1834 Robert Southey writes Goldilocks and the Three Bears 1894 German toy company Gebrüder Sussenguth show a stuffed bear toy in their catalogue. 1897 Bear skittles and ‘roly-poly’ toy bears feature in the Steiff catalogue and the Steiff company takes its own stand at the Leipzig toy fair. 1899 Margarete Steiff registers patents for 23 of her soft toy designs, including a dancing bear and a bear handler with a brown bear. 1902 November. Morris Michtom sells the first ‘Teddy’s Bear’ in his Brooklyn shop. 1903 March. Steiff Company sells 3000 of its 55PB bear to America. 1906 May. First advertisement for plush bear toys, still called Bruins, in the American toy trade magazine Playthings. 1906 November. First advertisement using the words Teddy Bear, by American manufacturer E.J. Horsman, in the American toy trade magazine Playthings. 1907 Dean’s Rag Book Company publishes Teddy Bear, by Alice Scott, illustrated by Sybil Scott Paley. 1907 Seymour Eaton publishes The Roosevelt Bears newspaper strip in book form (USA) 1907 Music of the famous song, The Teddy Bear’s Picnic, written by American composer J.K. Bratton. Originally called The Teddy Bear Two Step. 1908 Dean’s Rag Book Company advertises cut out and sew teddy bears in Home Chat magazine. 1908 Large plush bear, unidentified, appears in a Dean’s advertisement. 1908 J.K. Farnell company makes the first British teddy bears. 1909 First cartoon animated teddy-bear cartoon, Little Johnny and the Teddy Bears, made in the USA. 1911 The Bruin Boys first appearance in Arthur Mee’s Children’s Encyclopaedia. 1912 Steiff create black teddy bears to give as mourning gifts after the sinking of the Titanic. 1915 Dean’s advertise plush teddy bears, made in their new workshop, in their Kuddlemee toys catalogue. 1919 First non-stop Atlantic flight by teddy bears when aviation pioneers Alcock and Brown take teddy bear mascots with them on record breaking flight. 1919 First British comic-strip teddy bear character, Bobby Bear, published in the Daily Herald 1920 First Rupert Bear picture story, Little Lost Bear, written and illustrated by Mary Tourtel, appears in the UK newspaper, The Daily Express. 1921 German company Schuco patent the Yes/No bear 1921 J.K. Farnell set up the Alpha works, making bears designed by Cybil Kent. 1924 First colour animation film with a teddy bear theme when Walt Disney produces Alice and the Three Bears 1926 First Edition of Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne, published. 1930 First teddy bears made by UK firm Merrythought with designs by Florence Atwood 1930 Lyrics of The Teddy Bear’s Picnic written by Jimmy Kennedy and set to the original music written in 1907. 1938 H.M. Queen Elizabeth (now The Queen Mother) grants a Royal Warrant to 1939 British teddy bear makers Chad Valley. 1944 Smokey Bear adopted as the mascot of the United States Forest Fire Prevention Campaign. 1948 'Biffo' The Bear appears for the first time in The Beano 1952 First appearance of Sooty, the teddy bear glove puppet and magician, on British television. 1953 Steiff celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Steiff bears with a new style bear, ‘a comical young bear cub’, called Jackie Baby. 1954 Wendy Boston, Welsh toy maker, produces the first truly washable teddy bear. 1958 Publication of the first Paddington story, A Bear Called Paddington, by Michael Bond. 1959 Walt Disney acquire the rights to Winnie-the-Pooh. 1962 Colonel Bob Henderson launches The Teddy Bear Club 1962 Margaret Baker publishes The Shoe Shop Bears 1969 Peter Bull publishes Bear With Me (USA The Teddy Bear Book) 1969 Jim Ownby launches the charity Good Bears of the World. 1975 Walt Disney’s first animated film of Winnie-the-Pooh appears. 1979 Peter Bull designs his traditionally styled Bully Bears for House of Nisbet. 1979 Marquis of Bath organises the Great Teddy Bear Rally at Longleat. 1981 Peter Bull’s 1907 American bear, Delicatessen, stars in the television adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s novel Brideshead Revisited. 1985 Christie’s of London hold the first ever teddy bear only auction. 1988 Gyles and Michele Brandreth found The Teddy Bear Museum in William Shakespeare’s home town of Stratford upon Avon 1989 First British Teddy Bear Festival held in London. 1989 Happy Anniversary, a 1926 tipped mohair Steiff bear, is sold at auction in London for £55,000 to American Paul Volpp as a 42nd wedding anniversary gift for his wife, Rosemary. 1990 First Steiff UK Limited Edition. 1990 Hermann Teddy Original 75th Anniversary Limited Edition 1990 Merrythought Diamond Jubilee Limited Edition. 1994 Teddy Girl, a 1904 cinnamon Steiff bear formerly owned by Colonel Bob Henderson, is sold at auction in London for £110,000 to Yoshihiro Sekiguchi, founder of the Teddy Bear Museum in Izu, Japan. 1996 Teddy Edward, the world’s most travelled bear, is bought at auction by Yoshihiro Sekiguchi of the Izu Teddy Bear Museum for £34,500 1998 Guinness (8.5 mm tall), made by Lynn Lumb of Halifax, England, enters The Guinness Book of Records as the world’s smallest teddy bear.
