Who Invented the Teddy Bear?

Everyone loves a teddy bear, whether in the form of a cuddly toy, a cute ornament or even an image on a card.  Teddy bears can even be collectors’ items and sell for vast quantities of money.  But who invented the teddy bear and why was it called that?

Teddy

1954 Teddy Bear

The teddy bear seems to have been created by two people at around about the same time.  One was a toymaker called Morris Michtom in the US and the other is a name still famous today – Richard Steiff in Germany.  Michtom named the bears he created in honour of the US president, Theodore ‘Teddy’ Roosevelt, despite the president hating the nickname.  However, he won him over by sending him one of the bears and getting the president’s permission to use the name.

Unaware of the American’s creation, Steiff had begun to make stuffed toys from his own designs and exhibited them at the Leipzig Toy Fair of 1903 when a buyer for a New York company named George Borgfeldt & Co saw the toys and bought 3000 to import to the US.  Legend has it that these bears, with the designation 55PB never completed their journey and were shipwrecked at sea, with none ever being seen again.

Neither men knew of the others creations at the time, as transatlantic communication was virtually non-existent.  But by 1906, more manufacturers were getting involved in the teddy bear craze and books were being written with teddies as the central character.  The famous instrumental ‘The Teddy Bear’s Picnic’ was first written in 1907, with lyrics being added in 1932.

Making a teddy bear

The art of making a teddy bear is still done by hand around the world but mass production has taken over most of the bears available.  These are the bears aimed as toys for kids and comply with exacting safety standards around the world, such as securely fastened eyes and safe joint attachments.  Steiff still sell handmade collectible bears both in shops and over the internet while there are small, handmade teddy companies in the US.  Merrythought is one such company in the UK who were founded in 1930 who continue to make handmade bears.

Teddy bears from those first inventors are among the antiques of the teddy bear world and are very collectible.  Some of Michtom’s original bears still come up for auction while other collectible bears include those from the Knickerbocker Toy Co from New York and the Gund Manufacturing Co as well as Steiff bears.

Modern bears

Tatty Teddy

The teddy bear remains as popular today as ever and there are many famous teddy bears.  From Paddington Bear, the famous bear from Peru, to the bright yellow Pudsey of Children in Need, teddies are an everyday part of life.  Other bears such as the Forever Friends teddies and the blue-nosed Tatty Teddy have travelled from the realm of toys into a huge array of gifts and greetings cards.  And of course, one cannot mentioned teddy bears without mentioning the adorable Winnie the Pooh and his friends, subject of so many children’s books and cartons.

So it seems in its many forms, the teddy is as popular today as it was back in the 1900s when Mr Michtom and Mr Steiff first came across the idea for a cute stuffed bear toy!