217:, coming away with many orders. Production and turnover increased each year as did the variety of toys on offer. Pull-along and ride-on toys were also added with the development of metal frames inside the toys. By 1889, the company moved into a larger building, which had a corner shop where the toys and fabric could be displayed for sale. The words "Felt-Toy-Factory" were painted in large letters on the outside wall. Next came a printed catalogue for customers to order from, and the business grew.
166:. Her parents were keen that she live a full life and investigated many medical treatments with little success. As a child she was taken to school in a small hand-pulled cart by her sisters and other neighborhood children. In her later reminiscences, she recalls, "All the children gathered around me and I organised games in which I was the center of attention. However, the older children often ran off and then I was left babysitting the tiny tots".
198:. She was soon able to employ people to work for her and it became a thriving business. Margarete commented: "At this time I came across a pattern for a toy elephant. Felt was the ideal material for this toy and the filling would be of the finest lambswool. Now I could make these as gifts for the children in the family and I tried out the patterns in various sizes". In 1879, the American magazine
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247:, where they caught the eye of an American buyer, who ordered 3,000 bears. From then on, "Bear 55 PB" became a bestseller in the United States - a remarkable achievement for a small German business from the Swabian Albs. Plush bears such as 55 PB became known as "teddy bears", named after the American President
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Margarete became an important figure in German female entrepreneurship. Originally from a small town in southern
Germany and living with a life-long physical disability, she founded and grew a business that continues to be recognized around the world. In the literature on German entrepreneurs, she is
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Margarete made up all the samples of any new toys herself so she could uncover any problems that might arise in production. Between 1897 and 1899, the Steiff company was designing and making "dancing bear" toys. Rather than the familiar teddy bear, these were standing figures carrying sticks and with
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Margarete regularly attended school throughout her childhood and in spite of the pain in her right hand, went to the needlework classes of Frau
Schelling where she completed her training as a seamstress at the age of 17. She occasionally worked with her sisters, who had opened a women's tailor shop.
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In 1892, Margarete's small company applied for a patent "for making of animals and other figures to serve as playthings". The patent number was DRP 66996, but this was later withdrawn when contested by another German toy manufacturer. Margarete's brother Fritz realised that there was an opportunity
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then reproduced these patterns. Margarete made many of these toys and gave them as gifts to friends, and by 1880 she started to sell them in small numbers. In the following years she widened her range of small cloth animals based on the magazine patterns, but with small alterations to the cloth
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Margarete was the daughter of building contractor
Friedrich Steiff and his wife Maria Margarete, née Haehnle. At eighteen months, Margarete contracted a high fever that left her legs paralyzed and right arm difficult to raise. After three years, doctors finally diagnosed her with
141:, Margarete made many of these toys as gifts for friends, and later began to sell some. Proving popular, the scale of production steadily increased, as did the variety of toys. In 1902, the company began making a toy bear with moveable joints based on a design by her nephew,
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player, teaching others to play to earn some money. Her savings allowed her to buy a sewing machine, the first owned in the town of
Giengen, and this led to another opportunity to earn income. Margarete worked on
274:. Steiff continues to be among the most well-known plush toy manufacturers in the world. Vintage Steiff toys have become valuable collectibles, with auctions fetching prices that regularly make the news.
133:. She began making clothes, eventually opening her own store in 1877. Around this time, Margarete came across a sewing pattern for a toy elephant, as well as patterns for mice and rabbits. Using
224:, joined the company. He had previously studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule (Arts and Crafts Academy) in Stuttgart, Germany. His sketches became the basis for many different Steiff toys.
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for the town folk, and by her mid-twenties was making fashionable clothes and traveling to other towns to work and visit family, sending her cart ahead of her and traveling by
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rings through their noses imitating the real-life dancing bears that traveled from town to town to provide entertainment at this time, or pull-along bears on wheels.
