From ANTIQUES & COLLECTABLES
Your Lovin Teddy Bear
I started out as a collector of antique teddy bears some years ago. My passion was all-consuming and led me to to start dealing in antique teddy bears and now I have friends and clients all over the world who not only buy teddy bears from me, but enjoy browsing the website, www.oldbearscene.com, on a daily basis.
My passion has grown enormously and in sharing it, I now have the privilege in dealing in the well-known antique teddies, such as Steiff, Bing and Farnell, also lesser-known makes dating from the early 1900s onwards. How wonderful to think that a soft toy can survive that length of time, sometimes in excellent condition, other times in very much played with condition, but all sought after by teddy bear collectors.
I feel we are caretakers of these fabulous antique toys and my wish is that they continue to be around for many future generations to enjoy.
Mostly, collectors buy for their own enjoyment, but there are also those who buy for investment. Of course, one cannot guarantee that antique teddies will be a good investment, but in these times of change, recession and low savings interest rates, many people are looking for other investment options.
Here is a brief history of how the teddy bear, as we know it, came about.
The German Steiff company, started by Margarete Steiff, were producing soft toys in the late 1800s. Around 1902, her nephew, Richard Steiff, sketched some bears at the local zoo and the company made prototype bears using various jointing methods, made from mohair and filled with wood wool, having a growler or squeaker in the body. It was in 1903 at the Leipzig Trade Fair that an American buyer placed an order for 3000 bears.
Whilst Steiff were making bear prototypes in Germany, another event was taking place in America.
In 1902 President Theodore Roosevelt was on a hunting trip in Mississippi. The presidential hunting party trailed and lassoed a lean, black bear, and tied it to a tree. The president was summoned, but refused to shoot the tied and exhausted bear, considering it to be unsportsmanlike. The following day, Clifford Berryman, Washington Post editorial cartoonist, immortalized the incident as part of a cartoon montage. Berryman pictured Roosevelt, his gun before him with the butt resting on the ground and his back to the animal, gesturing his refusal to take the trophy shot. Written across the lower part of the cartoon were the words "Drawing the Line in Mississippi," which coupled the hunting incident to a political dispute. The cartoon drew immediate attention.
In Brooklyn, NY, Morris Michtom displayed 2 toy bears, made by his wife, Rose, in the window of his stationery and novelty store. Michtom, who recognized the immediate popularity of the new toy, requested and received permission from Roosevelt himself to call them "Teddy's Bears."
1907 was considered the 'year of the bear' when around a million bears were produced! Teddies became the most wanted toys for children!
To share the magic contact Oldbearscene:
E: oldbearscene@yahoo.co.uk T: 01892 521232 www.oldbearscene.com
My passion has grown enormously and in sharing it, I now have the privilege in dealing in the well-known antique teddies, such as Steiff, Bing and Farnell, also lesser-known makes dating from the early 1900s onwards. How wonderful to think that a soft toy can survive that length of time, sometimes in excellent condition, other times in very much played with condition, but all sought after by teddy bear collectors.
I feel we are caretakers of these fabulous antique toys and my wish is that they continue to be around for many future generations to enjoy.
Mostly, collectors buy for their own enjoyment, but there are also those who buy for investment. Of course, one cannot guarantee that antique teddies will be a good investment, but in these times of change, recession and low savings interest rates, many people are looking for other investment options.
Here is a brief history of how the teddy bear, as we know it, came about.
The German Steiff company, started by Margarete Steiff, were producing soft toys in the late 1800s. Around 1902, her nephew, Richard Steiff, sketched some bears at the local zoo and the company made prototype bears using various jointing methods, made from mohair and filled with wood wool, having a growler or squeaker in the body. It was in 1903 at the Leipzig Trade Fair that an American buyer placed an order for 3000 bears.
Whilst Steiff were making bear prototypes in Germany, another event was taking place in America.
In 1902 President Theodore Roosevelt was on a hunting trip in Mississippi. The presidential hunting party trailed and lassoed a lean, black bear, and tied it to a tree. The president was summoned, but refused to shoot the tied and exhausted bear, considering it to be unsportsmanlike. The following day, Clifford Berryman, Washington Post editorial cartoonist, immortalized the incident as part of a cartoon montage. Berryman pictured Roosevelt, his gun before him with the butt resting on the ground and his back to the animal, gesturing his refusal to take the trophy shot. Written across the lower part of the cartoon were the words "Drawing the Line in Mississippi," which coupled the hunting incident to a political dispute. The cartoon drew immediate attention.
In Brooklyn, NY, Morris Michtom displayed 2 toy bears, made by his wife, Rose, in the window of his stationery and novelty store. Michtom, who recognized the immediate popularity of the new toy, requested and received permission from Roosevelt himself to call them "Teddy's Bears."
1907 was considered the 'year of the bear' when around a million bears were produced! Teddies became the most wanted toys for children!
To share the magic contact Oldbearscene:
E: oldbearscene@yahoo.co.uk T: 01892 521232 www.oldbearscene.com
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