Vintage Teddy Bears – A Popular Toy For Both Children and Adults
[ad_1]
Vintage Teddy bears have grown in popularity over the past hundred years. The stuffed bear is the most famous type of stuffed animal. The toy got its name in 1902 when President Theodore 'Teddy' Roosevelt was involved in a bear hunting incident in Mississippi. Roosevelt's hunting party tied a cub to a willow tree. They wanted Roosevelt to shoot it so he could get a kill. Teddy refused to shoot the cub. He called the act unsportsmanlike but ordered his men to put it out of its misery. Clifford Berryman, a Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist, drew up a cartoon of the hunting incident. The cartoon showed a cute black bear tied up by a man and Roosevelt refusing to look at it.
More cartoons of the incident were published with each one containing a cuter cub. In 1903, a Brooklyn candy store owner, Morris Michtom, saw the cartoons of Roosevelt's hunting incident. Him and his wife already made stuffed animals but they decided to create a stuffed bear. They placed it in the window of their candy store and named it Teddy's Bear. The demand for these bears was so great that in 1907, Michtom started the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company.
Around the same time as Mitchtom's stuffed creation, a Germany company named Steiff also started producing a stuffed bear. They exported 3,000 of them to the US in 1903. When they were first produced, they were created using mohair, yarn, silk and cotton. This makes the bears plush and they are often called plush toys.
Today, the bears are made from fabricated materials including polyester. The Teddy has become popular in recent years due to the creation of famous bears such as Paddington, Winnie the Pooh and Care Bears. Even Garfield the cat had a Teddy named Pookie. Many of these famous bears had their own TV shows and movies. Their faces were sold on mugs, posters, bedding and toys. Each year, vintage Teddy bears sales exceed 1 billion dollars. The most popular brands include Steiff, Gund, Vermont Teddy and Merrythought.
The Build-A-Bear Workshop has also increased the sales of the Teddy. This store allows children to make their own customized stuffed animals. Just about all children will own a Teddy at one time in their life. This increases the emotional value of the Teddy. Vintage Teddy bears have sold for thousands of dollars as people try to reclaim their childhood memories. The Steiff 125th anniversary gold bear is the most expensive in the world. It was made of gold fur, gold thread and had sapphire and diamond eyes. There were only 125 made and were sold for $ 84,0000. Anyone who owns one of these must be a serious collector of bears.
[ad_2]
Source by Ally Moore