Winnie the Pooh
First published on October 14th 1926 Winnie the Pooh is arguably the best known bear in the world. Winnie the Pooh started life as a real teddy bear, bought at the famous London store Harrods in 1921 by Dorothy Milne for her son Christopher Robin�s first birthday. The bear was almost certainly made by the manufacturers J.K. Farnell who were making bears exclusively for Harrods at the time. Pooh�s original name was Edward Bear. He first appeared in an anthology of poetry written for children, When We Were Very Young; by Christopher Robins father A.A. Milne. Edward Bears name was later changed to Winnie the Pooh. The name Winnie came from an American black bear in London Zoo, the mascot of a Canadian regiment from Winnipeg; Pooh was the name of Christopher Robin�s favorite swan. In 1925 the Milne�s moved from their London home to Cotchford Farm in Sussex, close to Ashdown Forest. The area became the setting for the now famous stories and is still visited today by thousands of Pooh fans every year.
Paddington
Created by Michael Bond, Paddington Bear was based on a teddy bear Bond purchased for his wife from the London department store Selfidges in 1956. Paddington Bear, from Darkest Peru had a penchant for marmalade, wore a duffle coat and carried a suitcase. He made millions laugh with his attempts as an accident-prone foreigner trying to understand the British way of life when introduced in Bonds first book called A Bear Called Paddington in 1958. The stories were so popular that a new book was published yearly until 1966, and then six new collections of Paddington stories followed between 1968 and 1981. Peggy Fortnum�s illustrations added to the early popularity of Paddington although many other artists including Fred Banberry, David McKee and Ivor Woods have also portrayed the bear. Barry Macey illustrated the special 25th anniversary edition written exclusively for Selfridges in 1983.
Rupert Bear
Rupert Bear was the creation of Mary Tourtel, a children�s book illustrator. Mary�s husband was an editor on the Daily Express newspaper and had been looking for a comic strip to rival those of other national newspapers. So it was that in November 1920 Rupert bear was introduced and by the time the Rupert League was formed in 1932 he had already become a national institution. Mary Tourtel set her stories in the idyllic, timeless town called Nutwood, where Rupert and his chums called Bill badger, Algy Pug, Edward trunk and the Wise Old Goat had their many adventures featuring witches, ogres and dragons. In 1935 Mary Tourtel retired due to failing sight. The magazine and book illustrator Alfred Bestall continued the tradition for the next 30 years. From 1965 to 1978 the cartoon animator Alex Cubie illustrated the adventures and Freddie Chaplain wrote the stories. Today Rupert is illustrated by John Harold and written by Ian Robinson.
Every year the Daily Express publishes the Rupert Annual, which is avidly collected by both arctophiles and book collectors alike. One interesting fact about these annuals is that the cover depicts Rupert, as a brown bear but all the illustrations inside show his head as white just as he appears everyday in the newspaper.
Smokey Bear
Smokey the bear is the mascot of the U.S. Forest Fire Prevention Campaign. He made his first appearance in 1944 on a poster with the slogan �Smokey says: Care will prevent nine out of ten fires.� His popularity was boosted in 1950 with the arrival at the national Zoo in Washington D.C. of a bear cub that had been rescued from a forest fire in New Mexico�s Lincoln National Forest. The cub was named Smokey and was visited by thousands of children for the rest of his life. The name Smokey was borrowed from Smokey Joe martin, whom worked for the New York City Fire department during the 1920�s. Albert Staehle of the Saturday Evening Post was the original illustrator. The early illustrations of Smokey the bear show him undressed but it was not long before he was given his now familiar uniform with famous ranger hat.
