Teddy Lane: The story of a much-loved Museum of Childhood bear

Steiff teddy bears

Teddy Lane was donated to the Museum of Childhood collection in 1966 and has been on display for many years. He was made by the world-famous German manufacturer of teddy bears, Steiff, in about 1907. Steiff was a family business, headed by Margarete Steiff, an expert seamstress who was wheelchair-bound from childhood following her illness with polio.

Steiff had been making soft toys since 1880 but developed teddy bears from the early 1900s. In 1903 a New York department store, George Borgfeldt and Co., bought 3,000 Steiff bears at the Leipzig Fair and business began to boom for the company. From 1905 Steiff bears were protected by their trademark Knopf im Ohr (button in ear). The metal button might just be seen in Teddy Lane’s left ear in the image below. Steiff bears were so popular that the factory had to expand three times by 1908, when it was making about 975,000 teddy bears a year. You can read more about Margarete Steiff in another of our blogs by our curator, Lyn.

A generous present

Teddy Lane was given to Rosa Lane as a Christmas present when she was three or four years old, in 1907 or 1908. She lived in Largs, on the east coast of Scotland, with her parents, her sister, Edith, and brother, Frederick. Her father, William Lane, was employed as House Steward (or butler) by Mrs Clark of Curling Hall and the teddy bear was a gift from her.

Sixty years later, Rosa could still remember the excitement of the teddy bear being unpacked from a big hamper in the dining room of Curling Hall. The house was built in 1812 for curling enthusiast, Dr John Cairnie, who created Scotland’s first curling pond there. In the 1880s it was bought by John Clark, of the Paisley family of thread manufacturers, Clark & Co. Ltd. He was an extremely wealthy man when he died in 1894 leaving Curling Hall to his relative, William Clark. No doubt Mrs Clark could easily afford to buy such a generous present as a Steiff teddy bear, which would have been an expensive purchase.

Clark & Co. Ltd

By the 1890s, it was common for manufacturers to advertise their products through toys and novelties aimed at children. Clark & Co. Ltd. were no exception, producing several sets of paper dolls printed with a slogan on the back – “If the child who receives this doll is sent to the store for thread she should ask for Clark’s Spool Cotton”. The family firm now included thread mills in New Jersey, USA as well as in Scotland. In 1896 they amalgamated with their long-term rival, J & P Coats Ltd., along with Jonas Brook & Bros. and James Chadwick & Bros. Although each company kept its own name and trademarks, Clark & Co. Ltd. were now part of the largest thread manufacturer in the world. Their paper dolls were played with by thousands of children. Perhaps even by Rosa?

Every child's teddy!

A child from a working-class background whose parents were in domestic service would not normally have owned a Steiff teddy bear. From her photographs, we can see how Rosa cherished Teddy Lane as a member of the family. Her brother and sister were much older than her so perhaps her teddy took their place as a companion.

In 1966, Rosa decided to donate Teddy Lane to the Museum of Childhood as she didn’t have any family to leave him to. She thought that “not every child would treat him with the respect due to his years” and that, in the museum, “he could be every child’s who didn’t have a teddy – but viewed at a respectful distance!”

You can explore more of the Museum of Childhood's terrific teddies on Capital Collections