The History of the Teddy Bear Part 3


German Teddy Bears and American Teddy Bears competed for the
spotlight in America and a lot of the smaller United States
producers didn't stay in business long.

Germany has a long tradition of making toys and Steiff
wasn't the only company to start producing Teddy Bears after
1905. Such German companies as Schuco, Bing and Herman
joined in the Teddy Bear craze.

In England the company J.K. Farnell & Co. started producing
the first Winnie the Pooh bear. This was the bear that
Christopher Robin Milne received as a present from his
mother on his birthday in 1921.

Five years after this event took place in the Milne family,
A.A. Milne started writing and publishing the Winnie-the-
Pooh book series about Christopher Robin his son and the
adventures he had with his Pooh bear and other stuffed toy
animals.

The Winnie the Pooh book series is still very popular even
today. In the Central Children's Room of the Donnell Branch
of the New York Public Library the toys that inspired the
Winnie the Pooh stories are now on public display.

Unlike many other commodities, the Teddy Bear weathered the
World Wars intact. Even though production dropped off,
people still bought them for their children. Most people
preferred to buy high quality, hand-finished Teddy Bears
that were not mass produced like a lot of other commodities.
But because the supply of Teddy Bears from Germany was
interrupted by the war it did allow other companies in
America and other countries to produce more Teddy Bears.

The Farnell, Chiltern, and Chad Valley bear makers were all
in England. Fadap and Pintel started producing Teddy Bears
in France, and in Australia Joy Toys started to produce them
as well. And because of this the common Teddy Bear changed
from having boot button eyes to glass eyes. The stuffing,
which had been excelsior, was replaced with kapok, which was
a softer alternative.

Because of the isolationism that United States touted during
most of World War One the country was untouched by the war
and the American Teddy Bear companies continued to get
bigger. One of the companies that sprang up later in the
1920's was the Knickerbocker Toy Company that still produces
toys today.

See History of the Teddy Bear Part 1 on our Stuffed Teddy Bear Page

Part 2 on our Teddy Bear Calendar Page
 

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Page by: Tippy & Alfred who much prefer to keep their daily
appointments in a Border Collie and American Shorthair planner,
however they won't be offended if you decide to order one of
these Teddy Bear Planners, after all, they really are Adorable.

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