The Crazy History of the Teddy Bear
Everyone agrees that the “Teddy Bear” was invented in 1902, and is named after Theodore ‘Teddy’ Roosevelt, then President of the United States, however a dispute between America and Germany has continued for a century as to who made the first Teddy Bear…

Origin of the “jointed bear”
The story begins in Germany, in late October 1902, where Richard Steiff, a toy designer working for the family firm in Giengen, went to a touring American circus in search of an idea for a popular new toy. Among the animals he saw there was a troupe of performing bears, and they sparked off the original idea. The following day, he put his thoughts down on paper for Margarete Steiff, his aunt, who had founded the firm in 1880.
Richard saw an opportunity to make a bear toy, standing upright, and jointed in a similar way to dolls. There had been bear toys before, of course – often made from real fur, but these had all been copies of real bears on all fours. Richard’s bear would be able to walk upright. Richard set to work on visiting the Nill’scher Zoo in Stuttgart to sketch the bears and come up with some proper designs for a jointed bear codenamed Steiff Bär 55 PB (“Bär” is German for “bear”, 55 = the bear’s height in centimetres; P = Plusch, plush; and B = beweglich, moveable limbs).
Origin of the “Teddy” bear
Meanwhile, several thousand miles away, President Roosevelt, visiting Mississippi to settle a border dispute, decided to go out hunting on November 14, 1902 near the town of Smedes. After several hours, he still hadn’t bagged anything, when one of his aides discovered a lost bear cub wandering through the woods. Catching it, the aide tied it to a tree, and brought the President to it. To Roosevelt’s eternal credit, he couldn’t bring himself to shoot the defenseless cub, and ordered it to be set free by declaring, “Spare the bear! I will not shoot a tethered animal.”
The press pack following Roosevelt’s visit heard about the story, and it inspired cartoonist Clifford K. Berryman to draw a cartoon of the incident, entitled ‘Drawing the Line in Mississippi’. This cartoon was printed in The Washington Post, and triggered a moment of inspiration for Brooklyn candy store owner Morris Michtom, a Russian Jewish immigrant and his wife Rose.
Using Berryman’s cartoon as a guide, he quickly worked out a pattern, and, his wife, Rose cut and stuffed a piece of plush velvet into the shape of a bear, sewed on shoe button eyes, creating a little jointed bear cub. On February 15th 1903, Morris put into his shop window at 404 Tompkins Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn with a copy of the cartoon, and a handwritten notice saying ‘Teddy’s Bear‘.
To his surprise, not only did someone enter the store asking to buy the bear, but twelve other potential customers also asked to purchase it. Aware that he might offend the president by using his name without permission, the Michtoms mailed the original bear to the White House, offering it as a gift to the president’s children and asking Roosevelt for the use of his name. The President apparently replied telling the Michtoms he doubted his name would help its sales but they were free to use it if they wanted.
Because of “Teddy’s Bear’s” popularity, Roosevelt and the Republican Party adopted it as their symbol in the election of 1904, and Michtom bears were placed on display at every public White House function.
The Bears sold very well, and within a year, Michtom closed his candy store, and founded the Ideal Novelty and Toy Co., which remained in family hands until the 1970s – still one of the biggest toy firms in the world.
The global “Teddy Bear”…
In Germany, unaware of what was going on in New York, Richard Steiff completed the designs for his bear 55PB, and Margarete quickly ran up a prototype from scraps of mohair cloth. The bear, christened ‘Friend Petz’ first appeared in public in March of 1903 at the Spring Toy Fair in Leipzig, Germany.

To Richard’s disappointment, nobody seemed interested. Legend has it that it was only as Richard was packing away the stand at the end of the fair, that an American toy buyer, Hermann Berg of New York wholesalers George Borgfeldt and Co., came up to him, bought the entire lot of 100 bears and ordered 3,000 more on the spot. And so the Teddy Bear was born, and sent on his way to international success.
