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| Company type | Stuffed toy manufacturer |
|---|---|
| Industry | Stuffed toys |
| Founded | Germany, 1880 |
| Founder | Margarete Steiff |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Teddy bears, etc. |
| Website | www |
Steiff is a German-based plush toy company, founded in 1880, with headquarters in Giengen, Germany. The company claims to have made the world's first factory-made teddy bear. [1]
Steiff was founded in 1880 by Margarete Steiff, a seamstress. [2] [3] She began making fabric elephants that were sold in her shop as pincushions. [3] [4] [5] However, children began playing with them, and in the years following she went on to design many other animal-themed toys for children, such as monkeys, donkeys, horses, camels, pigs, mice, dogs, cats, rabbits, and giraffes. [3]
In 1893, Margarete's felt fabric factory was founded in Giengen, Germany. [3] In 1895, the first Steiff products to be sold outside Germany were sold at Harrods in London, England. [3]
In 1897, Margarete's nephew, Richard Steiff, joined the company and gave it an enormous boost by creating stuffed animals from drawings made at the zoo. [6] [7] Richard attended the School of Applied Arts in Stuttgart and studied in England. He designed the world's first plush bear with movable arms and legs, known as "55 PB". [7] [3] [8]
In 1903, a 3,000-piece order was placed by a buyer in America after the "teddy bear" craze began due to a popular cartoon of President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt and a young cub in The Washington Post in 1902. [5] [9]
By 1907, Steiff manufactured 974,000 bears, and the company has been increasing its output ever since. [6]
In 1912, in the aftermath of the Titanic disaster that left Britain in mourning, a British toy retailer ordered black Steiff teddy bears to bring comfort to the public. They did not sell very well and production was soon halted, with just 494 made in five different sizes. Today, they are highly coveted by collectors due to their historical relevance and scarcity. [10]
In 1909, when Margarete died of pneumonia, Richard continued his aunt's legacy and further expanded the toy and plush line. [3] He also became the largest stockholder of the company. [11]
In 1925, the Steiff company started using assembly line production to keep up with the high demand. [3] In 1931, Steiff partnered with Disney to manufacture the well-known Disney characters. [3]
By the 1960s, Stieff was known as the largest stuffed toy maker in the world. [2] By 1968, according to Time , the company had 2,100 employees and generated $14 million annually. [12]
In 1980, the Steiff Museum opened in Giengen. This event marked the 100th anniversary of the company. [3] The museum has many artifacts from Margarete Steiff's life. [13]
In 2017, Steiff had revenues of €45 million, or $51 million according to the average exchange rate for the year. [14]
In 2008, Steiff launched a limited-edition Karl Lagerfeld teddy bear with a price of €1,000. [15] In 2018, Steiff and Tiffany & Co. collaborated to offer a luxury teddy bear. The 10.5-inch, caramel-colored mohair teddy bear retailed for $375. [16]
Vintage Steiff teddy bears are prized by collectors, and depending on the type can bring significant sums at auction. In a 1994 auction, the Steiff "Teddy Girl" made in 1904 sold for a record $165,000. [17]
In 2000, a Steiff Louis Vuitton Teddy Bear, with eyes made of sapphire and diamonds, and with gold parts, sold at an auction in Monaco for $2.1 million. [18]
In May 2001, at a London Christie's auction of vintage teddy bears, a pair of Steiff teddy bears made in 1908 went for sale with an estimated value of about $20,000. [19]
In December 2002, "Edwin", a 5+1⁄2-inch Steiff teddy bear that accompanied a British soldier, Percy Kynnersley-Baddlely, killed in the Battle of the Somme in 1916, was sold for £4,230. [9] [20]
In 2010, a 1925 Steiff Harlequin teddy bear sold at a London Christie's auction for £46,850. [21]
The Steiff company motto, as styled by Margarete Steiff, is "Only the best is good enough for children". [22] The company uses natural fibers such as mohair in their products. [23] Steiff products are subject to meticulous testing and inspection. [24] [25] They are required to be highly flame resistant, and, among other things, smaller pieces such as eyes must be able to resist considerable tension, wear, and tear. [26] A large amount of the work is done by hand. [24] It takes eight to 12 months of training for a seamstress to develop the skills to make Steiff bears that meet the company's strict quality standards. [24] [25]
The iconic "button in ear" tag was devised in 1904 by Margarete's nephew Franz to keep counterfeits from being passed off as authentic Steiff toys. It is made of metal. The button is still used to distinguish authentic Steiff toys from fakes. [13] The tag originally had the symbol of an elephant, [27] and it was later replaced by the name "Steiff". [28]
A teddy bear is a stuffed toy in the form of a bear. Developed apparently simultaneously by toymakers Morris Michtom in the U.S. and Richard Steiff under his aunt Margarete Steiff's company in Germany in the early 20th century, the teddy bear, named after President Theodore Roosevelt, became a popular children's toy and has been celebrated in story, song, and film.
