 2002.

References

• BBC: Teddy Bear Celebrates 100th Birthday
• Steiff USA: Foundation
• Times Online: Steiff Auctions