How many teddy bears are in the world

Briefly, it goes this way. In Clifford Berryman, cartoonist for the Washington Star, drew a cartoon showing President Theodore Roosevelt refusing to shoot a bear cub. Morris Michtom, proprietor of a small store in Brooklyn, saw the cartoon.

He and his wife forth with made a bear of honey-colored plush, stuffed with excelsior. He put it in his window alongside a copy of the cartoon. Next the enterprising Michtom wrote to Roosevelt and asked permission to call his animal Teddy Bear. According to Ideal officials, the President wrote back and said, "I doubt if my name will mean much in the stuffed bear business, but you may use it if you wish. Ideal Toy Corporation grew from Michtom's small Brooklyn store. Today, Ideal is the biggest manufacturer of dolls in the world.

Margarete Steiff's company is the biggest manufacturer of stuffed animals in the world. To get the Steiff side of the argument, I flew to Stuttgart, Germany, then traveled by motor to Giengenam-Brenz with Hans-Otto Steiff, the president of the company, and the sales manager, Karl Vallendor.

Both men seemed nervous at my coming, as though they were sure I was a spy for Ideal. Little by little, Hans Otto told me the story of the stuffed animals. It paralyzed her legs and her right arm, although she still could use her right hand to hold a piece of cloth and her left hand to sew. Confined to her wheelchair, Margarete Steiff became an expert seamstress.

One day she made a little elephant of felt, stuffing it with scraps. Before long she was selling replicas of the toys, and eventually her business thrived to such an extent that her brother, Fritz, took over.

Fritz Steiff had six sons, all of whom followed him into the business; one was the father of the present Hans-Otto. The most creative of the brothers was Richard, who went to art school in Stuttgard and spent his time sketching in the zoo.

In , Richard Steiff conceived the idea of making a bear with movable legs and head. Instead of felt, he covered it with shorn mohair plush, which gave it a lifelike appearance. In , at the Leipzig Toy Fair an American distributor saw the bear and gave an order for 3, copies. The caterer for the White House reception was looking for something unusal for the centerpiece for the reception banquet table. He could find nothing in Washington. He bought several dozen to use as table decorations.

At the reception somebody asked the President what kind of bears they were. He said, "Teddy Bears. In , we made almost a million of them. From that point on, Steiff began making more and more animals, most of them based on sketches made by the talented Richard.

They made rabbits, squirrels, dogs, cats, porcupines, lions, tigers, monkeys, mice, beavers, hedgehogs--well, they made so many different ones that soon they began to run out of familiar beasts. Cautiously, they began to make more obscure and unfamiliar animals. To their delight, children respond to the exotic ones as readily as they did to those they knew. In the current Steiff catalogue there are okapis, vicunas, llamas, mandrils and other members of the monkey family, including the rhesus.

There are more than Steiff animals--so many that neither Steiff himself nor Vallendor knows how many. They long since have lost count. After telling me the Steiff version of the Teddy Bear story, the two men took me on a lightning-like trip through the plant. First they showed me a room in which men were stamping and cutting part of animals on long sheets of mohair the company uses up about 10 miles of mohair plush each year. That's only six years after Steiff popularized the teddy bear in The age of this bear is easily distinguished by the center seam running down the middle of the bear, a trademark of some of the earliest Steiff teddy bears.

The This rare teddy bear was once owned by Jeanette Paros, who lovingly ran her own antique teddy bear business for decades. As you can see, the Farnell teddy bear is made with a child's gas mask attached. It was given to a boy named David Ellender, born in January At the time, it was a way for parents to make sure their child was prepared at all times in case of an air raid. The area where the seller lived was heavily shelled in the following years.

He was fortunate to survive, and the worn bear was sold with David's original National Registration Identity Card. Bottom line: This rare teddy bear isn't the only clockwork bear on this list, but it's probably the coolest. The Bing clockwork bear was made around Its limbs are attached to little wheels and a red tin ball. Inside the ball is where the real magic happens.