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showroom, but there was not much interest in the plush toy bears that were displayed there. In March 1903, Richard took jointed soft toy bears to a spring fair in
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as a child, leaving her with both legs paralyzed and pain in her right arm. After training as a seamstress, she was able to raise enough money to purchase a
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Steiff went on to become one of the most famous and sought-after brands of teddy bears and other plush toys. In 1910, Steiff won the Grand Prix at the
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567:"He's Soft, He's Tough, He's Steiff / Survivor of the Cold, Cruel World Market : Who's King of Teddy Bears? The Inventor Has It All Sewed Up"
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In 1877, Margarete opened a felt store and began making felt underskirts, which had just become fashionable, for the firm of
Christian Siegle in
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In 1902, Richard designed "Bear 55 PB", the first soft toy with movable joints, which was to become the world's first teddy bear.
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Brunner, Bernd, and Lori Lantz. "Bear
Substitutes." In Bears: A Brief History, 211-19. Yale University Press, 2007.
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published a pattern for a cloth mouse, rabbit, elephant, and other animal patterns followed. The German magazine
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cited as an idol for female entrepreneurship and innovation, growing her business beyond German borders.
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to sell large numbers of these toy animals and he took some samples to the market in
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145:. Taking off in the United States, it was nicknamed after then-U.S. president
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who in 1880 founded
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705:. Giengen, Germany: International Herald Tribune. 14 July 2008
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729:"Antique-O-Rama: It's a bull market on early Steiff bears"
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By 1903, a large shipment of toys had been sent to a
544:. Germany: Marianne Cieslik Verlag. pp. 26–27.
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797:BBC News: "Teddy bear celebrates 100th birthday"
519:. Germany: Marianne Cieslik Verlag. p. 11.
494:. Germany: Marianne Cieslik Verlag. p. 10.
437:. Germany: Marianne Cieslik Verlag. p. 7.
254:One million teddy bears were produced by 1907.
99:(24 July 1847 – 9 May 1909) was a German
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16:Foundress of Margarete Steiff GmbH in Germany
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643:"Margarete Steiff And Her Famous Teddy Bear"
404:"The Courageous Story of Margarete Steiff"
332:"Shopper's World; Steiff's Lair For Bears"
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330:Markham, Stephanie Reed (14 July 1985).
699:"For some, 'Made in China' doesn't fit"
515:Cieslik, Jurgen & Marianne (1989).
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607:"Teddy bear celebrates 100th birthday"
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173:Margarete also became an accomplished
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459:"175th birthday of Margarete Steiff"
414:from the original on 2 February 2023
362:Gehman, Richard (17 December 1961).
619:from the original on 13 August 2003
464:German Patent and Trade Mark Office
853:19th-century German businesspeople
838:German toy industry businesspeople
641:Cunningham, Jeff (3 August 2018).
471:from the original on 26 March 2023
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878:People from Heidenheim (district)
848:19th-century German businesswomen
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727:Kientz, Renee (27 January 2002).
649:from the original on 22 July 2023
565:Schmid, John (23 December 1997).
380:from the original on 21 July 2023
268:Brussels International Exposition
883:Deaths from pneumonia in Germany
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311:from the original on 6 June 2023
90:Founder of Margarete Steiff GmbH
129:by teaching people to play the
575:. International Herald Tribune
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843:19th-century German inventors
760:Norris, Phil (25 June 2022).
873:19th-century German artisans
364:"The Power Of A Teddy Bear"
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374:Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
249:Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt
402:Sharon (9 January 2013).
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121:, Margarete contracted
542:Button in Eyes and Ear
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149:, becoming the first "
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369:Marquette University
669:"History of Steiff"
615:. 3 December 2002.
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703:The New York Times
572:The New York Times
337:The New York Times
301:"The Steiff Story"
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817:Categories
305:Steiff.com
278:References
215:Heidenheim
184:post coach
180:trousseaus
151:teddy bear
101:seamstress
87:Occupation
68:9 May 1909
49:1847-07-24
206:Modenwelt
196:Stuttgart
157:Childhood
139:lambswool
59:, Germany
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