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Richard Steiff (7 February 1877 – 30 March 1939) was a German designer, known for creating one of the first
teddy bear A teddy bear, or simply a teddy, is a stuffed toy in the form of a bear. The teddy bear was named by Morris Michtom after the 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt; it was developed apparently simultaneously in the first deca ...
s. In 1897, he joined Steiff, a stuffed toy company founded in his hometown Giengen by his aunt Margarete Steiff, and became integral to its growth as a global toy company.


Early life

Steiff was born in Giengen,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
. While attending the School of Arts and Crafts ('' Kunstgewerbeschule'') in
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
, he would regularly visit the nearby zoo and spend much of his time drawing the bears of an enclosure. He served in the
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during
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. He married Elsa Emma, née Dehlinger and had a daughter, Marianne Steiff.


Career with Steiff

Steiff began working in his aunt
Margarete Margarete is a German feminine given name. It is derived from Ancient Greek ''margarites'' (μαργαρίτης), meaning "the pearl". Via the Latin ''margarita'', it arrived in the German sprachraum. Related names in English include Daisy, ...
's toymaking enterprise in 1897. Steiff's sketches of the bears at the local zoo were incorporated into the
prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototype ...
of the toy bear he created in 1902 and codenamed ''Steiff Bär 55 PB'' (where 55 = the bear's height in centimeters; P = ''Plüsch'', plush; and B = ''beweglich'', moveable limbs), or more commonly known as the "55 PB". The 55 PB is regarded as one of the world's first teddy bears ever created. Stuffed bears similar to the one they created acquired the appellation " teddy" from a famous cartoon depicting Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt and a cub in ''
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'' in 1902. Steiff also designed other animals for the company. At the Leipzig Toy Fair in 1903, after initial difficulties attracting buyers, the 55 PB's fortunes were saved when an American buyer snapped up the entire lot of 100 available teddy bears and ordered another 3,000 just before the exhibition finished. To date there is not a single example that has survived. At the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904, the Steiffs sold 12,000 bears and received the Gold Medal, which was the highest honor at the event. By 1907, Steiff was making 974,000 bears. He became the largest stockholder of the company following the death of his aunt in 1909. Vintage Steiff bears can now be quite valuable.


Roloplan and other innovations

Steiff also attained several technological milestones. He developed the Roloplan, a type of
kite A kite is a tethered heavier than air flight, heavier-than-air craft with wing surfaces that react against the air to create Lift (force), lift and Drag (physics), drag forces. A kite consists of wings, tethers and anchors. Kites often have ...
that could take aerial photographs of the Steiff
factory A factory, manufacturing plant or production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. Th ...
and its surroundings in Giengen. The
Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the leadership of Kingdom o ...
made use of the Roloplan for aerial
reconnaissance In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...
, photography, and meteorology. In 1903, Steiff planned and erected in Giengen a factory building of
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and
steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...
called the ''Jungfrauenaquarium'' (''Virgins' Aquarium'') that allowed the workers inside to enjoy ample natural light, a first for its time. He equipped the building with a ramp so that his aunt could reach the upper levels of the factory in her
wheelchair A wheelchair is a mobilized form of chair using two or more wheels, a footrest, and an armrest usually cushioned. It is used when walking is difficult or impossible to do due to illnesses, injury, disabilities, or age-related health conditio ...
.


Later in life

In 1923, Richard boarded the '' SS President Arthur'' bound for New York City, and arrived on March 20, 1923. He signed a Declaration of Intention to become a
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citizen. Steiff settled in
Jackson, Michigan Jackson is a city in Jackson County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The population was 31,309 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located along Interstate 94 in Michigan, Interstate 94 and U.S. Route 127 in Michigan, U.S ...
, where he lived with his wife and daughter. Steiff died in 1939 of a heart attack at the age of 62 in Jackson, where he spent the last 16 years of his life.


See also

* Stuffed toy *
Morris Michtom Morris Michtom (September 12, 1869 – July 21, 1938) was a Russian-born businessman and inventor who, with his wife Rose, also a Russian Jewish immigrant who lived in Brooklyn, founded the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company. Michtom came up with ...


References


Additional resources

*Pfeiffer, Günther. ''125 Jahre Steiff Firmengeschichte - Die Margarethe Steiff GmbH''. Königswinter: Heel Verlag GmbH, 2005. .


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Steiff, Richard 1877 births 1939 deaths 20th-century German inventors Toy inventors Businesspeople from Baden-Württemberg People from Heidenheim (district) German emigrants to the United States