The Schreyer Toy Company, more commonly known as Schuco, flourished during the first half of the twentieth century. It was founded in 1912 by Heinrich Muller who, after an apprenticeship...
Schuco (Schreyer) Toy Company
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Merrythought Teddy Bears
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Gollies
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Barton Waugh Teddy Bears
The Barton Waugh company produced a range of soft toys in Hurstville, Sydney, from the late 1940s till the late 1960s. Predominately a teddy bear company, it also made a small range of dogs and other plush toys. The Barton Waugh 'Bruno' was the most distinctive pattern. Created in many sizes, from 30cm to 182cm, Bruno is now almost never labelled, as each was only identified, when leaving the factory, with a cardboard swing tag. Consequently, many remain unidentified. There are, though, several distinguishing features. Bruno had a chubby head, with a long rather than round head. The ears were cut in ...
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Wendy Boston-Innovations In Teddy Bear Design
Reflecting changes in social views of child safety and of household modernisation, the Wendy Boston soft toy company developed the modern washable teddy bear. Wendy and her husband, Ken Williams, began the company soon after WW2 (1945), in South Wales. The factory then expanded in 1948. The Wendy Boston company was known for its unjointed teddy bears with their arms outstretched. The other distinctive feature was the invention of screw-locked plastic eyes, in 1948. These were amber-coloured plastic with a small black pupil, and fixed in place by a screw-locked nut on a bolt behind the pupil. This revolutionized the safety ...
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Repairing Antique And Vintage Teddy Bears
Many types of damage can occur to poor teddy! Play, insects, moisture, dirt and dogs can all cause grief! With very valuable bears, family heirlooms or severe damage, it is advisable to leave the repair to an expert. Many advertise online, or in the Yellow Pages under 'Doll Hospitals' or 'Teddy Bear/Toy Repairers'. Professional teddy bear makers may also be suitable. It is important to clarify, with whoever you choose to fix teddy, how much you would like him repaired, before he comes home unrecognisable! The repairer needs to keep in mind what teddy would have looked like and how much you would ...
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Steiff-The Oldest Stuffed Toy Company
Margarete Steiff first began making soft toys in the 1870s. Confined to a wheelchair since the age of two, due to polio, she became popular with the children of Giengen, her hometown in Germany, with her happy stories. She owned the first sewing machine in the town, and using the skills she learnt as a dressmaker, first produced a felt elephant in 1877. Soon after, many children were receiving gifts of felt animals, hand-made from scraps of felt from her mother's family's felt factory. Her popularity soon extended across southern Germany. The success of her enterprise attracted toy buyers ...
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Chiltern Teddy Bears
The Chiltern teddy factory initially began in London, in 1908, when Joseph Eisenmann opened the Chiltern Toy Works. It produced many types of toys, with the first teddy appearing in 1915, being the 'Master Teddy'. Unusually, the body was made from linen, and was dressed in a shirt and overalls. His head was comparatively large, with large opaque glass eyes and small ears. The big grin is distinctive and appealing! This teddy was produced in different sizes, and is highly collectable! In 1919, however, Leon Rees took over the company upon the death of Joseph. It was not until 1920, ...
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Verna Teddy Bears And Dolls
Trading as the Verna Toy Company, Eva Barnett began producing dolls and soft toys in 1941, in Melbourne. Known as a quality and creative doll maker, it was not until 1948, when ownership changed to Arthur Eaton, that teddies began to be produced. 1941-1948 Verna dolls were often made of fabric or felt, with cloth mask (buckram) faces, and were stuffed with kapok. This filling felt soft in smaller dolls but created a much heavier large doll! It was also difficult to wash successfully as it tended to clump and settle in awkward ways! 1948-1960 Teddy bears became Verna's main product. These earliest ...
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Antique Bears-Caring For Collectable Teddy Bears
Collecting teddy bears is now a popular, and often expensive, hobby. Collectable bears can cost up to six-figure sums! It is therefore important to care for teddy investments, both to preserve their value and their appeal. CLEANING How teddy bears are cleaned depends on the materials used, and their age. ANTIQUE TEDDIES- old teddies require very careful cleaning. Incorrect treatment can cause teddy all sorts of grief! It is not so much the fur used that can create a problem, but the stuffing. Cleaning should be avoided if possible. -woodwool (excelsior)-this stuffing feels 'crunchy' if you squeeze teddy and the bears are relatively ...
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Humphrey B Bear-History And Collectables
Humphrey B Bear was one of the longest running children's television programmes in Australia. Running for over 3,000 episodes, his image has been immortalised on countless toys and other products! Many of these are now collectable. Humphrey Makes An Appearance Humphrey, the honey-loving, accident-prone bear first appeared in his own show on 24th May, 1965, and only ceased production in 2009. He bears similarities to an Australian predecessor, Fredd Bear, who starred in Fredd Bear's Breakfast A Go-Go in 1964. Later, Fredd and his female friend, Fee Fee were characters in the highly popular The Magic Circle Club (1965). A Toy Is Born! Consequently, ...
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Vintage Koala Toys
The koala is an iconic Australian marsupial. Cute and soft, it was inevitable it would be made into soft toys! 1920s Australia's 'bear', the koala became a popular subject for toys in the 1920s. The first soft toy koalas were made of koala, wallaby or kangaroo fur, with jointed arms, legs and head. Eyes were made of leather shoe buttons with a pure rubber nose. These noses have tended over time to become hard and brittle. Claws were leather. These toys are comparatively rare and highly collectable. Stuffed with woodwool, they have also become a favourite with insect infestations! Koalas also became a ...
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Jakas Teddy Bears
Jakas began production in 1954 in Melbourne by Marion Stanford, reaching its peak in the 1960s-80s. Sought-after, Jakas teddies are very collectable. Early Teddies-1950s The earliest Jakas bears are comparatively rare. Made from mohair, they were fully jointed and stuffed with kapok. With glass eyes, these bears were good quality but often unlabelled and so harder to attribute to Jakas. Production of these mohair bears was short-lived, as a changing market favoured a different type of teddy. 1960s The 1960s saw many changes in society that reflected in the teddy market. Technology advanced and consumerism rose! Toys became much more plentiful as industry re-established ...
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Schuco (Schreyer) Toy Co...
Posted by jo on Jan 10, 2012
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Merrythought Teddy Bears
Posted by jo on Sep 8, 2011
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Gollies
Posted by jo on Jun 19, 2011
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Joy Toys : History of Au...
Posted by jo on Mar 19, 2010
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Vintage Koala Toys
Posted by jo on May 27, 2010
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Humphrey B Bear-History ...
Posted by jo on Jun 15, 2010
- Leona Lodding on Humphrey B Bear-History And Collectables
- Bryan Armstrong on Vintage Koala Toys
- jo on Joy Toys : History of Australian Teddy Bears
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