 |
 10 x Teddy Bear Face Shape Wooden Buttons 13mm x 11mm SB5K FREE UK PP $1.90 Time Remaining: 28d 23h 53m Buy It Now for only: $1.90 |
 150x Mixed 2 Holes Cute Animal Shape Wood Charm Beads Sewing Decoration Buttons $5.84 Time Remaining: 15d 7m Buy It Now for only: $5.84 |
 8 TEDDY BEAR HEAD SHAPED PLASTIC BUTTONS ASSORTED COLORS NEW $1.29 Time Remaining: 26d 12h 6m Buy It Now for only: $1.29 |
 BIG BEAR California Park PAW PRINT SHAPE Souvenir PATCH $4.95 Time Remaining: 28d 19h 12m Buy It Now for only: $4.95 |
 100 Bear Shape 2 Holes Wood Sewing Buttons 18x18mm $6.99 Time Remaining: 24d 23h 50m Buy It Now for only: $6.99 |
 Fashion 150x Multi Lovely shape 2 Hole Wood Charms Sewing Buttons To Pick NEW $5.99 Time Remaining: 13d 4h 53m Buy It Now for only: $5.99 |
 Straw hat shape for doll teddy bear padded appliques Red 45mm 4pcs 7 20 118 $3.50 Time Remaining: 5d 15h 34m Buy It Now for only: $3.50 |
 Straw hat shape for doll teddy bear padded appliques Khaki 45mm 4pcs 7 20 116 $3.50 Time Remaining: 5d 15h 34m Buy It Now for only: $3.50 |
 35 MIX LOT TEDDY BEAR SHAPE PLASTIC SEWING BUTTONS C412 $2.99 Time Remaining: 1d 5h 28m Buy It Now for only: $2.99 |
 500 Bear Shape 2 Holes Wood Sewing Buttons 18x18mm $15.99 Time Remaining: 25d 4m Buy It Now for only: $15.99 |
 20 Mini Plastic Shape Buttons Lock Santa Mrs Claus Pencil Bear Car Clown Moon $19.99 Time Remaining: 5d 6h 28m Buy It Now for only: $19.99 |
 Straw hat shape for doll teddy bear padded appliques Orange 45mm 4pcs 7 20 119 $3.50 Time Remaining: 5d 15h 34m Buy It Now for only: $3.50 |
 Straw hat shape doll teddy bear sew on padded appliques Blue 45mm 4pcs 7 20 106 $2.99 Time Remaining: 5d 15h 35m Buy It Now for only: $2.99 |
 Fashion 150x Multi Lovely shape 2 Hole Wood Charms Sewing Buttons To Choose NEW $5.99 Time Remaining: 13d 4h 45m Buy It Now for only: $5.99 |
 KOALA BEAR SHAPED BUTTONS BABY BLUE X 10 BABYCRAFT $1.98 Time Remaining: 7d 11h 32m Buy It Now for only: $1.98 |
 100 Bear Shape 2 Holes Wood Sewing Buttons 18x18mm $6.99 Time Remaining: 3d 41m Buy It Now for only: $6.99 |
 Fashion 750x Multi Lovely shape 2 Hole Wood Charms Sewing Buttons To Pick Hot $24.49 Time Remaining: 13d 4h 57m Buy It Now for only: $24.49 |
 New Bulk 750x Mixed 2 Holes Cute Animal Shape Wood Sewing Decoration Buttons $20.39 Time Remaining: 14d 4h 56m Buy It Now for only: $20.39 |
 150x Mixed 2 Holes Cute Animal Shape Wood Charm Beads Sewing Decoration Buttons $6.39 Time Remaining: 14d 5h 38m Buy It Now for only: $6.39 |
 300x Cute Bear Shape Wood Sewing Decoration 4 Holes Buttons 19x17mm 111383 $12.49 Time Remaining: 14d 19h 12m Buy It Now for only: $12.49 |
 300x Cute Bear Head Shape Wood Sewing Decoration 2 Holes Buttons 19x18mm 111381 $13.99 Time Remaining: 16d 21h 19m Buy It Now for only: $13.99 |
 Fashion 750x Multi Lovely shape 2 Hole Wood Charms Sewing Buttons To Pick NEW $24.49 Time Remaining: 13d 4h 50m Buy It Now for only: $24.49 |
 WHITE TEDDY BEAR SHAPED BUTTONS X10 KNITTING SEWING NEW $1.98 Time Remaining: 28d 15h 44m Buy It Now for only: $1.98 |
 500 Bear Shape 2 Holes Wood Sewing Buttons 18x18mm $19.99 Time Remaining: 3d 6h 54m Buy It Now for only: $19.99 |
Bear Shaped
Steiff Teddy Bears
Writing an article on Steiff Teddy Bears is probably one of the hardest articles to write on Teddy Bears, the reason? There is just so much to cover. The history, the family, the bears themselves, how they are made, etc. it goes on and on. You could write books on this subject rather than articles.
Truth is, whether you love and collect Teddy Bears or not, there are not many people on the planet, especially in the Western World, who have not heard of the magic words "Steiff Teddy Bears." I think it is the famous "Button-in-the-Ear" which most people know of, as, when you show them an Old Teddy Bear, one of the first things they say is, ‘'Does it have a Button in it's ear?'' Steiff is certainly an international company.
