Teddy bear, translated from Chinese into teddy bear, should be called Roosevelt bear according to local American parlance.
Strictly speaking, our common stuffed bear toys are not real teddy bears. Just as cars have different shapes, specifications and brands, plush bears also have different brands, styles, appearances and even designers. It is impossible to represent all bears with teddy bears. However, because teddy bears are so widely used, people usually refer to all plush teddy bears as teddy bears.
In fact, plush teddy bears existed long before teddy bears appeared. Although there is no direct evidence to prove the origin and provenance of the earliest invention of teddy bears, there are traces of teddy bears as early as the end of19th century. 1880, the most popular toy in Berlin was a wooden bear standing on four wheels (a toy car that could be pulled around on all fours). At the same time, a drinking bear made of automatic clockwork is also popular in local bars in Moscow (a clockwork bear toy, which can not only drink wine from a glass with a bottle, but also smoke and dance). At present, Steiff, the most famous teddy bear manufacturing company, has also made some vertical non-puppet bear toys with chains embedded in their noses at 1893. These teddy bears, which have not been baptized for more than 0/00 years, appear as realistic images, which are not only visually realistic, but also very heavy and hard to touch. Into what we now know as a plush bear with rotatable limbs,
In fact, teddy bear is an independent proper noun. The most correct statement is that only bears made between 1903 and 19 12 before World War I, that is, during President Roosevelt's term of office, can be called teddy bears.
Teddy bear, born in 1903, originated from President Roosevelt's love for bears and its popularity at that time. It can be said that it is the ancestor of the plush bear now. It has a plump figure and limbs, fluffy and warm Angora wool, simple materials and embroidery thread, simple and honest expression, and 100% hand sewing and filling work. Whether from the United States or Europe, the spirit left over from ancient times still exists today.
However, this kind of real teddy bear, even the so-called antique bear, is rare now. Only in books, museums or collectors' homes can we get a glimpse of its true face. But these teddy bears, which are gone forever, are revived under the current retro trend and historical nostalgia, as well as the concept of auction and collector preservation. Manufacturers have been re-opening the mold to imitate the replica bear at that time, or deliberately imitating the retro bear toys of the old days.
Introduction of Steve Teddy Bear
Margaret, Ms. Steve was born in 1847 in Gengen, a small town in southern Germany, and unfortunately suffered from polio when she was one and a half years old. From then on, she was destined to spend her life in a wheelchair, but she didn't beat this lively and optimistic little girl. She founded her own flannel clothing store at the age of 1879.
From 1879 to 65438+February, in a magazine called Modewelt, Ms. Margaret found a version of a toy elephant, and she tried to make some for her friends. Because of the rave reviews, she gradually developed a small series of plush animals in 1883 and added it to the original catalogue of clothing exhibits. Steiff was officially registered on March 3rd, 1893. At that time, its turnover was 40,000 yuan, and its working partner had four employees. 1897, with the help of her brother (Fritz), the number of employees increased to 10, and the annual turnover increased to 90,000 yuan.
1894, Steve officially entered the exhibition, and the addition of Rikhard, the son of Fritz, turned a new page for Steve. According to his sketches in Stuttgart Zoo, he designed bears and monkeys with moving hands and feet. With these new products, he attended the Lipzke exhibition in America. At first, almost no one was interested. At the end of the exhibition, Herman Berg, a buyer from America, represented Geoborgfledt &; Ltd was interested in this innovative product and ordered 3000 teddy bears on the spot. Unfortunately, these historical landmarks have been lost.
1902, because of an anecdote of President Roosevelt, the fluffy teddy bear was given a real name "Teddy Bear", which made the Steve bear craze spread all over the United States and the world. The annual output is nearly 1 10,000 Steve teddy bears, which are sold all over the world!
Product differentiation
Steiff's registered trademark is a button on the left ear. Steiff's earliest Logo was an S that was "deformed" by the trunk. Later, due to the imitation of competitors, Margaret had a whim to use a button as a Logo, which was originally just a blank button. 1904, exquisite design, this button also symbolizes that the bear passed the quality control, which is interesting. When Steiff applied for a patent in Germany, he did not apply directly with this button, but registered with the words "button in the ear". Look carefully at the side label of the ear buckle, which also has this line on it. On the other hand, it is also a golden ear buckle, but it can also be divided into three types according to the label:
Red letters, black characters and yellow labels on a white background mean different things.
Yellow label:-Unlimited production: the serial number of the product is indicated on the front, and the ingredients of the production materials are indicated on the back.
Red label on white background:-Limited production (limited products to commemorate bears for a certain purpose, theme, festival, country, story and enterprise), with product number on the front and limited production year, limited quantity and bear name on the back.
General attributes can be divided into two types:
One is to design and manufacture in cooperation with well-known enterprises. For example, 1999, Golden Ear Buckle cooperated with Swiss Triangle Chocolate to design a teddy bear. The teddy bear in his hand is Swiss Triangle Chocolate, a commemorative bear jointly launched with Coca-Cola, the latest teddy bear racing group jointly launched with Mercedes-Benz in 2000, Disney cartoon characters and other internationally renowned brands.
The other is the agents in various regions of the Golden Ear Barrel. Every year, according to the country or region where they are located, they have special themes such as: 1997 Harmony Bear and Romantic Bear in Hongkong, 1999 Vienna Boys' Choir 500th Anniversary Bear, British National Memorial Bear in 2000, Audrey Hepburn Memorial Bear, Dutch Memorial Bear and so on. Although commemorative bears are produced in limited quantities, it doesn't mean that each bear will increase in value or be worth collecting, because some of them are too commercial, and unless you have a special preference for brands, there is no need to blindly collect every commemorative bear.
Black label on white background:-antique replica bear, limited production, product serial number on the front, limited production year, limited production and replica bear name on the back.
The replica bear is a kind of teddy bear with a classic style of gold ear buckle, or it is expensive in the auction market. Reproduced in the size of 1: 1, with the same workmanship and materials. The purpose of making replica bears is to satisfy bear fans who miss bears that have soared to sky-high prices or are already very old. So for Europeans and Americans, it may be that kind of historical emotion. They have a soft spot for copying bears. Although their appearance is not fancy, nor is it fancy as a memorial to a bear, this is the original spirit of the golden ear buckle.
Member-only commemorative bear:-Only members who join Steiff Club every year can buy it.
Steiff Club was founded in Germany on 1992, and launched the first member commemorative bear, but it was only launched in Europe at this time. 1993 expanded globally and began to recruit members to buy this year's exclusive commemorative bear. The number of member bears is determined according to the number of bears ordered by members before the afternoon of March 3 1 Sunday 12 every year. As long as you have the subscription of Steve's member commemorative bear (club coupon), Steve is obliged to help you make a teddy bear belonging to the member. With this subscription, you can buy it from any agent in the world regardless of geographical boundaries. P.S. must have a STEIFF club magnetic card on his chest.