Steiff bears come from a time past; A time when toys were made by hand from the highest quality materials and built to last a lifetime. The Steiff story is more of a legend. Margarete Steiff was born in 1870 and at the age of one and half was diagnosed with polio causing her to spent the duration of her life in a wheelchair. Against all odds she ended up living a rich and fulfilled life. The first stuffed animal she made was an elephant that she intended to use as a pincushion. She gave it as a gift to her niece. As children have no need for a pincushion, her niece played with the elephant as a toy and Steiff was born.
Margarete’s toy animals became popular in her small town and soon her nephew, an Art and Engineering student began to help her grow the business. They took their Steiff bears to toy shows where they gained the interest of Harrods London and retailers in America. The presidency of Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt coincided perfectly with Steiff’s toy bear and the result was an explosive fad of Teddy Bears. In 1909, 974,000 bears were sold and Steiff was the innovator of the most recognizable toy, to this day, in the western world. The Teddy Bear.
Today, Steiff is still producing their bears up to the same high standards, by hand, in Germany. The Steiff bears of yesteryears are sought after by zealous collectors all over the world and often fetch tens of thousands of dollars in auctions at Christies and Sotheby?s. In an age of homogenization and the cheaply manufactured toys in Asia, Steiff lives on as homage to a time when things were made with love, by hand, meant to be kept a lifetime and passed down like heirlooms. And you certainly won?t find these precious little treasures in Toys-R-Us.
Susan loves them because each one is hand made and has it’s own personality.