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一百年的回顧 1909-2009: 憶起Steiff傳奇的創始人物 Margarete Steiff
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創造Steiff傳奇的創史者， Margarete Steiff（瑪格麗特．史黛芙），由衷的感謝所有Steiff的員工，能夠於1909年5月9日她逝世100年後的今天，在填充玩偶界中創造出成功的歷史。她謝謝他們能持續實現她的理想，將每隻Steiff動物引領至全世界。也因為這樣，你才能從每一隻容光煥發的Steiff動物或泰迪熊看到Margarete Steiff不被拘束和無限創造力的精神。
Margarete Steiff於1847年出生於德國南方小鎮Giengen an der Brenz。因二歲時不幸罹患小兒麻痺，從此她的生活便與輪椅相伴。但她並沒有因此而意志消沉，她想法非凡、她具有冒險家的精神、她是傳奇的主導者、她不怕困難、樂觀、仁慈、親切並具有感染力。
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儘管她的後半生因病痛折磨，但她仍不忘一件無價的事：孩子。她認為，透過偉大的禮物－眼睛和耳朵開放的能力，我們才能夠經歷生活裡每一時刻不同的美麗，並豐富和提昇我們的生活。
她的創作精神至今仍持續傳承。你可以從抱著Steiff泰迪熊的時候，感受到每一隻Steiff泰迪熊的眼神都是充滿著愛。你也可以從每一隻Steiff動物的表情中看到，它們在孩子的玩耍室裡帶來了無限歡樂，甚至為有著年輕之心的Steiff粉絲和收藏者帶來熱情。
雖然世界因為許多因素正快速的改變中，但有一件事是永遠不變的：每一隻從Steiff公司出產的泰迪熊和動物們，都有著在全世界商業界被接受的Margarete Steiff信條:
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| 2005 |
| The new millennium |
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Naturally the success story continued into the new century, and new paths were walked. So the world premiere of the musical ”teddy - a musical dream“ took place in 2002. Also in Giengen the home of all Steiff animals, there were things going on: the Steiff experience world was presented in 2003 for the first time. Up until 2005 the ”World of Steiff“ experience museum was built on the company grounds, according to instructions of architect Andreas Ramseier. It is an architectural paramount achievement and offers an animated dream world for the whole family on an area of 2,400m2. Just right for the 125 year company jubilee "the world of Steiff" opened its gates. The icing on the cake of the company jubilee was the costly 125 carat teddy bear edition.
For the first time in 2006 the Steiff Summer was hosted in the company grounds in Giengen on the Brenz, a large summer festival, which is especially held for Steiff friends and families and offers a lot of fun and excitement for all age groups. In 1907 almost a million teddy bears were produced. In 2007 - exactly 100 years later - the jubilee edition "a million hugs" was published on this occasion.
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| 1992 |
| Steiff Club |
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Then - finally- on 1st April 1992 the Steiff club was founded for lovers and collectors of all Steiff animals, with exclusive club advantages and own club editions.
In order to be able to present own products in the cities in an appropriate surrounding, the first Steiff gallery was opened in Hamburg in 1997 on the anniversary of Margarete Steiff’s 150th birthday. Three years later Cologne, Munich and Dusseldorf followed with Steiff galleries, and then Berlin, Vienna, Nuremburg and Stuttgart. In 2003 there were openings in Kiel, Hanover, Wiesbaden, Zurich and a second Steiff gallery in Hamburg. In 2004 a Steiff gallery opened in Bromley (London).
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| 1980 |
| 100 years of dreams in cloth and plush |
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The 80’s begin with the 100 years company anniversary, when the Margarete Steiff Museum was opened in Giengen - a forerunner of today’s experience museum, ”The world of Steiff“. In addition Steiff began to produce animal replicas in limited editions for their fans. ”Petsy“ - the children’s favourite captured the market and the hearts of Steiff friends around the globe.
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| 1951 |
| The new beginning |
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The next difficult time was during the 2nd world war. After the end of the war the company restarted in 1947, and already 1 year later it was employing almost 1,000 employees, and 5 years later twice as many. Among other things this rapid growth was due to Mecki, the mascot of a television newspaper and a figure from the puppet feature film by the Diehl brothers, which was manufactured by Steiff as a stuffed puppet from 1951.
In 1953 the teddy bear celebrated its 50th birthday - the jubilee bear ”Jackie“ was presented for this occasion in a completely new design - as a funny bear child with a small belly button.
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| 1927 |
| Hard times in a positive sense |
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In the golden twenties there was once again a demand for fabric and plush. Steiff introduced production line manufacture, in order to satisfy the high demand for above all their stuffed dogs. The plush dog Molly went down a storm and over 500,000 were sold by 1932.
