The oldest and best known make of Teddy Bears are Steiff bears, which are popular today with both adult collectors and children. But who created the Steiff company and came up with the idea of the Teddy Bear as a toy? This is the story of Margarete Steiff, a creative businesswoman of the late nineteenth century who overcame physical disabilities and gender stereo typing of her time to become a successful innovator and the founder of the Steiff company.
Who was Margarete Steiff?
Margarete was born in Germany in 1847. As a small child she became ill with polio which paralysed both her legs and weakened her right arm. She attended school regularly as a child, not always common for a girl at this time, and throughout her life used an early design of a wheelchair to aid her mobility. She was quoted as saying "freedom is believing in yourself" and both in childhood and in her adult life Margarete found ways to achieve her business ambitions and was not defined by her disability or gender.
Most young girls at this time would have been taught sewing at home or school either to help with household duties or as a means to earn a living. Margarete’s sense of business and creativity meant she put her sewing skills to use and founded a company that still thrives today.
The Creation of the Teddy Bear
As a young woman Margarete trained as a seamstress and made clothes, opening her own shop selling felt underskirts by 1877. Soon she had employees and her business thrived. She had learnt to use a sewing machine and found sewing patterns for a toy elephant, as well as patterns for mice and rabbits. The Steiff company started to make soft toy animals using felt stuffed with lambswool. By 1892 the first illustrated Steiff toy catalogue appeared, showing the wide range of products available – elephants, monkeys, donkeys, horses, camels, pigs, mice, dogs, cats, rabbits and giraffes. Between 1897 and 1899, Steiff were making soft toys bears, which were upright, standing bears carrying sticks or pull-along bears on wheels. In 1902, her nephew Richard Steiff designed the first jointed bear and by 1907 over one million Steiff Teddy Bears had been produced and sold.
Margarete’s Success and Legacy
Steiff Teddy Bears are known for their distinctive ear buttons, which were added to the toys in 1904 as a trademark to fend off the competition of large numbers of lower quality imitation bears. Steiff became known as the most sought-after brand of Teddy Bear, praised for quality and innovation. In 1904 Margarete won the Grand Prix at the St. Louis World Fair and in 1910 the Grand Prix at the Brussels Exposition in Belgium.
Steiff still make Teddy Bears today and vintage bears are very popular with collectors too. At the Museum of Childhood we have a number of Steiff bears, some of which you can see on display in Gallery 3 and a very early Steiff Peter Rabbit you can see on display in Gallery 4. These delightful toys are the legacy of a remarkable woman, Margarete Steiff.
