Teddy-Hermann

Last updated
Teddy-Hermann GmbH
Company type GmbH
PredecessorBE-HA Quality Germany
Founded Sonneberg, Germany (1912)
FounderBernhard Hermann
Headquarters
Hirschaid
,
Germany
ProductsStuffed toys, notably teddy bears

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. [1]

Contents

Products

The main products of Teddy-Hermann are teddy bears and other plush animals, including among others cats, dogs, monkeys, and birds. The company groups its products into three main lines: Hermann Teddy Original, Hermann Teddy Miniaturen, and Hermann Teddy Collection. The Hermann Teddy Original line is directed toward collectors and encompasses traditional and designer teddy bears as well as other animals, all of which are produced on premises in Hirschaid. The Hermann Teddy Miniaturen line encompasses teddy bears under 12 centimeters in length and is therefore unique among the offerings of other European teddy bear producers. Meanwhile, the Hermann Teddy Collection line is directed toward children and encompasses the widest range of plush animals.

Since its founding, Teddy-Hermann has gradually altered the range, materials, and designs of its products. The company has greatly increased the variety of teddy bears, developing the Hermann Teddy Collection and Hermann Teddy Miniaturen lines in the 1980s and 1990s respectively, and has expanded the representation of animals among its offerings. While Teddy-Hermann continues to use mohair in its Hermann Teddy Original line, it has shifted to the use of synthetic and other fabrics in its Hermann Teddy Collection line. The company has also redesigned its teddy bears to give them a softer, more childlike appearance.

History

Founding

BE-HA Quality Germany, [2] later renamed Teddy-Hermann, was founded in 1912 in Sonneberg, Germany, [3] by Bernhard Hermann, who had previously spent several years working with his father Johann in the family business of crafting children's violins and later toys. [4] The “BE-HA” part of the company name derived from the pronunciation of Bernhard Hermann's initials. During the first years of operation, the company produced its first plush toys.

Early years

Bernhard Hermann's wife Ida managed BE-HA Quality Germany when the former was conscripted into the German army to fight in World War I. The loss of labor and expertise the company suffered as a result of Bernhard Hermann's absence was compounded by the shortage of materials during wartime. Though Bernhard Hermann survived the war and returned to run the company, BE-HA Quality Germany continued to face great adversity, now in the form of hyperinflation. While Bernhard Hermann's company did not go out of business as a result of economic hardship, many other toy producers in Sonneberg did. One reason for the persistence of BE-HA Quality Germany was its commitment to quality, as the craftsmanship of other companies’ products sank during this period. [5]

During the 1920s, BE-HA Quality Germany primarily produced teddy bears and other plush toys such as dogs. [6] At the same time the company made stuffed dolls typical of the toy industry of Sonneberg, primarily so-called “mama dolls,” which had porcelain heads. It was also during the 1920s that Bernhard Hermann developed close business relations with international toy retailers, including FAO Schwarz, Woolworth, Knickerbocker, and Galeries Lafayette. These contacts greatly profited BE-HA Quality Germany, making the 1920s the company's “golden years.” [7]

The golden years at BE-HA Quality Germany came to a decisive end with the Great Depression and the start of World War II. The Great Depression was especially bad for the company because of the sharp decline in the purchasing of toys and other such goods. Bernhard Hermann overcame this in part by contracting with toy distributors in Switzerland, which had been less affected by the Great Depression than other Western countries, though sales continued to suffer. The rise of the Nazis and advent of World War II led to new restrictions on BE-HA Quality Germany's operations, though the company was able to increase its sales during the late 1930s, selling its products exclusively in foreign markets in accordance with new German law.

In the 1930s, BE-HA Quality Germany began to alter the appearance of the bears, employing the so-called “Sonneberger Schnitt” (“Sonneberg cut”), which involved the separation and reattaching of teddy bear snouts to allow mixing and matching of snout and body fabrics. [8] The company also began to give its teddy bears a more childlike appearance, giving the toys larger eyes and placing them closer to center of the face.

Move to Hirschaid

After the Soviet occupation of eastern Germany, Bernhard Hermann selected Hirschaid in the American occupied zone as the new site of his company to avoid dispossession by the East German communist provisional government. In 1948 Bernhard Hermann sent his son Werner to Hirschaid to develop the company's presence at its new location. By 1953 [9] the Hermann family had managed to flee to West Germany and completed the company's move, reconstituting it as the “Teddy Plüschspielwarenfabrik Gebr. Hermann KG.”

From the time after its relocation up until the end of the 1950s, Teddy-Hermann experienced enormous growth, owing in part to the so-called West German Wirtschaftswunder, and adopted the branding “Hermann Teddy Original,” which was borne on the also newly introduced Teddy-seal brand. During this period the company produced as many as 500,000 plush toys a year and began introducing many new series of plush animals, including squirrels, dogs, rabbits, pandas, penguins, and horses. After Bernhard Hermann's death in 1959 and his sons Helmut, Arthur, and Werner's assumption of leadership, the company continued to grow and issue new series of toys throughout the 1960s. Throughout these two decades, the importance of Teddy-Hermann's domestic market overshadowed that of its international one. The company's growth was stemmed in the 1970s by inflation and competition with East Asian imports, which caused the prices of Teddy-Hermann's products to rise and in turn a decline in sales. In response to this decline, the company reduced its workforce and eliminated one of its production facilities.

