January 4th, 2011 | 
Author: Hermann Mohair
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 Hermann 1995 Oktoberfest Bear FREE SHIPPING  US $50.00
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 HERMANN BAVARIAN MOHAIR BEAR OCTOBER MUNICH NEW IN BOX LIMITED EDITION NUMBERED US $79.99
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 Hermann Stone Age Bear Oetzi Mohair Bear Used US $35.00
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 Hermann Mohair Animal Friend Bear with Cat US $175.00
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 Hermann Mohair Bear Classic Birthday Bear US $145.00
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 Hermann Mohair Bear Richard Lowenherz The Sherwood Forest Series US $175.00
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 Hermann Mohair Bear The Wanderer LE45 500 US $299.00
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 Hermann Mohair Bear Toy Soldier Nutcracker Suite US $199.00
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 Hermann Mohair Bear with Running Dog US $175.00
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 Hermann Mohair Bear World Traveler US $165.00
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 Hermann Mohair Christmas Fairy Bear US $199.00
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 Hermann Mohair Moving Head Bar tanne Bear US $165.00
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 Hermann Mohair Moving Head Bear Antique US $165.00
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 Hermann Bears The Happy Wanderer Mohair Bear NEW US $75.00
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 Hermann Spielwaren Vincent Van Gogh Sunflowers Bear RARE New US $275.00
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 Deb Canham Special Edition Edward Rabbit US $58.00
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 Deb Canham Walrus Alice Too Collection US $51.00
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 Deb Canham Special Show Exclusive 2003 Gorgeous Bear US $67.00
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 Deb Canham Best Girl Bear Hold your Heart Collection US $62.00
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 Deb Canham Hot Edition 2005 Plum Mouse US $79.00
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Purchase Teddy bear At Any Time Of The Year
There are no hard and fast rules stating when it's appropriate to purchase teddy bears; they can be bought as gifts at any time of the year, or, to simply keep adding to a growing soft toy collection. If you make the decision to purchase teddy bears to mark a special occasion (such as a birthday), the recipient will be quite pleased that you did.
Margarete Steiff was disabled by polio as a child, but that wasn't going to stop her from living a very full life; she made felt clothes to sell at her workshop at Giengen near Ulm, Germany. By 1880, she began making her first felt animal – an elephant. While it had been intended to be used as a pincushion, the women she gave it away to loved it so much, Steiff made more and decided to sell them. When the children of the mother's who purchased them saw how soft and tactile they were, they claimed them for themselves, turning them into a child's toy. Within a six year span, Steiff made and sold more than 5,000 felt elephants in addition to a whole other range of soft animals (all made of felt). In 1893, When Steiff exhibited her work at the Leipzig Fair, she was no longer running a workshop, but a factory that exported its toys.
The characterization of animals at the Steiff company was the key to its success and it was Margarete's nephew Richard, who was responsible for it. While he had been to art school, he was quite enthralled with the relationship between human beings and animals. From drawings of animals he made while watching them at the zoo, he went on to make designs which were suitable for the Steiff range of animal toys. Included in these were bears, but it wasn't until 1902 when an American president would launch the animal into the most prestigious position among soft toys, giving it the iconic status it still enjoys today.
Theodore Roosevelt (also known as "Teddy"), the U.S. president at the time, was an avid outdoorsman and undertook bear hunting on occasion. When he came upon a young female bear that was unable to escape her fate, he took pity on it and decided to let her go. When the press got wind of the 'incident' it became the subject of a strip cartoon by Clifford Berryman of the Washington Post, who went on to create a caricature of Roosevelt and 'his' bear. The year after President Roosevelt's escapade, Steiff quickly responded by making bears out of a new plush material made from mohair. She went on to exhibit them at the Leipzig Fair where a toy buyer from New York, Hermann Berg, instantly bought 3,000 of them to sell in his department store in the United States. The plush bears proved to be so popular, Steiff had to expand her factory three times between 1903 and 1908 just to cope with the demand of nearly one million bears per year.
If you have never had the pleasure of purchasing teddy bears, you don't what you're missing; from choosing just the right one based on its facial features, followed by how its 'fur' and skin feels to the touch, it's really a major decision that should never be taken lightly. Don't wait for the next special occasion to purchase teddy bears – just go out and but one or two for the sheer pleasure of having them.
Copyright Shelley Vassall, 2010. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.
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