Doll News Winter 2018 - 48

Steiff's Teddy Bear Novelties
1925-1941
by Rebekah Kaufman

T

he Margarete Steiff GmbH
company is well known
for its universally beloved,
fully jointed Teddy bears. Although
the company had been producing
bears as part of its product line
since the late 1800's, these bears
were static, and if they did move, it
was because they were mounted on
wheels or on a half sphere of wood as a
tumbler. Richard Steiff, Margarete's
nephew, was very creative and
determined to figure out how to
make Steiff's bears more lifelike
and interactive for children.
After much experimentation,
the company debuted its
string-jointed bears in
1902. These were quickly
followed up with
rod-jointed bears in
1903, and cardboard
disk-jointed bears
in 1905. Steiff's
disk-jointed bears
proved so popular
that the tiny
company, located in
rural southern Germany, remarkably
manufactured close to one million of
these in 1907 to fulfill incoming orders
from around the world.
The general pattern for Steiff's fully
jointed standard line Teddy bears
really did not change significantly

from 1905 through the early 1920's.
During this time, they were produced
in 14 sizes ranging from 7 - 80 cm.
(measured sitting) and made from
white, blonde, or brown mohair,
plus a few other rarities. Their faces
came alive through boot button (c.
1905-1910) or glass pupil (c. 1910
onward) eyes, a hand-embroidered
nose and mouth, and a trimmed
muzzle area. They were stuffed
with excelsior, or a mix of
excelsior and kapok, and had
distinctively long curved
arms and a pronounced
back hump. Richard
Steiff and his family
emigrated to the United
States in 1923 to take
a leadership role in
growing his family's
business in America.
Even though he was
an ocean away from
the factory, Richard
was instrumental
in directing the
company's product
design and development activities,
as well as business strategy. He did
this primarily through letters that he
elegantly hand-penned, sometimes on a
daily basis. It was clear that by the early
1920's, the company's legacy designs -
which were almost two decades old by
This wool plush "Teddy Baby" is from the author's collection.

48

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https://www.nxtbookmedia.com