The history of Teddy Bear is closely connected with the history of the Steiff company. The company "Steiff" has been producing soft toys since the end of the 19th century and to this day. In 1880, a young German woman Margaret Steiff opened a small workshop, which is where one of the stories of Teddy Bear begins.

The first Steiff bear, named "RV55", a 1902 replica from 2012.

Margaret's life is a very remarkable and inspiring one. She was confined to a wheelchair from childhood because of polio. Despite all the difficulties, she did not give up - she graduated from grammar school and learnt to sew beautifully. Opening a shop with children's and women's clothes allows Margaret Steiff to show all her skills and very soon the shop becomes popular.

One day, she sewed some elephant-shaped pincushions and realised that pincushions were being bought as toys for children. Over the next six years, her workshop sold more than 5,000 elephant toys.

In 2020, Steiff celebrated its 140th anniversary. In honour of this date, a small felt elephant was produced in a limited edition of 1,880 pieces.

Margaret begins to develop toy patterns in the form of other animals. There was a great demand for toys and in 1892 the first catalogue of Margaret Steiff toys was published with the motto "For children - only the best". This motto remains with the firm "Steiff" to this day. In March 1893, Margaret's workshop was entered in the commercial register under the name "Margaret Steiff - Toy Factory in Gingen". By this time there were already 4 seamstresses working in the factory and 10 seamstresses working from home.

Richard Steiff is the father of the teddy bear. In 1897, he joined the company of his aunt Margaret Steiff. At the beginning of the 20th century, many companies, were doing serious work to create new images for toys. During his studies in Stuttgart, Richard spent a lot of time in the circus and made sketches of animals. Based on these sketches, a completely new teddy bear with movable head and paws was developed. These were the first steps towards the creation of a teddy bear - a doll. In the spring of 1903, the company demonstrated the first batch of bears at a fair in Leipzig. But the invention was recognised and noticed only a year later, after the bear was finalised and mohair was used as a material for its manufacture. Then, an American merchant ordered a batch of 3000 bears and by the end of 1904, the company had produced more than 12000 of them.

It's been over a hundred years since the first Teddy bear appeared and still today, this cute teddy bear remains a coveted toy for children all over the world.

Steiff photos.