Where Do Bears Comes From?

There is sometimes confusion as to where the Teddy Bear originates. England being generally thought of as the home of the teddy, when in fact it is America and Germany who are jointly responsible for the birth of the bear and his name.

The German Connection

In the 1880’s in Giengen-on-the-Brenz, Margarete Steiff (confined to a wheelchair since childhood due to polio) made a felt elephant for a friend. Soon everyone seemed to want one of Margarete felt animals so a workshop was set up to cope with demand. By 1885 the range included donkeys, horses, camels, giraffes, pigs, mice, dogs and cats, producing 5000 in this year alone. The family business employed five of Margaretes nephews, the most important one to us being Richard. Richard Steiff had studied commercial art at Stuttgart and used this background to design Steiff innovative jointed realistic animals. His first collection including a jointed bear was presented a t the Leipzig Toy fair in spring 1903. An American buyer for The New York Toy Co., Hermann Berg, ordered 3,000 bears (the only person to order any at the show). One year later Steiff had sold over 12,000 bears. (See also card on Steiff)

‘Theodore’s Bear’

In November 1902 the then President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt visited Mississippi to settle a land border dispute. The Presidential Party had organised a bear shoot for the President during his visit. At the end of the shoot the President still hadn’t ‘bagged’ a bear. To ensure he wouldn’t be disappointed the organisers cornered a small bear for the President to shoot. He refused to shoot the bear as he said it was unsporting.

The incident was much reported in the papers and a cartoonist for the Washington Post, Clifford Berryman drew a sketch of the President entitled ‘ Drawing The Line In Mississippi.

The drawing and story was so popular that a Russian immigrant Morris Michtom displayed a toy bear in his New York department store and called it ‘Teddy’s Bear’ The toys were snapped up and Morris began manufacturing teddy’s. He claimed that he wrote to the President and asked for permission to use the name but unfortunately documented evidence of this does not exist.

Roosevelt used the bear’s popularity for his own promotion, giving out badges and small bears during his election campaigns. In 1906 when his daughter got married the presidential office asked Steiff to decorate the reception with bears. Each table had a small ensemble of bears made by Steiff and from then Steiff too called their bears Teddy’s Bears.

Boyd's.

The Boyd's Collection Ltd... began in 1979 as a small antique shop in rural Maryland, USA. Started by G.M & Tina Lowenthal, they recognised the prices of antique collectables and so decided to produce and market more affordable items.

One of their earliest and most successful item was the 'duck decoy'. In 1984 G.M Lowenthal turned to resin sculpting of extremely detailed miniature houses based on American architecture.

Tired of painting 20,000 duck decoys a year until 3am, G.M designed a fully jointed, 100% merino wool teddy bear.

In 1987 the Lowenthal's relocated the firm to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

In 1993 the bearstone collection was launched. A collection of figurines made in resin as were the earlier sculptured houses

Over the years Boyd's products have evolved & progressed but the collections, whether they are plush animals, sweaters, furniture, the pottery works, Bearstone, Folkstone or Dollstone collections represent true value for today's collector.

Chad Valley

In 1897 a stationery firm Johnson Bros., move to a new factory in Harborne, the factory being called 'Chad Valley Works'. 1900's see the company introduce a range of toys, increasing gradually, as the import ban was imposed during WWI. In 1910 Chad Valley were granted a patent for a soft toy-filling machine and the introduction of a range of toys included bears.

In the 1920's they opened the Wrekin Toy Works and the firm is renamed Chad Valley Co Ltd. A Royal Warrant of Appointment to Her Majesty the Queen. This is useful when identifying Chad Valley toys as the wording changed in 1953 to 'Her Majesty the Queen Mother'.

As with a lot of teddy bear manufacturers the 1960's bring change. 1967 sees a buy out of Chiltern and production lessen. By 1978 then had been taken over by Palitoy and then again by Woolworth's, who continue to use the brand name today.

Designs Include
1930's - Magna series
1950's - Toffee radio bear (also made by Farnell)
1952 - Sooty

Chiltern
(H.G Stone & Co Ltd)

Chiltern has its origins in Eisenmann and Co Ltd from Germany, a fancy goods exporter since 1881. In 1908 Leon Rees , a German who had settled in the UK, married Eisenmann daughter Maude , joined the business developing its potential in London. After the death of his father in law in 1919 Leon set up his own factory in London to manufacture toys. With the help of his new partner H.G Stone (a designer who had been at J.K Farnell) 'Chiltern Toys' was born. 1923 saw the introduction of their most famous design the 'Hugmee'. Chiltern went from strength to strength building a new purpose built factory in Pontypool in Wales. The 1960's however saw the start of the end for the company, initially a take over by Dunbee- Combex then in 1967 a merger with Chad Valley resulting in the Chiltern /Chad Valley label used for a few years. Woolworth's eventually bought the Chad Valley brand. (See Chad Valley card).

