... When ear piercing came up, it was used to make fun of the ones who put a metal mark in their ears to distinguish themselves!
BEAR > TEDDY BEAR > TEDDY
Why should a bear, an animal, be called ´Teddy´? This has to do with the 26th President of the USA, Theodore Roosevelt nicknamed Teddy. ... Read review
Personalised Message Teddy Bears make a fantastic baby gift! The personalised bear comes ... more
with a cream knitted jumper, embroidered with either pink or blue thread. The jumper can be personalised with up to 50 characters of your choice! Buying Christening gifts and baby gifts can be daunting, make your present stand out! Why not have the babies name and birth or christening date? Add a special message of luck and love, or even a 'Happy Birthday' message! Personalised gifts always make the recipient feel special because of the amount of thought and care you have put into picking out their wonderful present. The Personalised Message Teddy Bear is the perfect gift for any occasion, even Valentine's Day!
Postage & Packaging:free Super Saver Delivery Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
36 portions Sponge cake: All-butter sponge filled with buttercream and raspberry jam. Can ... more
be eaten up to 5 days after collection Cake size: 20.5cm square 2.1kg total weight Not suitable for nut allergy sufferers Suitable for vegetarians Comes in a box suitable for storing the cake before serving As featured on page 64 in the food to order brochure Available for collection in the majority of our UK mainland stores
Postage & Packaging:£3.50 Availability:Usually dispatched within 6 business days...
If you're a fan of teddy bears, then you'll love this handbag and purse set from Butler & ... more
Wilson. The handbag boasts a large design of three teddy bears holding a red Butler & Wilson logo. It's printed onto a beige canvas background complete with brown PVC trimming. Inside it features two zipped compartments and two open pockets, suitable for your mobile phone and pens. The bag comes with a matching canvas wallet featuring the same design and fastens with a zip. Canvas with PVC trim.
Postage & Packaging:£3.95 Availability:3 to 7 days
Enjoy the fun and adventures of two adorable teddy bears Benjamin and Wally in these ... more
beautifully animated stories.The Teddy Bears ChristmasThis story is for anyone who has ever owned a teddy bear...or wished to!Discover how Benjamin Bear first met his very good friend Wally.It all begins with a Christmas wish written in a letter to Santa from little girl Sally...The Teddy Bears' RescueWhen teddy bears Benjamin and Wally discover another teddy bear in distress they decide that he needs to be rescued, and they are the bears to do it! Join the teddy bears on their heroic rescue as they set about helping Buster become the teddy bear companion that he was meant to be.
General Poster: Me To You, the greeting card and children's toy manufacturer, has been ... more
increasing in terms of commercial success and popularity since it was first established. The 'Tatty Teddy', Me To You's mascot, is displayed all over the poster, along with all the dates of the year. Now you have no excuse to forget important dates and events!
Postage & Packaging:£2.25 Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
...of you played with teddy bears as children? Ah, nearly all hands are up. Now ´fess up, how many of you still have their teddies, either sitting on the sofa, hidden somewhere in the closet or as a part of a teddy collection? Thought so, still quite a lot of hands up. (Not mine, though, my teddy got lost when moving house yonks ago. Did I cry? You bet!).
Now, no matter what your teddies look like, which size or colour they have, how ... ...(il)legitimate offspring of the first teddy ´born´ in Germany in 1902.
HOW IT ALL BEGAN
In 1847 Margarete Steiff was born in the German town Giengen in the South of Germany, about 100 km southeast of Stuttgart (and about 60 km away from the town where I live), she was taken ill with polio at the age of 1½ and spent the rest of her life confined to a wheelchair (she died in 1909). She learnt to sew garments and household ... more
Hands up! How many of you played with teddy bears as children? Ah, nearly all hands are up. Now ´fess up, how many of you still have their teddies, either sitting on the sofa, hidden somewhere in the closet or as a part of a teddy collection? Thought so, still quite a lot of hands up. (Not mine, though, my teddy got lost when moving house yonks ago. Did I cry? You bet!).