A stuffed toy is a toy doll with an outer fabric sewn from a textile and stuffed with flexible material. They are known by many names, such as plush toys, plushies, stuffed animals, and stuffies; in Britain and Australia, they may also be called soft toys or cuddly toys. The stuffed toy originated from the Steiff company of Germany in the late 19th century and gained popularity following the creation of the teddy bear in the United States in 1903. At the same time, German toy inventor Richard Steiff designed a similar bear. In 1903, Peter Rabbit was the first fictional character to be made into a patented stuffed toy. In 1921, Christopher Robin's stuffed toy, given to him by his father, A. A. Milne, would inspire the creation of Winnie-the-Pooh. In the 1970s, London-based Hamleys, the world's oldest toy store, bought the rights to Paddington Bear stuffed toys. In the 1990s, Ty Warner created Beanie Babies, a series of animals stuffed with plastic pellets that were popular as collector's items.
Plush is a textile having a cut nap or pile the same as fustian or velvet. Its softness of feel gave rise to the adjective "plush" to describe something soft or luxurious, which was extended to describe luxury accommodation, or something rich and full. This has also been known to be described as früh, or middlefrüh in more affordable varieties.
Care Bears are multi-colored bears, painted in 1981 by artist Elena Kucharik to be used on greeting cards from American Greetings. They were turned into plush teddy bears and featured in The Care Bears in the Land Without Feelings (1983) and The Care Bears Battle the Freeze Machine (1984) before headlining their own television series called Care Bears from 1985 to 1988. They also had multiple feature films including: The Care Bears Movie (1985), Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation (1986), and The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland (1987).
The Lonely Doll is the first children's book in a series by photographer and author Dare Wright. The story is told through text and photographs. It was first published by Doubleday in 1957, went out of print for years, was reissued by Houghton Mifflin in 1998, and brought out by Barnes & Noble in a narrated version for their Nook eReader in 2012. Wright wrote 10 books starring Edith and the bears. The nine that have been reprinted are The Lonely Doll, Edith and Mr. Bear, A Gift from the Lonely Doll, Holiday for Edith and the Bears, The Doll and the Kitten, Edith and the Duckling, Edith and Little Bear Lend a Hand, Edith and Midnight and The Lonely Doll Learns a Lesson.
Giengen is a former Free Imperial City in eastern Baden-Württemberg near the border with Bavaria in southern Germany. The town is located in the district of Heidenheim at the eastern edge of the Swabian Alb, about 30 kilometers northeast of Ulm on the Brenz River.
Morris Michtom was a Russian-born businessman and inventor who, with his wife Rose, also a Russian Jewish immigrant who lived in Brooklyn, came up with the idea for the teddy bear in 1902 around the same time as Richard Steiff in Germany. They founded the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company which, after Michtom's death, became the largest doll-making company in the United States.
Merrythought is a toy manufacturing company established in 1930 in the United Kingdom. The company specialises in soft toys, especially teddy bears. Merrythought has handmade traditional teddy bears in the World Heritage Site of Ironbridge, Shropshire, UK since 1930.
Gund Manufacturing Company is a Canadian-owned manufacturer of plush stuffed animals. The company is based in Edison, New Jersey, and distributes throughout the United States and Canada as well as in Europe, Japan, Australia, and South America. Gund is currently run by third generation family owner Bruce Raiffe whose grandfather Jacob Swedlin purchased the company from the original founder in 1925. Their slogan is “Gotta Getta Gund”.
Gund Snuffles is a plush bear developed and produced by the GUND toy company and was the recipient of 1996 Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Award.
Richard Steiff was a German designer, known for creating one of the first teddy bears. In 1897, he joined Steiff, a stuffed toy company founded in his hometown Giengen by his aunt Margarete Steiff, and became integral to its growth as a global toy company.
Funko Inc. is an American company that manufactures licensed and limited pop culture collectibles, best known for its licensed vinyl figurines and bobbleheads. In addition, the company produces licensed plush, action figures, apparel, accessories and games. Founded in 1998 by Mike Becker and Claudia Becker, Funko was originally conceived as a small project to create various low-tech, nostalgia-themed toys. The company's first manufactured bobblehead was of the Big Boy mascot, the well-known restaurant advertising icon.
Margarete Steiff was a German seamstress who in 1880 founded Margarete Steiff GmbH, more widely known as Steiff, a maker of toy stuffed animals.
Me to You Bears is the brand name of a collection of teddy bears made by the Carte Blanche Greetings Ltd. They are often found in Clinton Cards. They were first created in 1987 and appeared in their current guise in 1995. A number of products are available related to Tatty Teddy including plush toys, figurines, cards, mugs, and wedding accessories.
John Kirby Farnell or J. K. Farnell was a London company which manufactured the first British teddy bear in 1906.
Ilkley Toy Museum in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, houses a private collection of toys dating from 350 BC to modern times, and is open to the public, schools, and groups.
Applause Inc. was a company that produced stuffed toys and collectible figurines. Its principal subsidiaries included Dakin Inc. and International Tropic-Cal Inc. The Applause brand survives as part of Kid Brands.
Teddy-Hermann GmbH is an international manufacturer of teddy bears and other plush toys based in Hirschaid, Germany. Teddy-Hermann is one of the oldest teddy bear producers in Germany. Its products are highly valued among collectors.
R. John Wright Dolls is an art doll making workshop located in Bennington, Vermont. Established in 1976, R. John Wright Dolls (RJW) is a privately held company founded by R. John Wright.
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