During there productive years, Chiltern were prolific manufacturers of bears and their designs remain some of the most popular and collectable today.

Designs include
1915 - Master Teddy (one of the first recognised British bears)
1920's - Hugmee introduced
1940's - Flat Faced Hugmee introduced
1950's - Tingling Bruin
1950's - Bruin Bear
1950's - Bear On A Trike

Deans

Deans used to be remembered for the 'Deans Rag Books', introduced by Samuel Henry Dean in 1903. Based in London the company took advantage of the British Toy Boom years of 1915-1920 introducing many other lines trading as 'The British Novelty Works'. Production only faltered slightly in 1916 when a fire broke destroyed stocks. The factory was in tack and by 1922 had expanded greatly, as did its range of bears, which now bore the identifiable 'Deans' logo. Between 1920 and 1940, three other factories were built in London to cope with demand. In 1956 Deans moved to Rye in Sussex, by 1965 it had changed its name to 'Deans Childsplay Toys Ltd' and again in 1972 after its buy out of Gwentoys changed to 'Deans/Gwentoys Ltd'.

The 1980's saw many changes for Deans - although it produced an 80th Anniversary bear in 1983 to celebrate its history, Deans were forced to close its Rye factory. Production only remained at Pontypool. In 1988 Deans went into voluntary liquidation. Neil Miller, former employee formed a management buy out which lead to The Deans Company Ltd (1903). Neil with his wife Barbara and son Robin continue to take Deans from strength to strength, seeing the introduction of collectors bears and a range of artist designed bears flourish. The Deans Collectors Club keep s members up to date with all the new happenings (please ask for more details)

Designs include
1949 - Brumas Polar Bear
1950's - Moulded rubber feet and hands
1990's - Artist designed bears

Farnell

A small family business started in 1840'. Saw the introduction of toys to the company in 1897. 1908 is said to have bee the year John Farnell's Co. introduced bears. In 1921 Farnell was registered as a private limited company and opened a new factory 'Alpha Works' in Acton, London. The name was registered as a trade mark in 1925. Farnell was very successful; however in 1934 a fire destroyed all stock and equipment.
A new purpose built factory was opened in 1935. Another blow came in 1940 when the factory was destroyed during the blitz. Farnell again overcame this and by 1959 had expanded and was flourishing with 95% of its trade being for export. In 1964 all production moved to Hastings & the Acton Toyworks was taken over by Twyford.
In 1968 Farnell was purchased by a French company.

Designs include:
1920's - 'Winnie' - Ernest Shepard used his own sons bear for all the sketches.
1925 - 1940's - Alpha range
1931 - Cuddle Bear - A cheaper 'unicorn soft toy range'
1950's - Toffee

Gund.

Gund has been a family business for over 100 years, founded in 1898 by German immigrant, Adolph Gund, they have been producing soft toys ever since. They were one of the first to design and produce teddy bears in the early 1900's. Gund produced the first stuffed versions of popular cartoon characters such as Felix the cat and Mickey Mouse.

When Adolph retired in 1925 he sold the company to Jacob Swedlin. Gund has since been a family run business with Rita Swedlin Raiffe being the company's director of design and her husband Herbert Raiffe becoming president in 1969.

One of Gund most popular lines is the Classic Winnie the Pooh, which uses Ernest Shepherds original drawings.

Hermann

Bear attributed to Hermann could actually be derived form three separate sources -

Artur Hermann Plusch Spielwaren Fabrik

In 1913 Artur founded a teddy bear making firm with his sister Adelheid and brother Max, using their fathers name Johan Hermann. Around 1920 Artur moved to Sonneberg to begin his own company. There was another name change in the late 1920's to J Hermann Nachf. Inf. Artur Hermann. The company continued to make bear under this name until 1954 when it was sold to Anker Plush Toys in Munich.

Gebruder Hermann (Red Tag)

Bernard Hermann, son of Artur and Ida also set up in the bear making business. The company traded as 'Be-Ha' until after WWII when it reorganised to become Gebuder Hermann KG - Hermann Teddy Original. The company has continued to produce quality bears and other plush animals. It introduced its collector series in the 1980's; designed in house moving on to commission bear artists to design bears for them. Their red tag identifies these Hermann bears.