Now, no matter what your teddies look like, which size or colour they have, how much they cost, I can tell you for sure that they´re all (il)legitimate offspring of the first teddy ´born´ in Germany in 1902.
HOW IT ALL BEGAN
In 1847 Margarete Steiff was born in the German town Giengen in the South of Germany, about 100 km southeast of Stuttgart (and about 60 km away from the town where I live), she was taken ill with polio at the age of 1½ and spent the rest of her life confined to a wheelchair (she died in 1909). She learnt to sew garments and household articles, in 1880 she made an elephant of felt intended for the use as a pincushion. It was the first soft-filled fabric toy animal and soon became very popular with children. In 1886 already more than 5000 elephants were sold, in 1893 Steiff felt toys were presented at the Leipzig (Lipsia) Fair and the company was founded, in 1895 the first foreign business contacts were established with Harrods in London (!).
One of Margarete Steiff´s nephews created a bear in 1902, it was given the designation ´55PB´ (55 cm tall, sitting, P = plush, B = jointed [´beweglich´ in German]), since then it has been going strong! More than 30 operations are needed to produce a bear and even nowadays most of them are performed by hand in the traditional manner. It´s clear that such a production method has its price, a teddy bear made in Germany can´t be cheap, but then it´s worth its price, it´ll last for generations whereas a cheap specimen from some substandard sweatshop may not even survive your child´s toddlerdom (toddlerhood?).
Over the years the Margarete Steiff Company has become the leading manufacturer of high-quality toys and collectors´ items world-wide, in 2002 (I couldn´t find a later date) more than 1.5 million Steiff animals were produced. In 1904 another nephew had the brilliant idea to put a button in the left ear of all toy animals thus distinguishing Steiff products from imitation ones and the world-famous trademark ´Steiff Button in Ear´ was born.
Almost 90% of the German population know the Steiff brand and the slogan ´Button in Ear´ (50% of the production are sold nationally, 50% internationally). When ear piercing came up, it was used to make fun of the ones who put a metal mark in their ears to distinguish themselves!
BEAR > TEDDY BEAR > TEDDY
Why should a bear, an animal, be called ´Teddy´? This has to do with the 26th President of the USA, Theodore Roosevelt nicknamed Teddy. He was a passionate bear hunter but in spite for his passion for hunting, he actually spared the life of a young bear in 1902, after that event Clifford Berryman, a well-known American artist, used to add a small bear whenever he drew caricatures of the President. The (well-made and informative) homepage of the Steiff firm (www.steiff.com) shows one of Berryman´s drawings, strangely the little bear resembles Micky Mouse! Soon the bear and the name Teddy merged and a bear became a teddy. From the start the ´Teddy Bear´ market boomed and 3000 bears were sold in the first year of its presentation at the Leipzig Fair.
HOW MUCH DOES A STEIFF TEDDY COST?
Well, it depends on what you want it for. Maybe you want to add an antique teddy bear to your collection? In 2002 a new world record for an antique teddy (from 1926) was achieved at the 6th Steiff Festival in Giengen, it was auctioned for 156.240 Euro (~107.888 GBP)! Surprisingly (at least for me), a not antique teddy bear had achieved a higher price in 2000, Christie´s at Monaco auctioned it for 213.720 Euro (~147.627 GBP).
That is not your league? Well, if you just want a teddy for your child or yourself to play with, then the prices are affordable, a 30cm high one costs 25.95 GBP in GB. You can find Steiff products (hundreds of different kinds of teddy bears and other animals) in: Steiff Gallery store located in the upper Mall of the Glades Shopping Centre in the heart of Bromley, Kent (2 minutes from Bromley South Station with fast trains from London Victoria [18 minutes]), they also have an online shopping catalogue which you can find via the before mentioned homepage www.steiff.com. All in all there are almost 100 Steiff Club Stores throughout the UK, but a great many more stockists, Club stores are listed on the Steiff website.
WHAT'S THE SECRET?