Smokey the bear was so popular that in may 1952 the �Smokey Bear Act� was passed by Congress to protect the exploitation of the character. Now only the United States Department of State Foresters and the Advertising Council could authorize the manufacture of Smokey products, with fees going towards the prevention of forest fires.
Alfonzo Bear
1908 Red mohair Steiff
13 inches/33 cm
Embossed button in ear.
Alfonzo was commissioned by George Mikhailovich the Grande Duke of Russia for his daughter Princess Xenia Georgivna and accompanied her on her visit to London, England in 1914. The outbreak of World War I and the Russian revolution meant that neither the princes or the bear ever returned to Russia. In May 1989 Alfonzo was sold at Christie's London auction house for $19,800 which was then a world record price for a teddy bear. The successful bidder was Ian Pout who bought Alfonzo for his shop Teddy Bears of Witney in Oxfordshire England where is he now on permanent display.
Happy Bear
24 inches/60cm
Embossed button in ear.
In 1989 this bear was sold at Sotheby's Auction house London England for $86,000.00 which was then sited in the Guinness Book of Records as a world record price for a teddy bear. The bear was bought by Paul Volpp as a wedding anniversary present for his wife Rosemary. Paul named the bear "Happy Anniversary" but it is now known world wide as Happy. Now residing in California with his new family the Volpp's, Happy helps to raise much needed funds for charity.
Teddy Girl
1904 Steiff Centre seam 18 inches 46cm
Once belonged to the late Colonel Bob Henderson founder of the Teddy bear Club and later the British chapter of Good Bears of the World. In 1994 after his death Teddy Girl was sold at Christie's auction house London England $120,000.00 a new world record price! The new owner of Teddy Girl is Japanese toy factory owner Yoshihiro Sekiguchi. Teddy Girl now takes pride of place in Mr. Sekiguchi's Teddy Bear Museum in Japan.
Monaco Bear
Louis Vuitton
2000 Steiff
13 inches/34cm
White tag & button
This contemporary teddy bear was created by the Steiff company of Germany for a charity auction to raise funds for Monaco Aide et Presence who's honoree chairman is S.A.S Le Prince Hereditaire Albert of Monaco. Monaco Aide et Presence aids the relief of poverty and improving the life of children around the world regardless of race or religion. Forty one of the worlds most famous brand labels including Hermes, Escada, Dunhill, Christian Dior, Cartier, Bentley and Louis Vuitton Bear were given the identical basic Steiff bear and invited to dress or decorate the bear which would then be auctioned to raise funds for the charity. On October 14th 2000 in Monaco the Louis Vuitton Bear wearing the famous monogrammed print raincoat and hat together with matching luggage fetched a world record price of over $190,000.00.
Rupert Bear was the creation of Mary Tourtel, a children�s book illustrator. Mary�s husband was an editor on the Daily Express newspaper and had been looking for a comic strip to rival those of other national newspapers. So it was that in November 1920 Rupert bear was introduced and by the time the Rupert League was formed in 1932 he had already become a national institution. Mary Tourtel set her stories in the idyllic, timeless town called Nutwood, where Rupert and his chums called Bill badger, Algy Pug, Edward trunk and the Wise Old Goat had their many adventures featuring witches, ogres and dragons. In 1935 Mary Tourtel retired due to failing sight. The magazine and book illustrator Alfred Bestall continued the tradition for the next 30 years. From 1965 to 1978 the cartoon animator Alex Cubie illustrated the adventures and Freddie Chaplain wrote the stories. Today Rupert is illustrated by John Harold and written by Ian Robinson.
Smokey the bear is the mascot of the U.S. Forest Fire Prevention Campaign. He made his first appearance in 1944 on a poster with the slogan �Smokey says: Care will prevent nine out of ten fires.� His popularity was boosted in 1950 with the arrival at the national Zoo in Washington D.C. of a bear cub that had been rescued from a forest fire in New Mexico�s Lincoln National Forest. The cub was named Smokey and was visited by thousands of children for the rest of his life. The name Smokey was borrowed from Smokey Joe martin, whom worked for the New York City Fire department during the 1920�s. Albert Staehle of the Saturday Evening Post was the original illustrator. The early illustrations of Smokey the bear show him undressed but it was not long before he was given his now familiar uniform with famous ranger hat.
