The Teddy Bear as most people know took its name in 1902 from Theodore ‘Teddy’ Roosevelt, US President. Originally a childs toy the Teddy Bear was invented in Germany. A stuffed toy bear was included in the toy catalogue of German toy manufacturer Gebruder Sussenguth in 1894. Three years later in 1897 arguably the most famous bear makers Steiff, included a roly-poly bear in their catalogue and in 1899 Steiff registered 23 patents for toys included 2 for bears.
Then as mentioned above the Teddy Bear became famous following a bear hunt on 14th November 1902. Seeing a wounded young bear Roosevelt ordered the mercy killing of the animal rather than shoot it himself and was caricatured in the Washington Post sitting with a stylised bear cub. Morris Michtom, owner of a Brooklyn novelty store, wrote to the President asking permission to associate the name “Teddy” with his toy bear. Roosevelt replied “I don’t think my name is likely to be worth much in the toy bear business, but you are welcome to use it.” and could not have been further off the mark!
Since then bears have not only been a staple child’s toy but has also become a collector’s item. The value of rare bears can reach unbelievable heights with one Steiff bear selling in a London auction in 1994 for £110,000 (around $174,000).
The association of bears as cuddly animals pre-dates the early German Teddy Bear manufacturers as the 1834 publication of Robert Southey’s Goldilocks and the Three Bears shows. Since then the affable bear has been seen in various guises such as Yogi Bear, Winnie the Pooh and Rupert Bear. Even music has been touched by our love affaire with the bear as Elvis Presley demonstrated in 1957 with the song Teddy Bear.
So it is unsurprising that miniature bears are often found as replacements for figures in our dolls houses. A whole genre of collectors of miniature bears exists and we have not overlooked your requirements having designed several knitting patterns exclusively for miniature teddy bears.