Steiff began in 1877 in Germany, it's founder being a very brave lady called Margarete Steiff, who was crippled with polio and confined to a wheelchair from a very early age. She grew up to become a very experienced and dedicated seamstress, despite the odds always being against her, employing lots of women from her local town who was desperately in need of employment due to the very hard times. She started to make soft toys, using left-over felt pieces. The company became so successful that she employed her nephews to help, one of these nephews being Richard Steiff. Richard was put in charge of new designs and creating new ideas and products. A very experienced artist, after studying art at college, Richard spent hours studying the animals at the local Stuttgart Zoo, where he would make lots of sketches of the animals, including the bears that lived there.
Richard saw that children needed a soft toy that they could take into their arms and cuddle, as, all the toys available at that time were hard, even the dolls of the time were made of very hard materials. Some toys were made of wood and even metal, especially German toys.
Steiff made soft bears for children but these bears were on wheels and still could not be cuddled. Steiff also made a set of skittles for children, using different animal characters and what Richard Steiff noticed was, children seemed to like the Bear Skittle most of all. So, using the sketches he had done at the Zoo and using lots of imagination, Richard Steiff began to design a bear that children could hold in their arms, a comforter and friend.
The first bear was born in 1902 and was known as the 55 PB. This bear had very primitive joints which were attached by string. It has to be said that Richard's Aunt, Margarete, really did not like the first bear that Richard produced but luckily, this only made him more determined to create a successful bear that she did like.
Richard Steiff presented his first Bear to the Spring Fair that was being held in Leipzig in 1903 and the initial reaction to the Steiff Bear it has to be said, was not very good. Feeling very disappointed with this reaction, Richard began to pack his bears away when literally, out of the blue came a buyer from the New York Importer, George Borgfeldt & Co. who was at the fair looking for something that was just a little bit different. He saw Richard's bears and almost immediately placed a big order. Luckily for Teddy Bear lovers everywhere that he came along or else, who knows, we probably would never have known of the Teddy Bear.
Richard carried on working on his bears, improving their jointing techniques and in 1904 the 35 PB Teddy Bear was born. This Teddy Bear received great acclaim and by the end of that year, some 12,000 Teddy Bears had been sold. In 1904, a smaller version of the Teddy Bear – the 28 PB – was also produced with newly patented rod-joints and then, in 1905, the very successful 35 PAB Teddy Bear was released onto the market.
By now, the Teddy Bear – as we know him – was becoming iconic in the toy market. America especially loved him.
As I mentioned earlier, most people, when you mention the word Steiff think of a Teddy Bear with a button in his ear, well, this Button-in-the-Ear trademark was first patented by the Steiff Company in 1905, simply as an attempt to stop other manufacturers from copying their products, this was not very successful and many soft toy companies also put buttons in the ears of their bears, which Steiff had to stop and they did rather successfully. The first Steiff label was actually made from cardboard, with an elephant (with an ‘S' shaped trunk) on it - I will cover the reason why an elephant was used in a later article.
The imprints on the metal Steiff button has changed over the years and to this day, it is still changing and so helps with the ageing of your Steiff Teddy Bear. Again, I will go into this more in a later and more specialised article.
In 1908, cloth labels started to be used which were attached to the Steiff metal buttons, these labels carrying further printed details of the company and/or the product they were attached to, again making dating the Steiff Teddy Bear more easy. Again, I will talk more about these labels in a later article.
Margarete Steiff died in 1909, but her famous motto ‘'Only the best is good enough for our children'' was certainly carried on by the Steiff Company who, today, still produce some of the finest Teddy Bears and Toys in the world and whose design and quality is second to none.
Steiff Teddy Bears are highly desired by Teddy Bear Lovers and Collectors the whole world over. Prices for Old and Antique Steiff Teddy Bears are always at a premium and, certainly when you see how an Old Steiff Teddy Bear ages, it is not surprising why.
When Old and Rare Steiff Teddy Bears come to auction, they are always the Bears that hit the headlines in the media, making such big prices. Take, for example, the famous Teddy Bears, Happy, Elliott and Teddy Girl, to name but a few who have hit the headlines, they are all Steiff Teddy Bears.
As Steiff Teddy Bears were originally made as a comforter for children, today they still make excellent companions for small children, especially as Steiff are so strict on the safety element. Also, a Steiff Teddy Bear will simply last a lifetime, probably getting better and better with age.
About the Author
Gino loves fast cars, especially fast italian cars. Gino also loves anything Italian. Gino also heads an old teddy bear site which is full of adorable old teddy bears and their friends.
Please visit his website at www.ginosbears.co.uk
What are these teddy bear cookies called?
I remember buying these teddy bear cookies when I was younger. They were small cookies (about 1 inch) and shaped like bears, and they were coated in a layer of icing (white/vanilla, pink, or chocolate) and had multicolored sprinkles on them. I used to buy them in bags at the store (Target I think?)
What are they called?
i know what u are talking about sadly idk the name. to specify it even more it's CHOCOLATE COVERED, PINK AND WHITE, with multcolored sprinkles on it. the sprinkles itself is pink and white and wasn't bear shaped it was animal shaped like animal crackers. anyways it isnt teddy grams.
I know for a fact you can buy these at any major grocery store no doubt i know safeway sells them
Bear-shaped social robot - a user-friendly communication device : DigInfo