Steiff Bear: What Makes These Bears So Special?

The perfect teddy bear does, in fact, exist

Want to know the difference between your regular, normal teddy bear and the iconic, legendary Steiff Bear? We’re going to break it down for you today. It’s no secret at That’s mine we’re surrounded by these cuddly bears all day, personalising each one, but if we’re honest, we just want to keep them all! But what makes them so special? So classic? The greatest keepsake teddy bear to exist?! Let’s deepdive into the world of the Steiff Bear!

Steiff – who are they and what are they all about?

Steiff is a German-based plush toy company. It was founded in 1880 by Margarete Steiff, who was a seamstress. The toys began as elephants, and were originally a design Steiff found in a magazine and sold as pincushions to her customers. Then children began playing with them, and in the years following she went on to design many other animal-themed toys.

In 1897, Steiff’s nephew Richard joined the company, and a 3000 piece order was placed in 1903 by a buyer in America after the “Teddy” bear craze began showing a cartoon with President Roosevelt and a young cub. By 1907, Steiff had manufactured 974,000 bears!

Steiff are extremely proud of what they do to this day, with meticulous testing and inspection on all their plush toys. As their company motto states, “Only the best is good enough for children”. 2022 marks a special year for Steiff, as they celebrate 120 years of teddy bears and precious memories.

What’s so special about the Steiff Bear?

The Inventors of the Teddy Bear

In 1902 Richard Steiff designed a toy bear made of mohair called Bear 55PB. Did you know it was inspired by American President Theodore Roosevelt? In 1902, Roosevelt refused to shoot a bear whilst on a Mississippi hunting trip. The guides had discovered the bear, clubbed it and tied it to a tree, and then invited the President to shoot it. Roosevelt declined, believing it was unsportsmanlike to kill the defenseless animal in that way. This is how the bear received its name Teddy! The teddy boom began and the Steiff brand achieved worldwide recognition.

All Steiff toys receive the Steiff seal of approval – the famous trademark “Button in Ear”. Also, all Steiff bears and other soft toys proudly wear an ear tag as a distinguishing mark. 

Steiff Charity 2022

Steiff initiated the Steiff Charity 2022 to support children that need help. Inspiring and stimulating the development of children, and ultimately, their goal is raising substantial amounts of money to sponsor charities that are engaged in giving children the support they need.

That’s mine’s personalisation

That’s mine are so proud to have teamed up with this amazing and historical company. Our exclusive personalised jumpers are the cutest addition and are on a selection of these iconic bears and bunnies.

Also, That’s mine have designed and developed a jumper to perfectly fit the medium and large Steiff bears. These jumpers are in fact a smaller version of an actual baby jumper; super soft and made exclusively for That’s mine. The Steiff bear with their personalised jumpers are one of our best selling products on the website!

Make sure you check out our giftbox options to help you with wrapping presents this year. Happy shopping!