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33 Important Facts About Teddy Bears You Probably Never Knew!

The cute and cuddly teddy bear is over a hundred years old. In fact, it predates even World War I and its origins date back to one of the greatest presidents of the United States. While, in its more than one hundred years of history, the humble little bear has conquered the world from Europe to America, Japan and vice versa. And even though our once simpler lives are now drowning in so much technology, the plain old teddy bear seems more popular than ever – just google it! Here are some more surprising facts about this childhood classic and a 20th century icon.

1. Bears first appeared on the literary scene in the fairy tale “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” written by Robert Southey in 1834.

2. The first teddy bear showed signs of appearing on the scene when Margarete Steiff registered patents for 23 of her soft toy designs, including a dancing bear and a bear trainer with a brown bear in 1899.

3. History is made: A Brooklyn merchant, Morris Michtom sells the world’s first ‘Teddy Bear’ from his shop in November 1902.

4. In March 1903, the Steiff Company in Germany shipped up to 3,000 teddy bears to the United States.

5. Bear toys were called ‘Bruins’ in those days. The first Bruins advertisement appeared in the American toy magazine Playthings in May 1906.

6. That same year, in November, the words “Teddy Bear” appeared for the first time in another advertisement in Playthings of the American manufacturer EJ Horsman.

7. “Teddy Bear” was one of the first picture books based on these popular stuffed animals, written by Alice Scott.

8. In 1907, music history was made when the American composer JK Bratton wrote the famous song The Teddy Bear’s Picnic. The song was originally called The Teddy Bear Two Step and the lyrics we know and love today weren’t added until 1932 by prolific British songwriter Jimmy Kennedy.

9. In 1908, the JK Farnell Company began manufacturing the first British soft toys. The firm was originally founded in London’s Notting Hill as a silk merchant and first produced tea cossies and pin cushions. But, his 1925 Alpha bear is believed to have been the inspiration for the creation of Winnie the Pooh.

10. In 1909, the first stuffed cartoon “Little Johnny and the Teddy Bears” appeared in the US.

11. In 1912, when the world received news of the sinking of the Titanic on its maiden voyage with astonished disbelief, the German soft toy company led by Steiff created a black bear to give as a mourning gift to all those who lost their loved ones. dear ones on the Titanic.

12. In 1919, the adorable teddy bear took off on his first non-stop transatlantic flight! Aviation pioneers Alcock and Brown brought stuffed pets with them on this record-breaking flight from St. John’s, Newfoundland to Clifden, Ireland in a modified World War I Vickers Vimy bomber.

13. The teddy bear entered thousands of British homes every morning when the first British cartoon plush character, Bobby Bear, was published in the Daily Herald in London.

14. The following year, in 1920, Rupert Bear’s first illustrated story, Little Lost Bear, written and illustrated by Mary Tourtel, appeared in the British newspaper The Daily Express.

15. In 1924, the giant of animated films Walt Disney produced the first color animated film with the theme of a teddy bear Alice and the three bears.

16. One of the most famous and beloved bears of all time, Winnie-the-Pooh made his appearance when the first edition of Winnie-the-Pooh AA Milne was published in 1926.

17. In 1944, even when wildfires raged in the United States, Smokey Bear was adopted as the mascot for the United States Wildfire Prevention Campaign.

18. Soot, the glove puppet and teddy bear wizard, made his British television debut in 1952. Sooty became very popular in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. So much so that Sooty is now the UK’s longest running children’s television show and turned 60 in 2008. Designed by Harry Corbett, the father handed the job of puppeteer over to his son Matthew in 1976. Matthew retired to late nineties with Soot’s popularity unabated. .

19. 1953 was the Golden Jubilee of Steiff’s first teddy bear. It was celebrated with a new style bear, ‘a comical young bear cub’ named Jackie Baby.

20. A common dilemma was resolved when Wendy Boston, a Welsh toy manufacturer, produced the first truly washable teddy bear in 1954.

In 1958, another immensely loved and popular bear, Paddington Bear, appeared on the scene for the first time. The first Paddington story, A Bear Called Paddington, by Michael Bond was published this year.

22. In a significant development, Walt Disney acquired the rights to Winnie-the-Pooh in 1959.

23. Colonel Bob Henderson launched The Teddy Bear Club in 1962.

24. The first animated film about Winnie-the-Pooh was produced by Walt Disney in 1975. It instantly became a classic.

25. In 1979, the Marquis of Bath organized the Great Teddy Bear Rally at Longleat.

26. Unlike your regular items, Christie’s London auction house held the first exclusive teddy bear auction in 1985.

27. In 1988, Gyles and Michele Brandreth established the Teddy Bear Museum in William Shakespeare’s hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon.

28. The following year, in 1989, the first British Teddy Bear Festival was held in London.

29. That same year, in 1989, Happy Anniversary, a 1926 vintage mohair Steiff bear, was sold at auction in London for a whopping £ 55,000 to American Paul Volpp as a 42nd wedding anniversary gift to his wife, Rosemary. .

30. In 1990, Steiff moved to the UK with the first Steiff UK Limited Edition soft toys.

31. The teddy bear had crossed continents and had won the affection of all. 1994 saw Teddy Girl, a 1904 cinnamon Steiff bear formerly in the possession of Colonel Bob Henderson, being sold at auction in London for a staggering £ 110,000 to Yoshihiro Sekiguchi. Sekiguchi went on to establish the Teddy Bear Museum in Izu, Japan.

32. In 1996, Yoshihiro Sekiguchi of the Izu Teddy Bear Museum bought Teddy Edward, the world’s most traveled bear, at auction for … £ 34,500.

33. Did you think there were only medium-sized teddy bears? Well, Guinness (8.5mm tall), made by Lynn Lumb of Halifax, England, entered the sacred portals of the Guinness Book of World Records as the smallest teddy bear in the world.

I never thought the humble little bear had such a long history, huh?

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