Teddy Bear 101
Teddy Bear is the most popular type of plush toys, you can see teddy bears all around your life. Teddy Bears🧸 are not just for kids, adults benefit from them too. During the day, they are good buddies, you can laugh or share your little secret with them, and at night, they provide warm hug to you and help you sleep soundly😴.
In this article, you will find the answer of anything you want to know about teddy bear.
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The Origin Of The Teddy Bear ❤️
In 1902, then-President Roosevelt, whose nickname is Teddy, took part in a hunt with no gain, so his fellows captured a bear🐻 and asked him to shoot it, but Roosevelt not only categorically refused to shoot the bound bear, but also called it "unsportsmanlike" 🙅♂️ . Later, a political cartoon post in the Washington Post describe the event.
American vendor Morris Michtom was inspired by the cartoon and sewed🧵 a bear-shaped toy. He named the toy Teddy’s bear and put it on the shop window to attract customers. Soon such little bear toys became popular in the United States and gradually became known as teddy bears.
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What Teddy Bears Symbolize 🧡
Early teddy bears looked like real bears, they had sharp eyes and bulky limbs, shows strength and courage. As teddy bears be used as toys for children rapidly, teddy bears are designed to be cute and friendly, they are tend to have larger eyes and smaller nose. Now, teddy bears usually symbolize innocence because they usually remind people of their innocent childhood👶. Teddy bear means safe and being loved, NAPLC distributes teddy bears to police, fire, and medical responders throughout the US so that they can calm children with it under emergency, this program is called Teddy Bear Cops👮.
Teddy bears' meaning also varies from different occasions. A teddy bear means congratulations in the graduation ceremony, means sympathy and courage when you are going through a hard time, and also means the favor of someone who has affection for you. 🥰 Besides, Teddy Bear may mean nothing but a cute and cuddly plush toy.
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How Teddy Bear Is Made 💛
Teddy Bears were made with mohair fabric, which is considered a luxury fiber, in the beginning, and nowadays, teddy bears are usually made with commercially available fabrics such as velour, canvas, cotton, and satin✔️. However, Merrythought, a traditional teddy bear manufacture in UK, still use this traditional material to appeal the high end of the market💃🏻.
Early teddy bears use glass eyes or button eyes, which can be chewed or picked off easily from children👶, to ensure the safety and durability, the eyes being improve in 1948 by Wendy Boston, it’s made of molded nylon and can screw🔩 in the teddy bears. In 1950s, plastic eyes mounted on stems and fastened securely to the inside of the fabric with grommets or washers substitute these eyes, and became standard by the 1960s.
Typically, the production of a teddy bear includes these four parts:
① Cutting. ✂️Cut the fabric in the shape of the design with a cutter.
② Sewing and turning. Firstly, assemble the small pieces🧵, then add the eyes and grommet attachments to the face, stitch the parts together at last.
③ Filling. Fill the teddy bear with enough stuffing. It’s not easy because the nose and limbs of a teddy bear needs to be firm while the body is required to be soft. "Hug test" are implemented to control teddy bears’quality🙌.
④ Assembling. “Bear surgeon”is responsible for sewing up the teddy bear, then after combing and adding some extra details, such as accessories and clothing👕, a teddy bear is ready to be packaged and sold.
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Famous Teddy Bear Manufactures 💚
There are many teddy bear manufactures, I’d like to introduce some of the famous teddy bear manufactures to you.
1.Steiff
Regarded as the Granddaddy of the teddy bear, Steiff was founded by a seamstress Margarete Steiff and her nephew Richard Stieff in Germany👩👦. They created the famous teddy bear named 55PB (Petsy), which sales up to 12,000📈 in an exhibition at the World Exhibition in St. Louis, USA in1904. The teddy bears made by Steiff have always been admired for their quality handcraft😍, and hold an important place in the hearts of collectors. In 2000, Steiff Louis Vuitton Teddy Bear was joint created by Steiff and fashion luxury brand Louis Vuitton, it is the most exensive teddy bear of the world by now with a high price of 2.1 million dollars.
2.Gund
Gund was a company selling innovative toys and novelties🪀 in the beginning. Adolph Gund, the founder of this company, is an innovator, he led the company to created many toy company industry standards, which attributes a lot in toy industry. Established in 1898, it is one of the oldest company of plush toys in the America and has the right to produce toys from cartoons and movies🎞️ of Disney. Gund’s Teddy bears are more softer and more cuddly than other teddy bears since they are under- stuffed, which makes them popular with children.
