THE HISTORY OF THE TEDDY BEAR: WHO INVENTED THE TEDDY BEAR AND WHERE...

Stuffed animals have been  a child's best friend  for thousands of years. Whether you call them stuffed toys, plush toys, comforters, teddy bears, stuffed animals, or whatever you want to call them, chances are you've owned one, or more, throughout your life.

Stuffed animals are the holy grail of toys given to young children as gifts, used as safety and comfort devices, and are far more popular than almost any other type of toy.

In fact, it would be hard to find someone who didn't have a favorite stuffed animal when they were little. Today, you can find  stuffed animals in all shapes and sizes , from stuffed animals to monsters to aliens and even the moon has been found? to make  a stuffed moon  !

If you are curious like us, you have probably wondered  who invented stuffed animals?  or why are teddy bears called "teddy bears"?, who has the largest collection of teddy bears in the world?, how much do vintage teddy bears sell for at auction?...

In fact,  the history of stuffed animals  is both interesting and remarkable and goes back more than two centuries ⏳. In recent years, some teddy bears have become expensive collections. The world's first  teddy bear museum  was established in 1984 in Petersfield, Hampshire, England.

What is the Origin of Stuffed Animals?

1) Rag Dolls of Ancient Rome and  Egypt

Cultures around the world have been creating replicas of animals since the beginning of recorded history by painting, sculpting, and even carving animal figures and heads. In fact, while modern stuffed animals date back to the late 19th century,  the ancient world  produced the first true stuffed toys in Roman times, with the creation of rag dolls. 

In ancient Rome, privileged children often played with expensive wooden animal sculptures. Poor families could not afford such luxuries, so  they made rag dolls  out of straw and leftover fabric for the children to play with. Children in ancient Egypt also created and played with rag dolls filled with straw, beans, cotton, or wool.

Historical records indicate that  the ancient Egyptians  probably used stuffed animals in their special ceremonies since the Egyptians worshiped many animals. Some of these dolls (including those that children played with) have been dated as far back as 300 B.C.

2) Who invented stuffed toys?

After that, stuffed animals  kind of disappeared . Over the centuries, people still made mostly dolls? out of fabric.

So who invented stuffed animals as we know them today?

In 1880,  German seamstress Margarete Steiff  began producing stuffed elephants using a pattern she found in a magazine. She sold them as pincushions, but soon began making them as toys when she noticed local children playing with them. She thus developed the first modern stuffed animals. Within six years, she had sold over 5,000, and by the 1890s, her Steiff company was producing a variety of stuffed animals, including dogs, cats, and pigs, most of which she designed herself. 

This family business is still in operation today. And you could say that they invented stuffed toys  ! In 1897, Margarete's nephew Richard Steiff joined the company. In 1902-1903, he created the teddy bear ?. Around the same time, Morris Michtom in the USA also made a teddy bear. (See in the third paragraph.)

You might think that Steiff bears were popular in Europe, but that wasn't the case at first. Ironically, it was an American buyer who bought  the 100 teddy bears  that were first introduced at the Lepzig Toy Fair . He also ordered 3,000 more. A year later, the company sold 12,000 bears at  the St. Louis World's Fair . In just five years, they had increased production to 974,000 bears and are still increasing.

Teddy bears were not durable enough. Slowly but surely, Steiff began to manufacture  all kinds of stuffed animals ?  and other manufacturers joined the market. In the beginning, stuffed animals were mainly made of fabric, faux fur and plush. The stuffing was made of straw, wood wool and beans. Steiff strived to provide the best quality stuffed toys possible and therefore began to develop new techniques.

Today,  stuffed animals are made from all sorts of materials . Some even imitate real fur. Stuffed animals also include foam, cotton, plastic pellets, synthetic fibers, etc. Others have wire frames in their bodies, allowing them to stand freely or move their legs, for example.

3) How did the Teddy Bear get his name?

A- President Roosevelt and the black bear

The teddy bear  is named after  American President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt.

After Teddy Roosevelt's 1902 act of sportsmanship was made legendary by a political cartoonist, his name was forever attached to a childhood classic. This 1902 cartoon strip published in the Washington Post was  the inspiration behind the birth of the "teddy bear .  "

Wrapped in boxes, paper and bows, teddy bears have been lovingly placed under Christmas trees for generations, to the delight of little ones and toddlers around the world. But the teddy bear is  an American original  : Its story begins with a vacation taken by President Theodore Roosevelt.

In the spring of 1902, the  United Mine Workers of America  (UMWA ) went  on strike , seeking shorter workdays and higher wages in a coal industry suffering from oversupply and low profits. Mine owners welcomed the strike because they could not legally stop production; it allowed them to save on wages while increasing demand and prices.

Neither side was willing to give in, and, fearing a deadly winter coal shortage,  Roosevelt decided to intervene , threatening to send troops to the Midwest to retake the anthracite mines if the two sides could not reach an agreement. Throughout the fall, despite the risk of a major political setback, Roosevelt met with union representatives and coal mine operators. By late October, as temperatures began to drop, the union and owners reached an agreement.

B- The story of Teddy Bear and Roosevelt

After averting this disaster, Roosevelt decided he needed a vacation—and accepted Mississippi Governor Andrew Longino's invitation to travel south for  a hunting trip . Longino was the first Mississippi governor elected after the Civil War who was not a Confederate veteran, and he would soon face a reelection fight against James Vardaman. Longino clearly hoped that a visit from the popular president might help him fend off a growing tide of opposition and his rather extremist views.

Undeterred, Roosevelt met with Longino in mid-November 1902, and the two men traveled to the town of Onward, 30 miles north of Vicksburg. On the plains,  they set up camp ⛺  with trappers, horses, tents, provisions, 50 hunting dogs, newspapermen, and a former slave named Holt Collier as a guide.