Hermann - Spielwaren (Green Tag)

Max, another son of Artur branched out from the main company in the 1920's to produce his own designs. In 1947 his own son Rolf-Gerhard joined the company which then prompted the company to change from trading as Max Hermann to Hermann and Sonn. After WWII the family worked in the US zone but by 1953 had moved its operations completely to Coburg in the west. This Hermann is identifiable by its Green swing tag introduced in 1968- changing again in 1977 to include the company now registered name of Hermann - Spielwaren GmbH.

The company has gone from strength to strength producing its first collector's series, in house, in the 1980's. They then went on to commission bear artists to design for them. These bears are identified by their red chest tag.

Merrythought (Wishbone)

Merrythought has recently celebrated its 70th anniversary. In 1930 W G Holmes & G.H Laxton registered the name 'Merrythought Ltd'. C.J Rendle joined them from Chad Valley along with a designer from Chad Valley Florence Atwood (later Nora Wellings). H.C Jausch also joined them from J.K Farnell. The company still has W.G Holmes grandson at the forefront and he has been influential in developing Merrythought especially through the 1970'swhen so many went out of business.

A collectors range was introduced in the 1980'sprimarily available to the United States. This was followed by the opening of the 'Merrythought Shop & Museum' which has helped Merrythought survive and grow.

It's most memorable and noticeable bear is most probably the 'Cheeky' bear first produced in 1957.

Designs include:
Bingie 1931
Twisty Cheeky 1966
Bobby Bruin 1936
Pumpkinhead 1949
Peter Bear 1962

Pedigree

Pedigree was a subsidiary of Lines Bros. Toys, established in London in the mid 1800's. The firm produced Triang Toys - metal and wooden cars, bicycles, prams, nursery furniture and rocking horses. In 1931 the 'Pedigree' name was registered as a trademark, and a range of soft toys called Pedigree Pets were introduced. By 1946 Lines had expanded their interests abroad buying Australian toy company Joy Toys Ltd. (Joy Toys bears are often incorrectly identified as British made). Further expansion included building a new factory in Belfast, with bears and animals made here carrying the 'Made in Ireland' label. In 1951 Lines also purchased Rovex Plastic Ltd in Kent. During a reorganisation of the company in the 1960's all soft toy production was being scaled down and centralised to Canterbury, which by 1988 had ceased business all together.

Designs include
1930's - Pedigree Pets
1950's - Bobby Bruin

Russ

Created by Russ Berrie in 1963, in the early years just selling 'Fuzzy Wuzzie's', little fur mice and stuffed animals, which he housed in a rented garage in a small town in New Jersey. The Russ Berrie Company now has an 18,000sq ft showroom at its corporate headquarters in Oakland, New Jersey.

In January The Russ Berrie Co. celebrated its 41st birthday. Selling in 84 countries around the world. Russ currently designs & produces over 6,000 items including the much loved teddy bear.

Steiff

Company was founded in 1880's (see history of bears card) by Margarete Steiff, originally called The Felt Toy Co. By the end of the 1800's Margarete had employed her five nephews (sons of her brother Fritz)- Richard, Paul, Franz, Hugo & Otto. In these early years Steiff were not only at the forefront for toys but their factory buildings were highly commended for their innovative design and architecture.

Richard was responsible for the original idea, design and development of the teddy bear in 1902.

The famous 'Button In Ear' trademark was registered in 1905 when the company changed its name to its present title of Margarete Steiff GmbH.

As with most German companies Steiff had difficult times during and after WWII, but since the 1950's has continued to be at the forefront of bear and animal design. Its strengths always were being its innovation, quality and excellence.

1980 saw Steiff produce its first replica and open its museum to the public. Steiff bears and animals remain today the most sought after and highly prized by collectors. Proof of this came in 1994 when an early cinnamon Steiff, which had belonged to Col. Bob Henderson, sold at Christie auction in London for a world record price of £110,000.

Replica Steiff sold today are as equally as sought after and are the family heirlooms of tomorrow.

Designs include
1902 - '55PB' first jointed bear by Richard Steiff
1907 - Hot Water Bottle Bear
1908 - Muzzle Bear
1910 - Phantom Bear (String Puppet Bear)
1912 - Black Titanic Bear
1913 - Dolly
1920's - Teddy Clown
1930's - Teddy Baby