3.Vermont
In 1981, when John Sortino sold the teddy bears that he made on Church Street in Burlington⛪, the story of Vermont started. Two years later, Sortino gave up his part-time jobs and founded his company in Burlington. The company went public in1993 and got great success with its vintage bears, movable limbs and lifetime warranty. Now, it is one of the largest producers of teddy bears and the largest seller of teddy bears by mail order📧 and Internet, the company produces nearly 500,000 teddy bears each year.
4. Emerging Brands That Are About To Go Viral
In spite of the wolrd famous teddy bear brands mentioned above, there are also many brands that are gradually growing. I'd like to introduce three of the most compelling brands to you.
① MorisMos
MorisMos provides many kinds of teddy beas to you, you can find teddy bears for any situation at this store. Teddy bears of MorisMos are of quality, and the company already have several brands which sells well and has a good reputation, such as Tezituor, Muiteiur, DOLDOA, BENINY and Morismos.
② Boo Bear Factory
Boo Bear Factor provides many kinds of gaint teddy bears to you, if you are fantsy of gaint teddy bears which is much larger than you, never miss it!
③ 800 Bears
You can customize a personalized teddy bear in 800 Bears, add small details like names, dates or photos to make your teddy bear unique. This will definitely be a meaningful gift for the recipient.
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How To Use A Teddy Bear 💙
Teddy bear is not only a decoration, but also a friend of you. You need to learn how to get along with him or her!
1.Define your teddy bear’s identity🆔
When you get a new teddy bear, you need to decide the gender of your bear, if it’s a naughty boy or a shy girl, then you should choose a suitable name for your teddy bear.
Some big companies has already named their bears such as Winnie-the-Pooh, Paddington Bear, Rupert Bear, and Pudsey Bear, you can select a unique name for yours too. Name your teddy bear can build deep connection and enhance the relationship between you and your teddy bear, moreover, this will emphasize your ownership of your teddy bear, which in turn reinforces your responsibility to it💕.
Picking a name can be difficult, but we still select some good names for you, maybe they can give you some inspiration.
Names for boy teddy bears:
Billy
Flubber
Jupiter
Mr.Brown
Scout
Names for girl teddy bears:
Buttercup
Kisses
Maggie
Skylar
Twinkle
Or you can choose a gender neutral name for your teddy like Chubby, Fuzzy and Huggie. Besides, you can take cute name such as Beary Potter, Hairy Barry and Snowball in consideration as well.
2.Play with your teddy bear🧑🤝🧑
You can gain lots of fun from playing with teddy bears. Get your little teddy bear dressed up and use your imagination to play whatever you want. Your teddy bear can be a beautiful princess👑 in a fancy gown or a gentle knight⚔️ in armor. Teddy can be anywhere, whether it’s a grand ball or an afternoon tea party among friends.
For kids, playing with teddy bears benefits them a lot, there are several beneficial ways to play with teddy bears:
① Encourage your kids bring their teddy bear to a picnic or a bike tour🚴♀️, it will add a lot of fun to their journey. They can be your kid’s most loyal partner, make your kids not alone. Your kid can talk about all kinds of happy, excited or depressed things during the journey.
② Play house with teddy bears. Kids can treat teddy bears as babies🍼, especially for those families which are going to have newborns, let the older child play house games with teddy bear helps them prepare for the new family member, they’ll learn to share foods and toys, start caring for others while getting along with teddy bears.
③ Play school📚 with teddy bears. When play school with teddy bears, your children are tend to repeat school rules to the them, meanwhile, your children will reinforce the impression of school rules while playing, which help regulate kids’behaviors.
④ Draw a picture and take photos📸 for teddy bears. Let their imagination run wild, go ahead and make a nice pose for the teddy bear, then it’s time for them to show their talent!
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How To Choose A Teddy Bear 💜
Teddy Bear can be used in various occasions, with so many teddy bears in the market, it’s a little difficult to choose a suitable teddy bear. Here’s some suggestions when choosing a teddy bear.
