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Teddy Bear History

Teddy Bear History
Author: Amy Larkin
Published on: March 27, 1999

The following article is Part I of III discussing the history of the teddy bear.

The bear started as a fascinating but not particularly friendly figure during the 19th century and today maintains a hold on our hearts as a cuddly companion lovingly called "Teddy Bear." People of the 19th century saw dancing bears come to town with the circus and depicted the bear on furniture, pottery, even countries' coats of arms. On our TV sets today, we see images of Winnie the Pooh, Paddington, the Coca Cola polar bear, CareBears, Teddy Ruskin, Smokey the Bear, even Snuggles in his fabric softener commercial. So in the 19th century, who was it that began to change the image of a perfoming bear chained to its pole and trainer into the icon of love, warmth, and eternal friendship we (children and adults alike) know today?

There are many contenders for the first teddy bear, but perhaps the most famous and most documented claim is that made by the Americans. As with any items of history, this story may have a few discrepancies but according to an event involving the twenty-sixth President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, we can thank him for giving us Teddy's Bear, as well as Clifford Berryman for drawing the now famous cartoon "Drawing the Line in Mississippi" in the Washington Post (November 16, 1902 issue). And we can also thank the individuals who actually made this plush stuffed toy bear cub and displayed it in their store window: a Russian immigrant and his wife, Morris and Rose Michtom, owners of a confectionary and stationery ship in Brooklyn, New York.

As the story goes, on November 14, 1902, President Roosevelt was on a hunting trip in Smedes County, Mississippi. He was there to negotiate terms about the boundary between Louisiana and Mississippi. The bear hunt had been arranged as a way for him to relax. President Roosevelt was a popular president and very aware of his image, which was why he liked to be seen as a rugged hunting sportsman.

On that particular day, the hunting party could not find a single target. Anxious to do so, some of the hunters captured a 235-pound black bear and tied it to a tree to give the President an easy shot. But when he arrived on the scene and found this captive animal, he refused to shoot it.

The event was relayed to the world by the Washington Post, which wrote, "President called after the beast has been lassoed, but he refused to make an unsportsmanlike shot." With the report was an illustration by political cartoonist Clifford K. Berryman, in which the bear appeared as an enchanting bear cub with round eyes and large ears. The name "Drawing the Line in Mississippi" tied the President's action with his political purpose for being in the state.

Inspired by the newspaper story and cartoon, Rose Michtom made a jointed soft fabric bear in the image of a small bear cub. Morris put the toy in the shop window calling it "Teddy's Bear" alongside a copy of the cartoon. It sold immediately and the Michtoms realized they had a hot seller on their hands. Sales of "Teddy's Bear" boomed throughout 1903 and Butler Brothers, one of the United States' largest toy wholesalers, agreed to guarantee the Michtoms' credit with the factory which made the plush fabric. By the end of 1903, the Michtoms had formed the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company (known as the Ideal Toy Company from 1938.) This company had factories not only in America but eventually also in Canada, Australia and even Japan. It remained a family business until 1982 and closed completely in 1984. On Morris Michtom's death his newspaper obituaries hailed him as "The Father of the Teddy Bear."

While it is true that both Germany and the United States claim to have invented the teddy bear, it seems to be a mere coincidence that the toy evolved almost simultaneously on both sides of the Atlantic in 1902-3. In 1903, Richard Steiff designed a plush bear for his aunt's toy factory, based on drawings of bears he had seen at the Stuttgart Zoo. Steiff's first bear - a Bar 55PB - attracted the attention of U.S. wholesaler George Borgfeldt when it was exhibited at the Leipzig Toy Fair, and he ordered 3,000. In 1905, Steiff registered the button-in-the-ear trademark, and in 1907 they called their bears "teddy," instead of the previously popular name for jointed plush bears which was "Bruins" (the traditional English name for a bear).

Sources:
"Teddy's Bears" in Edward Bear ESQ: The True Story of Astonishing Achievements of Teddy by Michelle Brown (1997)

"A History of Bear Collecting" in Teddy Bears: A Complete Guide to History, Collecting, and Care by Sue Pearson and Dottie Ayers (1995)

Teddy's History - Part II
Author: Amy Larkin
Published on: April 15, 1999

The following article is Part II of III discussing the history of the teddy bear.