Why has the teddy become the No. 1 felt toy animal? I sent an email to the Steiff company and learnt that up to 75% of the production were teddy bears. I´m not a psychologist , I can only try to offer an explanation, maybe you can find it convincing. Furry animals as a whole appeal to us, we want to touch and stroke them, who has ever felt the urge to do this with, say, an alligator or a snake? Bear cubs look cute to us (so much so that once a little boy climbed over the railing in a zoo in order to stroke some, Mother Bear didn't like that at all and hit him with a paw, the claws tore off the boy´s arm).
I think the humanoid features of a teddy are responsible for the permanent appeal, a bear has a face (vaguely) resembling the human one, can move arms and legs in the way human beings can, walk upright (if you help it a bit); it is like friend, a mute one admittedly, but one that listens to whatever sorrows it is told.
And why are the Steiff teddies the No. 1 in the teddy bear world? It must be the fact that they´re of the best quality with much attention to details.
THE FESTIVAL
Between 24th and 26th June, 2005, the 9th Steiff Festival will be held in Giengen, it is also the 125th anniversary of the Margarete Steiff company. The highlight will be the opening of the museum ´The World of Steiff´, why not come and join in the fun? Btw, the teddy bears are cheaper in Germany, you pay 5 GBP less for the 30cm high one, for example. Is that a deal?
Advantages: Cute and Cuddly Disadvantages: Take up Space
...your abode there is a teddy bear.
So what makes us like and love Teddy Bears?
Where did they originate and how much do they cost and how did they get their name? These are some of the questions that I will try and answer and I will tell you about my collection of Teddy Bears from a 37 year old!
As early as 1830s The Bear became a favourite and so Goldilocks and the Three Bears was written. By the end of the 1800s a bear was shown in a catlogue ... ...bear that was named a Teddy Bear was sold in a Brooklyn shop in America.
So how did he became known as The Teddy Bear. Apparently Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt who was then the American President was out on a shoot and failed to make a killing. His mates found this quite amusing and stuffed a bear and stood it in front of him as a sitting target and nicknamed it Teddy Bear after him. Then within months the Steiff Teddy Bear was imported to America ...
BUBBLES171 20.02.2004
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Teddy Bears
Advantages: Can be a great source of comfort.... Disadvantages: Mohair teds can be very expensive
...with a whole range of teddy bears. I smirked a lot, thought bless her, well she is from Yorkshire, and continued to listen as she told me about the wonderful individual characters and personalities of each and every teddy featured in the magazine. 'I have to start collecting these bears,' she said, 'but they're very expensive!'
I thought back to my last trip out and remembered seeing a whole range of fluffy teds at my local Woolworth's store at ... ...and develop a love of teddy bears that I never knew existed in me. But Jo was right, each featured bear just oozed bundles of individuality and I was amazed at the artistry and love that had gone into making them. The attention to detail on some of these bears was just incredible, from the outfits they wore, to their individual faces. Some were clean shaven and very respectable looking bears of some distinction, other's looked like they'd just lost ...
Squiggles 16.07.2001 (23.10.2001)
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Teddy Bears
Advantages: It's Cuddly and Chocolate. Disadvantages: NONE its CHOCOLATE!!!
...DAH...
A chocolate scented teddy bear.... This gorgeous dark brown squidgy teddy is soft and cuddly. He is 24cm tall (around 9 1/2" )and smells of CHOCOLATE! Yes, I couldn't believe it either but he really smells absolutely scrumptious. He has a ribbon round his neck in brown chiffon, his paws and feet are dark brown felt and embroidered on his left foot is a steaming cup of hot chocolate (I just can't stop sniffing this bear!) He smells just like ... ...He has black button eyes held very firmly in place and his nose is the same colour as his fur, which is quite long, not shaven, like some teddies. It feels a bit like chenille. His ears are set to the side of his head, not right on top like some bears I have seen, and he feels not too soft but also not too firm. I can definitely feel some tiny beads inside along with some very soft material. I would like to point out that as I have been writing this ...