The first thing to consider when choosing a teddy bear is the quality👍. A quality teddy bear usually have thin seams which are almost invisible. The teddy bear's eyes, nose, ears and other body parts need to be well sewn together so that they won't be easily ripped apart. And the material needs to be skin-friendly without peculiar smell.
After weeding out the substandard quality products, we need to think about which style of teddy bear to buy.
⭐For babies, you need to choose teddy bears that do not contain lumps to prevent choking hazards, and teddy bears around 15 inches are more suitable for them to cuddle.
Cute Teddy Bears of 7 colors, safe and easy for babies to play.
⭐For couples, teddy bears with elements of love would express your feelings and wishes better. The receiver would think of you every time looks at the teddy bear.
Red Heart Teddy Bear, show your love to your girlfriend!
⭐For those occasions like the weddings and birthday parties, a giant teddy bear of human size play an important role in decoration and can easily catch people’s eyes.
Gaint Teddy Bear, perfect decor for birthdays and weedings.
⭐For yourselves, just fell free to choose the teddy bear you like, no matter a cute teddy bear with a ribbon or a classic old fashioned teddy bear, as long as you don't compromise on quality.
Lovely Teddy Bear With Ribbon, always ready to listen to you.
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How to care for a Teddy Bear 💗
In order to extend the life of your precious teddy bears, it’s necessary to take care of them properly. The most applicable rule has been written on the label🏷️ of your teddy bear, don’t forget to read it!
Moreover, there are still some tips might be useful to you, let’s take a look:
Most of teddy bears are stuffed with cotton, when you first received your teddy bear, you can tap it lightly and let it take a sun shower🌤️, it will make your teddy bear more fluffy. If it has long pile fur, you can carefully detangle the hair with the comb, but never pull hard. Keep your teddy bear away from those moist and bacteria-prone place, a cardboard box📦 is a good option to store them, and you can put natural moth repellant into boxes to help your teddy bear away from borers.
If you want to display them, make sure the place is dry enough and well ventilated, and you’d better have the patience to dust them regularly. For those who have pets, if you don’t want to see your teddy bear get injured when “playing” with your pets🐕, please keep your teddy bear out of their reach.
As time goes, your teddy bear may be getting dirty, you can send it to a teddy bear hospital to get a whole clean, conversely, you can clean it yourself, it’s not too difficult. Just follow the structures below to rescue your teddy bear from dirt.
① For localized dirt, apply a small amount of cleaner🧼 on itand then wipe it with a dampened cotton cloth.
② Check if your teddy bear has a zipper, in order to facilitate cleaning, some manufacturers will design zippers on teddy bears. If the surface of the teddy bear is removable, you can put the surface in the washing machine and use the gentle mode🧺.
③ For those teddy bears do not have zippers, we can clean them by hand wash🚿. Prepare a basin of soapy solution and leave the teddy bear in it for 4-5 minutes, then gently wipe the dirt in surface with your fingers. Warm water is recommended but never use hot water cause it might damage the fur, and using soap has a fragrance, it will make your teddy bear smells good after cleaning.
④ Make sure the soap on the teddy bear is washed off,use a dry towel to absorb excess moisture and let it air dry in a ventilated place.
✨Now your teddy bear is brand new again!✨
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Something else related to teddy bears 🤍
1.National Teddy Bear Day
National Teddy Bear Day is an official day to celebrate the teddy bears on September 9th. There are many ways to dedicate this special day:
Make your own teddy bear.
🎁Send a teddy bear to your friends, lover, and family.
💝Donate teddy bears to charitable organization for children.
☕Host a teddy bear tea party with teddy bear lovers.
📖Share your loving story about teddy bears.
2.Largest teddy bear museum
The world's largest teddy bear museum located in Chengdu, Sichuan province, China🏟️. It is jointly created by designers from China and South Korea. There are three floors in the museum, including 9 venues and 3 interaction spaces. From the Great Wall of China to the pyramids of Egypt, teddy bears have reproduced historical and cultural classics for us as an art carrier, bringing us an unparalleled visual feast.
3.Teddy bear toss
Teddy bear toss is a game to throw your teddy bears and other stuffed animals in a ice hockey game🏒 when the home team scores its first goal. On January 23, 2022, the fans of Hershey Bears set world record of 525,341 stuffed toys in a single game. The toys are collected and donated as gifts to hospitals and charities🏥. In many cases, players donate the bears to children in local hospitals themselves.