When you become a Teddy Bear collector, or any kind of collector for that matter, you quickly learn the names to know, the names that attract interest and admiration from other collectors. In the teddy bear making and collecting industry, one of the names of the greats is Steiff.

Steiff was the first European company to make true teddy bears. It was started in 1877 in Germany by Margarete Steiff, who, being crippled with polio and confined to a wheelchair, made stuffed toys using felt left over from the family’s fabric factory. In addition to the more traditional items such as needle-cases and pin-cushions, she made up a few small stuffed elephants, which became popular with visiting children. Her brother Fritz had the idea of selling some of her work in nearby markets and encouraged her to make a range of stuffed animals. Soon she became quite famous for her toys and began to take orders for them. By 1892, she had registered a trademark with a camel on wheels motif, and in 1898 she registered an elephant on wheels. In 1905, the words Knopf im Ohr (Button in Ear) were patented as their trademark. It remains to this day as a very unique labeling device for a stuffed toy.

The Steiff version of the Teddy’s origin is that Margarete made up a little jointed bear doll designed by an artistic nephew, Richard. This animal, affectionately called "Friend Petz" (Petz is the German equivalent of "Bruin"), was shown among others at the Leipzig Trade Fair in 1903, and was ordered in large quantities by American buyers. The Steiffs believed that one person who patronized the little bear was Theodore Roosevelt’s daughter Alice. Those responsible for her wedding reception at the White House were looking for appropriate table decorations. The caterer decided to dress up a number of little bears as huntsmen with rifles and set them among tents, with others as fisherman sitting around bowls of goldfish. The guests admired this ingenious reference to the favorite sport of the bride’s father: "What species do the bears belong to?" one guest joked with the President. He replied, "You’ve got me there. They must be the new species called Teddy Bears."

It sounds possible. Much later, however, all those present are reported to deny that a display like this took place. The bride herself had no recollection of bears being part of the decorations at her wedding. Nonetheless, it does seem to be true that the Steiff family was making stuffed jointed bears in 1902 and 1903, at just the same time the Washington Post cartoon appeared in the United States.

An article in the German magazine Illustriete Zeitung by writer Georg Queri gives an authentic historical account of production, as described in Teddy Bears: A Celebration by Mary Hillier (the book is out of print). The newspaper article titled "The Cradle of Teddy Bears" appeared in the September 1911 issue. Margarete Steiff died in 1909, and her nephews checked the accuracy of the article he wrote. They were still running the business very successfully. Queri suggested that the "bear doll" was an instant success with American buyers when it was shown at the Leipzig Trade Fair because of the story of Roosevelt and the bear, and that it became a national symbol as a result.

More importantly, Queri wrote in the article that Richard Steiff, who studied sculpture at the Stuttgart School of Arts and Crafts, had an acquaintance at the Hagenbeck's Circus. This animal trainer did an act with a performing bear. Richard was so enchanted with the good natured bear that he sketched it in various exaggerated poses. It seems that this was indeed the origin of Margarete's bear, and provides the reason why her earliest examples look so true to life, unlike the Mitchom's bear. The Steiff bear has the hump at the back of the neck, long paws, pointed snout and stitched claw lines.

The Steiff factory flourishes to this day, some one hundred and twenty-two years since its inception. The Margarete Steiff museum with family archives can be visited in Giengen-Brenz. You may even want to join the Steiff Club.

Sources:
"And in the German Corner" in Teddy Bears: A Celebration by Mary Hillier (1985)

"Teddy's Bears" in Edward Bear ESQ: The True Story of Astonishing Achievements of Teddy by Michelle Brown (1997)

"A History of Bear Collecting" in Teddy Bears: A Complete Guide to History, Collecting, and Care by Sue Pearson and Dottie Ayers (1995)

Teddy's History - Part III
Author: Amy Larkin
Published on: May 4, 1999

This is the final article of the three-part series discussing the history of the teddy bear.