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| 1910 |
| Steiff worlds arise |
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In 1910 Steiff won the Grand Prix at the world exhibition in Brussels, show pieces with a multitude of stuffed toys and animals inspired the public.
The ”Steiff circus“ used mechanically moved figures for the first time. One of the most successful show pieces, "Noah’s ark" came about four years later. Then there were hard times but not only for the company: in the hard years of the war and after the war Steiff finally had to adjust their range - paper type materials meant that the so called ”paper teddy bears“ came into existence, and toys made of wood were added to the range.
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| 1904 |
| "Steiff – Knopf im Ohr" (Button in Ear) - a brand sign arises and an eventful life comes to an end |
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In order to make their own high quality products unmistakeable, and fend off numerous cheap imitations, Franz Steiff developed the brand sign "Steiff - Button in Ear". At the world exhibition in St. Louis, Margarete was awarded the Grand Prix, and finally in 1906 Margarete Steiff GmbH was founded, the company name which is still used today.
In 1907 400 employees and 1800 home workers produced 973,999 teddy bears and a total of around 1,700,000 toys. An international company arose which continually expanded its product range.
Margarete Steiff died on 9th May 1909 at the age of 61, following a lung infection.
This was a hard blow for the Steiff family, friends and employees. Margarete’s nephews took over the company and people from all over the world continue to dream her dream even today. Margarete Steiff created something which is bigger than life.
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| 1902 |
| The teddy bear is born |
Richard Steiff, Margarete’s creative favourite nephew, entered the company in 1897. He attended the school of applied arts in Stuttgart and studied in England. His animal sketches were the basis for many Steiff creations. In 1902 he designed the "Bear 55PB" bears, the worldwide first stuffed bears with moveable arms and legs. When searching for a suitable covering, Richard found the cuddly and good for colouring mohair plush, produced by the Schulte pile weaving mill in Duisburg.
Margarete herself remained sceptical, but Richard was allowed to present his bears at the Leipzig toy trade fair.
...and conquers the world
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| 1880 |
| Margarete Steiff GmbH is founded |
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The official founding date of Steiff Manufacture was 1880. The first big seller was the elephant, which her younger brother Fritz sold at the nearby Heidenheim market. Just six years later Margarete had sold over 5,000 elephants and was now designing other stuffed animals too. In 1890 Fritz built a house for his sister, with a flat on the first floor, designed for disabled people, and a small shop on the first floor. At the house in what is today ”Margarete Steiff Strase“ there is the sign “Filz-Spielwaren-Fabrik”.
In 1892 the first illustrated Steiff catalogue was released which showed the diversity of the range. In addition to elephants there were monkeys, donkeys, horses, camels, pigs, mice, dogs, cats, hares and giraffes. In the catalogue was also Margarete’s motto, “for children, only the best is good enough!“.
One year later, on March 3rd 1893, the toy factory was entered in the trade register as ”Margarete Steiff, felt toy factory Giengen/Brenz”. For the first time the toys were presented at the Leipzig toy trade fair. Margarete now employed 4 seamstresses and 10 home workers.
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| 1874 |
| The foundations were laid - the step towards independence |
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In 1874 Margarete’s father converted her parent’s house and built her own work room, a small tailors shop. With the first money that she earned herself she bought her own sewing machine. She could only move the fly wheel on the right hand side with difficulty, and so without further ado the machine was reversed.
In 1877 Adolf Glatz, her cousin’s husband, advised her to take the step towards independence. Thereupon Margarete founded her own felt clothing business and successfully sold clothes and household articles which she had made. Soon she was able to employ several seamstresses. In the magazine ”Modenwelt“ (fashion world) from 8th December 1879, Margarete saw the sewing pattern for a small stuffed elephant. Using this pattern, she made the elephant as a pin cushion, but soon the little stuffed animals were very popular as children's toys.
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| 1862 |
| Apprenticeship and first steps |
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In spite of the pain in her right hand, Margarete also went to sewing school and at the age of 17 she completed her training as a seamstress.
Her older sisters Marie and Pauline opened a women’s tailors in 1862 which she also worked in from time to time. When Marie and Pauline left their home town around 8 years later, Margarete continued alone.
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| 1847 |
| How it all began |
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On 24th July 1847, Margarete Steiff was born in Giengen an der Brenz, as the third of four children. When she was 18 months old she was ill with a high fever following which her legs were paralysed and it hurt her to use her right arm.
Three years later a doctor in Ulm would diagnose child paralysis. The many doctor's visits and treatments did not help, her parents grew disconsolate. What could little Margarete expect from life now? She would be dependant on the care of others for life. But the cheerful Margarete fought for her place. She was taken to school in a hay cart by her siblings and neighbouring children, and taken upstairs to the classroom by a woman who lived near to the school.
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