The Steiff Toy Factory
Beginnings
The Steiff story is the story of an aunt and a nephew in Giengen, Germany.
The aunt, Margarete Steiff, was a seamstress, in spite of handicaps caused by polio when she was only 18 months old. But she refused to give in, and by age 17 had been trained as a seamstress. At first she worked periodically for her sisters, but in 1874 Margarete’s father constructed a workroom for her to sew in. Soon she had earned enough money to be able to afford her own sewing machine.
In December 1879 she saw the pattern for an elephant pincushion in a magazine and decided to make one for herself. But so popular were they that by 1880 her Felt Store had grown to be the Steiff Manufacture. A whole menagerie of soft toy animals followed including, in addition to the elephant monkeys, dogs and cats, all with great success. The first Steiff illustrated toy catalogue was published in 1892. And, as the company continued to grow and employ people, it was renamed and registered as the Felt Toy Factory on March 3, 1893.
Margarete’s factory made other types of toys in addition to the soft animals. And actually, the first Steiff bear was not a plush toy, but part of a popular lawn bowling set called skittles; the kingpin skittle was in the shape of a bear and was in itself very popular.
The nephew, Richard Steiff, had been an art student in Stuttgart. He had joined his aunt’s company in 1897 and was responsible for many of the sketches from which their soft toys were made.
The Birth of 55PB (Petsy)
In late 1902/early 1903 Richard persuaded his aunt to make a soft toy bear from sketches he had made of real bears. Margarete was reluctant, thinking a bear could turn out to be too fierce for a toy, or that it would be too expensive. But Richard persisted and she finally agreed. The result was 55PB. The bear had movable arms, legs and head, plus was made out of a new fabric for toys but one that was just right for bears: mohair. Richard named the bear Petsy.
But the new toy was not immediately popular in Germany. The first large scale order for the bear was placed by an American, a buyer for the toy department of George Borgfeldt & Co., who ordered 3,000 of the toy bears at the Leipzig Toy Fair in March 1903. However, no records show the bears arriving in the United States.
In 1904 the Steiffs began putting a small round identifying button in the left ear of their bears, a trademark registered on December 1 of that year, and one that continues to this day.
Also in 1904 Steiff had an exhibit at the World Exhibition in St. Louis, USA and sold 12,000 of their bears—they were an instant success.
Barle
Although the 55PB was popular, Richard Steiff continued to work to improve his bear; he was not satisfied with the appearance of his bear. So he kept experimenting. In 1905 Richard made the disc-jointed 35PAB, which pleased both him and his aunt. Margarete was so enchanted with the new bear that she named him Barle. Barle came in three colors and seven sizes, increased to 14 sizes in 1910.
Barle was an instant success. In 1906, the year the teddy bear craze really took hold, 400,000 teddy bears were born in the Steiff factory, followed by a phenomenal 975,000 bears in 1907. The name of the company was changed to Margarete Steiff GmbH in 1906 to accommodate the growing business. Stores were opened in several countries, including the United States, to handle the increasing mail order business. By 1908 the Steiffs had adopted the American term “teddy bear” as the name for its toy and Barles and other stuffed bears were catalogued as teddy bears after that. All in all, business was good.
Margarete died May 9, 1909 at age 61. The business passed to her nephews, and so survived, keeping up production of toys of all kinds, but especially those cute cuddly new toys, the teddy bear. Who could have known at the time what a marvelous creature she and her nephew had created?
Richard moved to the United States in 1923 to represent Steiff there. He died in Jackson, Michigan, in March 1939 .
World War I
The world wars would have a definite impact on Steiff’s business. They managed to continue production during World War I, though limited because the ban on German imports, including teddy bears and other soft toys, cut into their markets. But Steiff read the market correctly by anticipating a buying spurt after the war caused by the lack of teddy bears during the war and they rebooted their factory. Bears made in the interwar period were cheerful and lively, just what their owners needed.
World War II
When World War II broke out in 1939, the situation went from bad to worse. Not only was there once again a shortage of materials such as mohair, but staff were called up for military service. Production slowed drastically, and then stopped altogether in 1943 when Steiff was forced to make military goods. But they somehow managed to hide their teddy bear and other soft toy items so as not to lose them.
After the Wars
After the war Steiff, and Giengen, were fortunate enough to be in the U.S. Zone; teddy bears made in that period carried the label “Made in US-Zone Germany.” So once again Steiff had to rebuild. But rebuild it did, again using creative materials to make their teddies until shipments of mohair plush once more began to finally arrive. And they have flourished, founding the Steiff Club in April 1992 for collectors, and creating a new “Original Teddy” in 1966.
Today Steiff in considered the Granddaddy of the teddy bear as it has outlasted most of its competitors and continues to produce quality hand-crafted teddy bears cherished by children and collectors alike.