As I've learned more about the history of teddy bears, I've learned that there's more to it than what I knew originally, the hunting trip of Roosevelt's. While I could spend several months, diving deeper into all aspects of the different companies that have made bears, I'd like to sum up the history lesson and show you briefly in this article the progress the teddy bear has made and the impact both World Wars had on the industry. If you've gotten a tad bored with the Teddy's History series, thanks so much for being patient with me.

The years between 1906 and 1908 brought the height of the teddy bear craze. In the United States, "the teddy bear years" coincided with President Roosevelt's second term in office (1905-1909). Germany was the major manufacturer, producing many of its bears for export, to the U.S. as well as England.

With the start of World War I in 1914, the teddy bear manufacturing industry changed drastically. Bans on imported bears from Germany meant that countries were forced to make more bears for themselves - Chad Valley, Chiltern, and Farnell in England, Pintel and Fadap in France, and Joy Toys in Australia became well-established bear makers by the 1920s.

The 1920s saw the emergence of novelty bears, as manufacturers competed for dominance in the market. Colored bears in vibrant shades of blue, red, yellow, green and pink were very popular. Musical bears played cheerful tunes. Bear clowns and jesters and dressed bears were made, miniatures too. For adult ladies, there were teddy bear powder compacts and perfume bottles. Additionally, it was in the 1920s when Winnie the Pooh and Rupert Bear made their first appearance in print.

By the 1930s new materials were being used, such as artificial silk plush on the outside with kapok, a softer filler instead of excelsior.

As with the WWI, World War II stopped the fun for teddy bear markers. In 1939, all toy manufacturing ceased because materials and labor had to be put toward making weapons. Many factories closed down without ever being opened for business again. Those making bears had to change their designs to more economical patterns. The long arms, legs and body Steiff had started with other manuafactures mimicking changed to shorter arms, legs and body. One common solution was to dress bears, allowing the concealed body to be made from cotton, which was less expensive than mohair.

After WW II, many new manufacturers set up business in the U.S. zone of Germany, and the rest of the world gradually recovered from the restrictions imposed during the war. Bears were made from any available fabric, often wool and cotton. The expensive kadok and wood wool stuffing that was used before the war was replaced with inexpensive cotton waste or sub-stuffing, the factory leftovers.

In 1948, British teddy bear manufacturer Wendy Boston patented the first lock-in safety eyes. Synthetic materials were patented and gave a cheaper alternative to mohair. In 1960, it was again Wendy Boston who introduced the first washable teddy bear, made of nylon and stuffed with foam.

A distinct move away from the traditional bears of the beginning of the century toward more mass producing teddy bear designs came about in the 1960s and 1970s. Increasing competition from East Asia made it all but impossible for early manufacturers to continue selling bears. All the teddy bear businesses in Australia and France shut down in the 1970s. Many manufacturers in England were bought out by larger companies who started to import toys from the Far East. Some did survive though, Dean's Rag Book Company in England, Steiff in Germany, and the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company in the United States. It was also at this time when many teddy bear characters were being popularized by television. Soft toy versions of Winnie the Pooh, Paddington Bear, and Rupert were made.

The first artist bears (modern hand-made exclusives) were produced on the west coast of the U.S. in the 1970s. Within a few years, individuals in New Zealand, Japan, Australia, Holland, Austria, and Switzerland followed. Today, teddy bear artistry has become a very important business. With the internet, artists can set up shop right out of their home. Teddy Bear Artist shows are given all over the world, dedicated to just teddy bears made by artists.

In 1980, Steiff introduced the first-ever teddy bear replica. When they started producing modern copies of a number of their traditional bears in limited editions, other long-established factories joined. Some are Merrythought and Dean's in England, Thiennot in France, Gebruder Hermann in Germany, and Gund in the U.S. Recognizing the appetite some of us have for these special limited and anniversary editions, some manufacturers such as Steiff and Dean's have created collectors clubs. Ever present still is the teddy bear craze!

Sources:
"A History of Bear Collecting" in Teddy Bears: A Complete Guide to History, Collecting, and Care by Sue Pearson and Dottie Ayers (1995)

"Literary and Artistic Teddies" in Teddy Bears: A Celebration by Mary Hillier (1985)

Bearly Friends is pleased to bring you these wonderful, historical articles covering the History of Teddy Bears!

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