Mayclair 26.10.2005
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Teddy Bears
Advantages: Soft, cuddly, security for a child Disadvantages: May not be washable, some cheaper ones may have loose parts
I had several teddy bears as a child. My favourite (who went by the original name of 'Little Pink Teddy') was threadbare all over by the time I got married and finally tucked him away in a box out of my bed. I had several other teddies too, not so beloved, but still important to me over the years. So when I had children of my own, I naturally assumed they too would want teddy bears, and was delighted when my sister bought each of them, at birth, ... ...first son, I kept the teddy - and others that he'd been given - lined up at the end of his cot, assuming that he would want to cuddle them. But he didn't, at least not for quite a long time. At two he wanted Thomas the Tank Engine in bed with him, or (even worse) quantities of Duplo. And the teddies sat, forlornly, either tidily on his bed or scattered around the floor, depending on how efficient I'd been.
Then suddenly, when he was about three, ...
Kukana 13.10.2003
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Teddy Bears
Advantages: Cuddly, all shapes, sizes and prices. Disadvantages: A disadvantage to owning a teddy bear? Surely not!
...I have always loved teddy bears ever since I can remember. I have lots of bears that live with me, most of whom have a story to go with them so I’ll just take you through my ‘landmark’ bears! If I tell you about them all individually I’ll have to make this opinion into a book!
I was given a straw filled teddy, Edward, when I was one year old (yes, I’m THAT old!) and he still sits on the cupboard in my bedroom. I did have two of them at one time ... ...side where you could win teddy bears. I had a go and won a bear named Bruno. The lady running the stall asked me to walk around with Bruno in my arms just so that everyone could see that it was actually possible to win a bear from her stall. At lunchtime we went into the pub for our lunch and as I walked through the door the man behind the bar shouted ‘You can’t bring him in here! He’s too young!’ I looked around to see whom he was talking to – you ...
SusanLesley 16.07.2001 (21.10.2003)
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Teddy Bears
Similar reviews »
Reviews which might be of interest for "Teddy Bears"
Advantages: Cute and practical Disadvantages: Gets through quite a few batteries but I now use rechargable ones
alone. When it was time for us to reassure him everything was OK,we would wind-up his mobile and leave again, but the same would happen time and time again as soon as his mobile stopped playing.
Needless to say, we didn’t get much sleep that night!
The book with the sleep program advised that within a week the child should sleep through the night. He didn’t! We were getting very stressed ourselves what with the lack of sleep and seeing our son crying and upset.
I realised that if we could get something that would play for longer than his mobile we would be in with a chance of this working.
We went to Toys ‘R’ Us and found ‘Tomy’ as we now call it!
He is a teddybear that has blue and white pyjamas that are removable (for washing or for the child to dress and undress) he has a lovely face ...
As Christmas is fast approaching, I was wondering what to buy for my grandson who is 18 months old. I came across this lovely little laptop, which I have been playing with since purchasing it, as I have not wrapped it yet. I think its is very important to chose educational toys for toddlers of this age and that is what persuaded me to buy this. I have brought him another Vtech toy, which I will also be writing about shortly.
It is made by vetch, which seems to be very popular brand at the moment, it has a cute bear design top, and with a face of a teddy that is a very bright yellow. The teddy is smiling and the mouth is actually a mirror made of unbreakable glass. This laptop is suitable for toddlers from 12 months to 36 and has many functions. The voice is English and very clear to understand. and teaches very important words.
It ...
Advantages: Great quality and attention to detail usually only found in very expensive teddy bear brands Disadvantages: Not suitable for children under three, but really a bear for grown ups!
Diesel has got to be the most popular Charlie Bear right now and it's easy to see why. No one can resist his soft fur - it's white on the ends and brown at the base so when you stroke him you can see the different colours. He's got the look of a real grizzly bear, not-so-much a cartooney teddybear, and has really expressive eyes that seem to look right at you!
I don't think that Diesel is a bear for children - he's not suitable for under-threes and is a little too big for a child to hold comfortably.
Diesel is still my favourite Charlie Bear even though there are so many to choose from. They've all got their own personalities and are so nicely made, especially considering the price.
Everyone I have introduced Diesel to falls in love with him and I've given several Charlie Bears as presents, which are always popular! ...