A Timeline of Teddies
1834 | Robert Southey writes Goldilocks and the Three Bears. |
1892 | ![]() |
1902- 1903 |
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1903 | ![]() |
Aug 1903 |
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1904 | President Roosevelt and the Republican Party adopted the Teddy Bear as their symbol in the election. |
1904 | ![]() |
1905 | ![]() |
1904- 1905 |
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1905 | ![]() |
1905 | ![]() |
from 1906 |
The heyday of teddy bears |
1906-1908 | ![]() |
May 1906 |
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Oct 1906 |
The toy trade now use the expression ‘Teddy Bear’ instead of ‘Teddy’s Bear’ which appears in the ‘Playthings’ journal. |
1906 | ![]() |
1906 | ![]() |
1906 | ![]() |
1906 | ![]() |
2 Mar 1907 | ![]() |
1907 | ![]() |
1907 | ![]()
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1908 | ![]() |
1908 | Steiff launch their first lawsuits against competitors Wilhelm Strunz and Gebruder Bing to protect their ‘Button in Ear’ trademark |
9 May 1909 | Margarete Steiff died of pneumonia in Giengen, Germany. Her entire hometown of Giengen goes into mourning. |
1910 | ![]() |
1911 | ![]() |
1912 | ![]() |
24 Oct 1913 | In Neufang, a village in Thuringia, close to Sonneberg, Germany, Artur, sister Adelheid and brother Max Hermann start the production of their first Hermann Teddy Bear under the trading name of Artur Hermann Plusch Spielwaren Fabrik. Around 1920, Artur moved to Sonneberg to begin his own company which in the late 1920’s became known as J Hermann Nachf. Inf. Artur Hermann. The company continued to make teddy bears under this name until 1954 when it was sold to Anker Plush Toys in Munich, Germany. |
1902- 1914 |
By World War I, Steiff had sold millions of bears in the United States, Germany, and England. |
World War I |
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1914 | ![]() |
1915 | ![]() |
1915 | ![]() |
1915 | ![]() |
1920 | ![]() |
1920 | ![]() |
Nov 1920 | Writer Mary Tourtel’s Creation ‘Rupert Bear’ first appears in the British newspaper ‘The Daily Express’. |
Nov 1920 | Farnell’s Harry Stone and Leon Rees form an alliance and establish H.G. Stone to produce Chiltern Soft Toys |
1920’s and 1930’s | English bears tended to be softer in look and feel than their German cousins, and were a major influence throughout the 1920’s and 1930’s. With a ban on toy imports from Germany and imposition of import duty leads UK firms such as Chad Valley, H.G. Stone, Merrythought, Deans and J.K. Farnell to expand in both UK and foreign markets. |
1921 | J.K. Farnell establish the trade name ‘Alpha’ and become a Private Limited Company: Alpha Works Built. Farnell bears are generally acknowledged to be the English equivalent of Steiff. |
1920- 1921 |
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1921 | ![]() |
1921 | Richard and Louise Fiddes register the Fideston Toy Company in Australia producing over 1,000 hand-made bears per month. Fideston closed during WW2 after nineteen years of production. |
1923 | Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Kirby establish Joy Toys in South Yarra, Melbourne, Australia, and go on to make over 50,000 bears up until the 1960’s. |
1923 | Chiltern Hugmee Bears are advertised for the first time |
1925 | French Company, Fadap (Fabrication Artistique d’Animaux en Peluche) began Teddy Bear production from their factory in Divonne-les-Bains. Early Fadap Teddy Bears are rather tubby, they have long arms and thick paws and tend to have upturned noses and a seam swen under their chin. Old Fadap Teddy Bears also wore a metal button in their ear, with the words ‘’Fadap” and ‘’France” embossed on it. Sadly, Fadap closed it’s doors in 1978. |
1926 | ![]() |
The Great Depression |
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Late 1920’s | ![]() |
Late 1920’s | ![]() |
1929 | Depression hits following the Wall Street Crash — many people resort to producing their own teddy bears from cheap patterns out of household materials such as burlap and old blankets. Manufacturers economise on materials creating bears such as the ‘Stick Bears’, in the USA |
1930 | ![]() |
1933 | In Germany, Hitler comes to power and the rise of the National Socialist Party has an impact on the German Toy industry. The Steiff Factory is affected as Enrst and Hugo Steiff are removed from the office because of their Jewish sympathies. In Schuco Adolf Kahn who is a Jew has to leave for England. |
1937 | In England. the Coronation of George VI following Edward VIII’s abdication inspires Patriotic Teddy Bears in Red, White and Blue. |
1938 | ![]() |
1938 | Nylon is used in Teddy Bear production for the first time |
World War II |
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1939- 1945 |
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1944 | Smokey Bear is adopted as the mascot of the United States Forestry Commissions Fire Prevention Campaign. |
1953 | ![]() |
1954 | ![]() |
1955 | The Wendy Boston teddy bears proved to be very popular after their launch on BBC television in 1955. |
1955- 1976 |
By 1964, as Wendy Boston’s companies were producing over a quarter of UK’s total synthetic fiber teddy bear exports. Denys Fisher Toys took over the company in 1968 and closed down operations in 1976. |