When the ball is wound up, a motor inside it begins to whir, rotating the ball and helping the whimsical bear walk all on its own. Bottom line: Unlike many rare teddy bears, this vintage Steiff is in exceptionally fine condition.

Made with glossy white mohair, a nose stitched in brown and black glass eyes, it's about as close to mint condition as a year-old bear can get. Bottom line: This valuable teddy bear has flattened fur, a missing label and patches where the mohair is worn away completely, but the seller still thinks it's worth a hefty sum.

The reason for its supposed worth is the bear's history. This type of large teddy bear was used as a display toy in old toy shops. They were made with built-in sound boxes that growled when a red string is pulled, but most of them don't work anymore. Bottom line: For a long time, Bing was the only other teddy bear maker in the world besides Steiff.

And at first, Bing simply copied Steiff until a lawsuit changed the company's tune. Starting in , the year this bear was made, Bing used its own designs for bears.

That included claws and a pronounced face. Bottom line: Made over a century ago in , this Steiff bear features reddish mohair, a swiveling head and long, jointed limbs. The Steiff button in his ear is part of what made him so valuable as a collectible teddy bear. In , two German legends, the Steiff toymaker and artist-designer Karl Lagerfeld, teamed up to create a teddy version of Lagerfeld with all of his signature elements — hip sunglasses, a suit and tie, and a "KL" monogrammed belt.

Only were made at the time, and they were obviously ultra-exclusive. Bottom line: This cuddly little bear debuted at the American International Toy Fair, where it was encased in thick glass and watched over by a security guard.

Bottom line: This rare Steiff Record Teddy riding an antique metal framed cart was produced around Each wooden wheel of the cart has "Steiff" stamped on it, and the entire ensemble was in excellent condition at the time it was sold.

It was originally estimated to be worth less than a third of what it sold for, racking up 32 bids before it finally closed. Bottom line: 'Mr. Edward Bear' was made circa by Steiff. Handcrafted with white mohair, black boot button eyes, a stitched brown eyes and jointed limbs, the inch bear was given to the original seller when she was a teenager in the early s.

The teddy bear originally growled, but the growler no longer operates. Despite having some moth holes here and there, Edward sold for just over 15 grand. Bottom line: Not to be confused with the newer Steiff Grandpa Teddy Bear, the Grandfather version was a display bear for Steiff and a big one at that, measuring 46 inches tall. He was created sometime in the s, and this model had plenty of wear and tear when it was auctioned in Georgievna took the bear with her on a visit to Buckingham Palace in , but she would never return home due to the onset of World War I and the Russian Revolution a few years later.

A limited reproduction of about 5, bears was released in , but those bears never achieved the value of the original. Bottom line: At 45 inches tall and released in , this is one of the largest and oldest-known Steiff models.

It spent many years on display in a shoe store in Massachusetts before it was auctioned off. Bottom line: The PB 28 series was released in , making these few remaining teddies the oldest known bears in the world. These bears were called Rod teddies because they had metal rods inserted in them so as to create joints.

Bottom line: The Princess Diana teddy is something of a legend among collectors. But the story goes that stores were only allowed to purchase and sell a few at a time, which got people thinking it would be a limited edition bear.

The Dicky teddy was beloved from its debut thanks in large part to its soft fur and the warm smile on its face.

Bottom line: Although far from the most expensive bear ever sold, this cinnamon-colored teddy is one of the rarest in the world. It was made in and features a brooch with the name Will. She wrote "Collecting Teddy Bears" in , which showed off her extensive collection and knowledge of antique bears. Bottom line: In , Steiff created a new kind of teddy that contained a pouch for holding a metal bottle with hot water inside to keep kids warm in cold months.

The bottle could be removed when not needed. She even had pictures from her childhood to prove its authenticity. Bottom line: The Elliot model debuted in and was notable for its bright-blue mohair.