As a cavalryman for Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest during the Civil War, Collier knew the terrain well. He had also  killed more than 1,000 bears  in his lifetime. Longino called on his expertise because bear hunting in the swamps was dangerous (something Roosevelt appreciated). "He was safer with me than with all the policemen in Washington," Collier later said.

The hunt had been scheduled as a 10-day excursion, but  Roosevelt was impatient . "I have to see a live bear the first day," he told Collier. He didn't. But the next morning, Collier's dogs picked up the scent of a bear, and the president spent the next few hours chasing it, through mud and thickets. After a break for lunch, Collier's dogs tracked a large, 240-pound old black bear to a watering hole.

Cornered by the barking dogs, the bear mowed down several with its paws, then crushed one to death. Collier began ringing for Roosevelt to join the hunt, then approached the bear. Eager to save the president's life but seeing that his dogs were in danger, Collier swung his rifle and crushed the bear in the skull.  He then tied it to a  nearby tree and waited for Roosevelt.

When the President caught up with Collier, he encountered a horrific scene: a bloody, panting bear tied to a tree, dead and wounded dogs, a crowd of hunters shouting, "Let the President shoot the bear!" As Roosevelt, an avid outdoorsman and hunter, entered the water, he refused, saying it would be unsportsmanlike to kill a defenseless animal  in such a manner. Collier then approached the bear with another hunter and, after a terrible struggle in the water, killed it with his knife. The animal was hung from a horse and taken back to camp.

C- Berryman's Drawing the line in Mississippi

News of Roosevelt's act of compassion soon spread throughout the country, and by Monday morning, November 17, cartoonist Clifford K. Berryman's cartoon appeared in the pages of the Washington Post . In the cartoon, Roosevelt is dressed in full cavalry uniform with his back turned to a frightened, very docile bear cub that is being groomed and refusing to shoot. The cartoon is titled "Drawing the Line in Mississippi," which some sources suggest refers not only to Roosevelt's refusal to shoot the bear, but also to his handling of a border dispute between Mississippi and Louisiana.  

The cartoon became so popular  that Berryman drew even smaller, cuter "teddy bears" in political caricatures and cartoons for the remainder of Roosevelt's time as president.

D- The Merchant Michtom and the Teddy Bear

Merchant Morris Michtom, who owned a grocery store in Brooklyn, New York,  made a small teddy bear  based on the cartoon image and  placed it in his store window as a decoration. Amazingly, the bear was quickly purchased. With President Roosevelt's permission, the bear was officially named after the president's nickname, Teddy.

A story gave birth to a cartoon, a cartoon inspired a couple. No one can think of these three seemingly ordinary little things, which led to  the glory of Teddy Bear  . Later, many new fashionable bear designs are inspired by teddy bears. Teddy bears are red? and come from Europe. And from Asia Pacific, the Japanese's favorite bear is the teddy bear.

E- The Success of the Teddy Bear

On the day of this success, more than a dozen people asked if they could buy the bear. Thinking that they might need permission from the White House to produce the stuffed animals, the Michtoms sent the original to the president as a gift for his children and asked if he would mind if they used his name on the bear. Roosevelt, doubting that it would make a difference, agreed. With Roosevelt's permission, Michtom named  the bear "Teddy Bears  . "

The Teddy Bear became so popular that the Michtoms left their business to devote themselves to making teddy bears. President Roosevelt even used  the teddy bear as his mascot  when he ran for re-election in 1904.

Michtom's company became  one of the largest toy manufacturers  in the United States under the name Ideal Toy Company. In 1963, they donated one of the first teddy bears to the  Smithsonian Institution . It is currently on display in the American Presidency Gallery at the National Museum of American History.

4) The largest collection of stuffed animals

Until 2006, the largest collection of teddy bears in the world was housed  in the Teddy Bear Museum  in England. The museum had a collection of over 2,000 bears. But, the museum was put up for auction in 2006. Today, one family claims to own over 5,000 teddy bears, although they haven't officially counted them all. The Volpps' collection includes a teddy bear that they bought at auction for $88,000.

Why would anyone pay that much for a teddy bear?  All in the name of love  : Mr. Volpps gave it to his wife on their 42nd wedding anniversary? 

5) Today, Stuffed Animals are Everywhere

Stuffed toys started out small, and were often  a toy for the very privileged  and the poorer could make their own from rags and scraps of fabric. However, by the early 1900s, mass production allowed teddy bears to find their way into almost every home, becoming a staple of childhood, alongside a variety of other stuffed toys.

But after World War II, during the post-war baby boom,  the toy market took off , making way for new brands. 

Slowly but surely, companies started making  all kinds of stuffed animals  for kids and babies. Teddy bears, unicorn stuffed animals, sheep , polar bears, elephants, pandas, popular fictional characters, and even giant stuffed animals. A quick visit to  Plush Kingdom ®  will show you the huge variety of plush toys available! Then, in the 1990s, electronic plush toys became popular. They can sing, dance, talk and react to certain actions.

Today, stuffed toys are produced everywhere, they are a staple in zoos, a must-have for children, and a fun and enjoyable experience for people of all ages. It is also one of the best-selling toys, and it is popular for everyone from babies to adults. All for  good reasons  :  stuffed toys promote creativity  and positive thinking by encouraging children to think about the adventurous dreams they want to have before falling asleep.

Even if you happen to have never owned a stuffed animal, it's hard not to love them? Stuffed animals have simply become  one of the most popular  and common toys a child has at their disposal.

There are countless plush toys all over the world waiting to be played with. If you're looking for  a comforting plush toy  to add to your child's collection, consider  Plush  Kingdom® teddy bears .