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Documentation:
Steiff is the brand name of Margarete Steiff GmbH in Giengen an der Brenz, a manufacturer of toys sold worldwide, especially teddy bears and stuffed animals ("Steiff animal"). In 1877, Margarete Steiff opened a felt ready-to-wear shop in her hometown, where she sold self-sewn clothing and household items. Over the years, this developed into a small company with several permanent seamstresses. Shortly afterwards (1880) Margarete Steiff GmbH was officially founded, in which the first softly stuffed toy animal was developed: Margarete Steiff made a small elephant out of felt using a pattern from a fashion magazine. Originally intended as a pincushion, this "elephant" quickly became very popular as a children's toy. While her brother Fritz sold 18 of these elephants at the Heidenheim Christmas market in 1881, 5066 elephants were already sold in 1886. By 1890 the range had been expanded to seven animals. The first factory building was built in Mühlstrasse in 1890, which also housed a handicapped-friendly apartment for Margarete. The illustrated Steiff catalog was published shortly thereafter in 1892 to give customers an overview of the range that had been created in the meantime. 22 of the 32 pages in this catalog were already dedicated to toys and showed a total of 256 stuffed animals. A year later, the company presented itself at a trade fair in Leipzig for the first time. The company was entered in the commercial register as a toy factory. In 1895 foreign business relations were established with Harrods in London. Richard Steiff, Margarete's nephew, joined the company in 1897. In 1902 he developed a toy bear made of shaggy mohair named Bär 55PB (55 cm standing, P = plush, B = movable). In March of the following year, this bear was presented for the first time at the Leipzig Spring Fair. At the beginning, the interest of the visitors was limited. Towards the end of the mass, however, Hermann Berg, a brother of the composer Alban Berg, was found. As chief buyer of Geo. Borgfeldt & Co. he ordered 3000 bears from Steiff. Just one year later, Steiff was already selling 12,000 of them. Thanks to the American President Theodore Roosevelt, the initially nameless bear was given the name Teddy, which is still known today. He refused one hunting trip to shoot a tethered bear and was always portrayed with a bear as a result of this incident by cartoonist Clifford K. Berryman in The Washington Post. This was the best advertisement for the teddy bear - the teddy boom began and the Steiff brand achieved worldwide recognition. In the same year, the east building, popularly known as the "virgin aquarium", was built in a double-glass steel construction. Other buildings of this type followed later, all of which are now listed buildings. In 1904, Franz Steiff developed the trademark, the famous "Button in Ear", which was protected until the beginning of 2014, to protect Steiff animals from imitation. This button initially featured an elephant, but over the years has been replaced by the words "Steiff". During this time, Richard Steiff fundamentally revised the design. The result was the basic design that is still valid today. Margarete Steiff GmbH was founded in 1906 and a year later placed under the management of Margarete's five nephews. In that year, the 400 employees and 1,800 home workers produced 1,700,000 toy items and 973,999 teddy bears. Margarete Steiff died on April 9. May 1909 at the age of 61 with her family from the effects of pneumonia. The company was continued in their spirit and the range of toys and stuffed animals was further expanded. Well-known examples from the historical Steiff range: Roloplan flying kite (1909) Teddy Clown (1926) Comic figure Mecki and Teddy bear Zotty (1951) Teddy bear Jackie for his 50th birthday. Teddy Bear Birthday (1953) Cuddly Teddy Petsy (1984) After the end of the Second World War, the company dared to start over. In 1948 it employed almost 1,000 people, five years later twice as many. The design of the teddy bears was also changed and developed into a funny bear child. In 1980, Steiff began making limited-edition replicas for Steiff enthusiasts. The Steiff Museum in Giengen was opened to mark the company's 100th anniversary. The company founded the Steiff Club for enthusiasts and collectors in 1992. For the 150th The first Steiff Festival for enthusiasts and collectors was held on the birthday of company founder Margarete Steiff in 1997. The first Steiff gallery opened in Hamburg in February 1999 as part of the Steiff franchise concept. The 100th The teddy bear's birthday in 2002 marked the world premiere of the Musical "Teddy - a musical dream" by Uli Brée celebrated in Giengen. The birthplace of company founder Margarete Steiff has been open to the public since 2003. On the occasion of the company's 125th anniversary, "The World of Steiff" opened in 2005, a museum with an interactive character and display production. A year later, the Steiff Summer for employees and friends of Margarete Steiff GmbH took place for the first time. As part of the fourth Steiff Summer, the teddy bear clinic and spa was opened in 2009, where Steiff animals are repaired. In 2018, Peter Hotz, a great-great-grandnephew of Margarete Steiff, became Managing Director of the Steiff investment company. In order to also sell furniture with the Steiff logo, Hotz concluded a license partnership with the furniture manufacturer Wellemöbel. The company's main products are plush toys. Wooden toys were also made until the late 1970s, as well as other items such as carts and kites. The most famous was a single-line kite specially developed by Steiff, the Roloplan. In recent years, children's clothing has also been increasingly produced. Special manufacturing features are the different colored flags and different buttons in the ears of the stuffed animals. Older Steiff toys have become coveted collector's items and sometimes fetch high prices. The trademark of the Steiff animals is the mostly metal button in the ear, invented by Franz Steiff in 1904, and the associated flag, as well as a shield usually located on the chest. Over time, the button changed (introduced on 01.01. November 1904) strong in shape and size. Flag and shield (probably from 1897) also changed. Those in the know can often use these characteristics to determine the exact time at which an animal was created. After a CJEU judgment (court of the European Union, Luxembourg) on ​​16. As of January 1, 2014, the manufacturer Steiff can no longer claim Europe-wide protection for the "Button in Ear" trademark (Az. T-433/12 and T-434/12).[7] It is now also possible for other producers to use this designation. The court justified its decision with the fact that this trademark lacks distinctiveness, since buttons and small signs are "usual design elements" for stuffed animals. If there is only a button in the ear with a flag hanging from a stuffed animal, the consumer cannot tell that it is a special product from Steiff and not from another manufacturer.
Source: Wikipedia