New Leadership

In the 1980s and 1990s the company came under the leadership of Arthur and Werner Hermann's daughters, Margit Drolshagen, Marion Mehling, and Traudel Mischner, [10] and began to develop its current three lines of plush toys. A growing market for collectors in the United States and United Kingdom in the 1980s led to the creation of the Gebrüder Hermann Fan Club. Collectors’ interest in Teddy-Hermann products remained high throughout the 1990s in the United States, where at the peak of popularity there were over 250 Teddy-Hermann dealers. [11] In 1991 the company became a limited company, adopting the name “Gebr. Hermann GmbH & Co. KG”; [12] later, the company adopted the name “Teddy-Hermann GmbH.” [13] In order to keep prices low for the children's teddy bear market, Teddy-Hermann introduced in 1990 its Hermann Teddy 2000 line, later renamed Hermann Teddy Collection, whose products were manufactured in East Asia. In the mid-1990s the company introduced its Hermann Teddy Miniaturen line. In 2000 Teddy-Hermann introduced its Teddy-Hermann Collectors’ Club.

Notes

  1. ↑ "Bären Aus Plüsch"
  2. ↑ Mullins, Teddy Bears Past and Present, p. 33.
  3. ↑ Pistorius, Tales of Teddy Hermann, p. 11.
  4. ↑ Pistorius, Tales of Teddy Hermann, p. 8.
  5. ↑ Froese and Hentschel, Das große Teddy-Hermann-Buch, pp. 13−14.
  6. ↑ Cockrill, The Teddy Bear Encyclopedia, p. 31.
  7. ↑ Froese and Hentschel, Das große Teddy-Hermann-Buch, p. 17.
  8. ↑ Froese and Hentschel, Das große Teddy-Hermann-Buch, p. 20.
  9. ↑ Cockrill, The Teddy Bear Encyclopedia, p. 225.
  10. ↑ Pistorius, Tales of Teddy Hermann, p. 23.
  11. ↑ Froese and Hentschel, Das große Teddy-Hermann-Buch, p. 35 .
  12. ↑ Pistorius, Tales of Teddy Hermann, p. 23.
  13. ↑ Froese and Hentschel, Das große Teddy-Hermann-Buch, p. 43 .

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teddy bear</span> Soft toy in the form of a bear

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stuffed toy</span> Toy with outer fabric sewn from a textile and stuffed with flexible material

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.

Kenner Products, known simply as Kenner, was an American toy company founded in 1946. Throughout its history, the Kenner brand produced several highly recognizable toys and merchandise lines including action figures like the original series of Star Wars, Jurassic Park and Batman as well as die cast models. The company was closed and merged by its corporate parent Hasbro in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Care Bears</span> Fictional character group

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).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steiff</span> Plush toy company based in Germany

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morris Michtom</span> American toy inventor


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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Worlds of Wonder (toy company)</span> 1980s American toy company

Worlds of Wonder (WoW) was an American toy company founded in 1985 by former Atari sales president Don Kingsborough, and former Atari employee Mark Robert Goldberg. Its founding was inspired by a prototype that became its launch product, Teddy Ruxpin. In 1986, it launched Lazer Tag and filed an IPO which Fortune magazine called "one of the year's most sought after stock sales". WoW partnered with the young Nintendo of America as retail sales distributor, crucial to the landmark launch and rise of the Nintendo Entertainment System from 1986 to 1987.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Merrythought</span> Toy manufacturing company

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ideal Toy Company</span> Defunct American toy company

Ideal Toy Company was an American toy company founded by Morris Michtom and his wife, Rose. During the post–World War II baby boom era, Ideal became the largest doll-making company in the United States. Their most popular dolls included Betsy Wetsy, Toni, Saucy Walker, Shirley Temple, Miss Revlon, Patti Playpal, Tammy, Thumbelina, Tiny Thumbelina, and Crissy. The company is also known for selling the Rubik's Cube.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Art toys</span>

Art toys, also called designer toys, are toys and collectibles created by artists and designers that are either self-produced or made by small, independent toy companies, typically in very limited editions. Artists use a variety of materials, such as ABS plastic, vinyl, wood, metal, latex, plush, and resin. Creators often have backgrounds in graphic design, illustration, or fine art, but many accomplished toy artists are self-taught. The first art toys appeared in the 1990s in Hong Kong and Japan. By the early 2000s, the majority of art toys were based upon characters created by popular Lowbrow artists, linking the two movements.

Boyds Bears is a line of manufactured collectable resin and stuffed teddy bears produced from the early 1980s until 2014. Boyds was acquired in 2008 by Enesco, who announced in 2014 that the company had "made the difficult strategic decision to place Boyds into hibernation".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gund</span> Canadian/American manufacturer of plush stuffed animals

Gund 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”.

Ganz Midwest-CBK LLC is a Canadian soft toy and home décor company, famous for its plush animals and collectibles. They are the manufacturer of Webkinz, a toy with an interactive virtual-reality Internet site for children.

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.

Coffee Bean Bears are a coffee bean stuffed bear created by brothers Christopher Esposito and Artie Esposito in 2003 through their company ESPO Entertainment. The initial assortment of bears featured four characters: Brewster Bean, Frenchie Vanilla, Mister Mocha, and Hazel "The Nut". Each of the bears is stuffed, in its midsection only, with organically grown, roasted coffee beans of the appropriate flavor. The rest of the bear is filled with polyester stuffing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margarete Steiff</span> Foundress of Margarete Steiff GmbH in Germany

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palisades Toys</span> American Toy Company

Palisades Entertainment, LLC, better known as Palisades Toys, was an American manufacturing and distributing toy & collectibles company geared toward the adult collector market. Established in 1994, the company generally worked within the same vein as competitors such as McFarlane Toys and NECA, producing detailed action figures, statues, plushes, and other collectibles of licensed properties up until its bankruptcy in 2006. Palisades also developed the brand Factory X which continues under Limited by CAS Inc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">R. John Wright Dolls</span> Art doll making workshop

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.

For the German actress and singer, see Renate Müller.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.