History of Teddy Bear

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History of teddy bear

To many it comes as a surprise that this major 20thcentury icon

and childhood classic is younger than electric light, the telephone and

the motor car.

The cuddly childrens toy, - quite unlike

a real bear- was invented almost

simultaneously in the United States and

Germany but the United States

undoubtedly gave it its name. In

November 1902 Theodore TeddyRoosevelt, 26

thPresident of the United

States, was hunting in Mississippi. The

President failed to make a kill so his

hosts caught and tethered a bear,

presenting it to the President as a

sitting target. Naturally the President

refused, uttering the immortal words,

Spare the bear! I will not shoot a

tethered animal. Clifford Berryman drew

a cartoon of the scene, which was published in the Washington Post.

(Left Theodore Roosevelt , and behind - his famous 'Spare The Bear'

cartoon depiction)

That same month Brooklyn shopkeepers Morris and Rose Michtom

made a soft bear toy, which they named Teddys Bear and displayedin their window with a copy of the cartoon. America went bear

mad almost overnight, the Michtoms went on to make their fortune

with the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company and President Roosevelt had

found a highly effective political mascot.


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On the other side of the Atlantic

Margarete Steiff, a disabled German

seamstress with a soft toy factory in

Giengen, had added a soft plush bear

to the Steiff catalogue and sold 3,000

to America in 1903. Between 1903

and the First World War Steiff sold

literally millions of bears, with their

trademark button in the left ear, to the

United States, Germany and Britain, as

the teddy bear overtook the diabolo as

the latest toy craze.

(Left: Margarete Steiff)

For collectors very early Steiff bears, with

their hump backs, long snouts, large

tapered feet and elongated arms with

curved paws, are the most sought-after.

(Left: Steiff bears from 1903 and 1905)

Early Ideal American bears, with their tubby bodies, triangular faces

and long straight arms and legs fetch very high prices too. America

also made some extraordinary novelty bears during this period. These

include the 1907 Laughing Roosevelt Bear by the Columbia Teddy Bear

Company, which opens its mouth to display large teeth like those of

the President, and the 1917 red white and blue Patriotic Bear with

electric light bulb eyes.


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In the inter-war years many new firms started up. Bing

(famous for mechanical bears), Schuco (which specialised

in miniature bears), and Hermann are three of the most

collectable German makes from this period. J.K. Farnell

(which made the original Winnie-the -Pooh bought for

Christopher Robin in 1921), Deans, (which began making

plush bears in 1915) and Merrythought (established in

1930), are the best-known British firms.

(Left: A clockwork teddy bear violinist)

Technological and social change after World War II changed the face

of the soft toy industry. Many traditional manufacturers ceased trading

in the face of an influx of cheap, mass-produced soft toys from the

Far East. By the end of the 1960s the traditional teddy bear

appeared doomed. Instead it enjoyed an unexpected renaissance which

began in 1969, when arctophile (bear collector) Peter Bull published

a book about his hobby. Suddenly old-fashioned teddy bears were

desirable objects again. An adult collectors market for old bears and

teddy bear ephemera began to emerge while a new area of collectingwas created by bear artists making high quality, hand crafted bears in

the traditional manner. In 1985 Christies held the first ever auction

devoted to old teddy bears and the Teddy Bear Artists Guild was

founded in the USA. More than 100 years on, teddy bears, old and

young, find themselves more popular than ever.

Documents

History of Teddy Bear