1958 | ![]() |
1960’s-1970’s | The Wendy Boston design influenced most of the bears made throughout the 1960s and ’70s – and its shape even affected the look of jointed bears. The U.S. market was overwhelmed with cheap plush toys from Asian factories. By the end of the ’60s, the traditional teddy bear seemed to be on the verge of extinction. |
1963 | ![]() |
1967 | Chad Valley took over Chiltern produced teddy bears under the Chad Valley/Chiltern label. |
1969 | ![]() |
1970’s | From the mid-1970s onwards, adults began collecting Teddy Bears looking for a combination of modern designs and traditional vintage bears. As manufacturers realized the interest in old bears, they began to aim some of their new products at collectors, rather than children. |
27 May 1979 | More than 15,000 people and 2,000 teddy bears gather for the Great Teddy Bear Rally to raise money for charity organized by the Marquis of Bath at his Longleat estate in Wilshire, England. |
1980’s | Steiff produced their first limited edition replica bears aimed at adult teddy bear collectors. |
1981 | ![]() |
1985 | Christie’s auction house in London hosted the first auction devoted to antique and vintage teddy bears. |
Berlin Wall Comes Down |
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1990 | ![]() |
1990 | The first Hermann Teddy Bear Original Limited Edition released. |
1990 | ![]() |
1993 | Since 1993, all Hermann-Coburg Teddy Bears are marked with a special “neck mark”, which is sealed tight on the Bear’s neck with a “Triangle shape” with the imprint of “The Bear with the Running Dog”. |
1994 | ![]() |
14 Oct 2000 | ![]() |
2006 | ![]() |
Vintage teddy bears were most often made out of wool mohair. Silk plush bears were introduced around 1930, but cotton plush wasn’t used until after World War II and synthetics didn’t appear until the 1950s.
Eyes. The earliest bears have boot-button eyes. In the 1920s, glass eyes became the most common, while in the 1950s eyes were made of plastic.
Nose. Each manufacturer had its own unique nose stitching—early noses were stitched out of woven silk.
Filling. The oldest antique teddy bears are hard-stuffed with excelsior (wood wool). If lightweight, likely stuffed with fibers from the kapok tree. Bears filled with foam are newer.
Paws. Vintage bears had pads made of felt or cotton, although the cotton would have worn out and been replaced by now. Velvet and rexine (a fake leather) were also used for paw pads starting in the late 1930s.
How did Winnie The Pooh start?
On August 21, 1921, A.A. Milne gave his son, Christopher Robin Milne, a teddy bear for his first birthday. Christopher named his bear Edward Bear because Edward is the proper name for Teddy. Milne bought Edward Bear at Harrod’s in London, England. It was made by J.K. Farnell & Co. in England.
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Steiff – Winnie the Pooh (c. 2002) Hand-made limited edition bear from our collection | Various merchandise from Winnie-The-Pooh by A.A. Milne |
Between 1920 and 1928, Christopher Robin Milne received other stuffed animals. In 1926, A.A. Milne began writing bedtime stories about his son’s adventures with his stuffed animals, including his bear who was renamed, Winnie-the-Pooh. Thus Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Owl, Rabbit, and the 100 Acre Wood were born. The 100 Acre Wood is based on the Ashdown Forest, located near Milne’s home in southern England.
The name Winnie-the-Pooh came from a combination of a bear and a swan. “Winnie” was the name of a black bear in the London Zoo in the 1920’s. Winnie had been the mascot for the Canadian Army’s Winnipeg regiment. “Pooh” was the name of a swan in A.A. Milne’s book, “When We Were Very Young.”

USA vs. German Design
American Bear ca. 1902
Ideal Novelty and Toy Company, which operated from 1902-1984, created the first American bear. It’s characteristics were:
- Trademarks not used in first bears; later trademarks used were two variations of labels, one shaped like a circus wagon and one marked “Ideal”.
- Height: 19.5″ tall
- Made of golden colored mohair
- Pointed pads on feet
- Broad, flattish triangular heads
- Black nose
- Long and tapered arms
- Curved paws with felt bads
- Rounded thighs and heels with pointed toes
- Stuffed with excelsior
- Black shoe-button eyes
German Bear ca. 1902
Steiff GmbH, which operated since 1880, created the first full jointed bear. It’s characteristics include:
- Metal button pegged into left ear, made from brass, iron, nickel-plated and in limited editions, gold (beginning in 1904)
- Cloth ear tags sewn into the chest area “Steiff Original”, “Made in Germany” or “Made in US-Zone Germany” in white, red, beige or yellow.
- Oldest bears made from mohair, 1947 onward, synthetic fiber.
- The most desirable are made with cinnomon or white mohair.
- Stuffing 1904 was wood-wool (excelsior), these models had voice boxes
- Early Steiffs had old shoe-button eyes, 1910 changed to glass
- Bears from 1904 had five claws and felt pads, 1906 had four
- Every 7th Steiff bear before 1905, were made with a hand-sewn seam down the middle.
- Original bears did not have moveable limbs; in 1905, moveable joints made from heavy card.