Who was Margarete Stieff?

Answer 1

Margarete Stieff was a seamstress who was born in 1847 and died in 1909 of pneumonia. As a child she devloped a fever that left her partially paralyzed on one side of her body, so she spent the rest of her life in a wheelchair. Growing up, she was home schooled in Germany, along with the rest of her siblings, but was also taught how to sew, a remarkable feat, given one arm didn't work well. As an adult, she specialized in mohair suits, until mohair fell out of fashion. Not one to waste material, she created small gray elephant pin cushions out of the mohair, and sold them. Women wanted them, not just as pin cushions, since children fell in love with these first stuffed animals quickly. She could not sew enough for demand. Meanwhile, her brother's son had gone off to university, and returned with a sketch book loaded with realistic animal drawings from the zoo. He talked his aunt into sewing a stuffed bear, complete with elongated muzzle and the hump real bears have on their backs. In 1896, the family started selling these realistic animals, as well, as bears posed as circus performers and other assorted animals. In 1903, an American businessman ordered 3000 bears to take back home, in time for Christmas, knowing the novelty toy called "the teddy bear" was just becoming big in America, thanks to Theodore Roosevelt's re-election campaign. Margarete Steiff made the first stuffed bear, and several more versions afterwards. Although "the teddy bear" came from America, the company that continued through her nephew, even after her death, is still known as one of the premiere "teddy bear" makers. They've always maintained high quality levels and included all the proper on-going patents. Her bears were separated from the rest of the world by their continued realism, right through both world wars. Steiff still makes a wide variety of stuffed animals, today. Margarete Steiff was a seamstress, who changed the world of children in a beautiful way.