''For our children only the best is good enough''

In recent years, the collectables market has changed quite radically. There has something of a decline in some of the traditional ceramic collections, but there is one area that goes from strength to strength - we're talking here, of course, about Steiff Bears and animals. We have the most wonderful collection. It seems to be outgrowing us day by day. Many of us take teddy bears for granted, but do you know the origin of the term Teddy Bear. There are many different stories as to how the term first came about. The true story, though, is that Steiff were right at the heart of the origin of the term. Here's the story. Early in the twentieth century, the Preident of The United States, Theodore 'Teddy' Roosevelt was invited for a day's bear shooting. He wasn't very keen. He was one of the very earliest environmentalists and was very eager to preserve wildlife. Reluctantly he agreed to attend the shooting trip, and was somewhat relieved when no bears were found. However, his hosts, ignorant of their president's feelings, were desperate for him not to go home empty handed. They found a poor little young baby bear, tied it to a tree and invited him to shoot it. Naturally, Roosevelt declined. This became quite a national story and a cartoon appeared in The Washington Post, depicting the scene. The tale reached the ears of the Directors of Steiff, who until this point had really restricted themselves to manufacturing a variety of animal toys. They quickly produced a 'Teddy' Bear and marketed it with great success, using the Roosevelt story to help promote the concept. Since then Steiff Teddy Bears have never looked back. There have been dozens of imitators, but, as any Steiff Collector will tell you - there is only one true Teddy - a Steiff Teddy.