Interesting Facts About Steiff Bears

Steiff bears have created a cult following ever since their introduction in 1904. Their charm is too real to the point that they’ve become so enigmatic. As a matter of fact, they have been on the forefront of the race for a century even after the influx of other toy brands and manufacturers.

For something as iconic as Steiff bears, there ought to be a number of interesting facts and information circulating around and so we thought why not compile them all for everyone’s enjoyment? That said take a look at the following list.

·      They’ve been around for 113 years. Would you believe they’re older than most of our grandparents? It wasn’t until 1904 when a bear design was first introduced thanks to Richard Steiff, the founder’s favorite nephew who joined the family company after finishing his art degree. He has a certain fondness for bears and used his sketches of them to design the very first model. Before teddy bears, the brand has however produced other stuffed animal toys in the likes of dogs and cats and elephants for instance.

·      But the brand itself has been in existence since 1880. The Steiff company was built by accident after Margarete Steiff fashioned elephant-looking pin cushions and sold them around town. She later noticed that the kids loved to play with them and so she turned her dress shop into a bonafide toy manufacturing facility with the help of her brother marking the very first existence of a commercial plush toy manufacturing company the world has come to see.

·      Richard’s first design and jointly the world’s very first teddy bear was called the “P55B”. Mohair was used for fur and it comes with metal rods for joints. It is ridiculously difficult to find one in good condition these days and if one ever comes out, it’s bound to rake in some serious amount of cash.

·      When it comes to the most expensive toys, Steiff bears belong to the top pile as well. As a matter of fact, the most expensive one to date was a $2.1 million teddy bear. A collaboration with international and renowned fashion house, Louis Vuitton, it’s a plush mohair toy dressed from head to toe in the iconic LV monogram travel gear. It even comes with a matching mini luggage set! It was sold in a 2000 Monaco auction to South Korea’s Jessie Kim and is now displayed at the Teddy Bear Museum in Jeju Island, Korea.