Margarete was a dark horse right from the get-go. Born in 1847 in what would eventually be consolidated into Germany, she had somehow contracted polio by the age of 18 months. It took 3 years to find someone who was able to diagnose little Margarete with the disease and her parents spent years trying to find a treatment. None was found and Margarete would grow up confined to a wheelchair, having lost the use of her legs.
Clearly, she had the right sort of parents because they brought her up with a can-do attitude and Margarete was sent to the local school with her older sisters, who pulled her along in a specially built cart.
Even though polio had left her with limitations and constant pain in her right arm and hand, she apprenticed to become a seamstress and by the age of 17 had completed her training. Theirs must have been a very fashion-conscious family because her sisters opened a ladies tailoring shop and Margarete worked there periodically. Working for family is always a tricky balancing act and it would seem that her situation was no different than anyone else’s because Margarete’s main source of income at that time came from giving zither lessons.
If you aren’t familiar, the zither is a flat soundbox that one either holds across one’s lap or lays horizontally on the table. It has many strings (30 – 40 on average) and music is made through a combination of chording or pressing on the strings with one’s left hand, while the fingers of the right hand pluck out the tune, often utilizing all 4 fingers. This is not something that one would immediately think that someone with chronic pain in their right hand would be drawn to, but Margarete was in demand as a teacher and she was able to sock away enough money from her tutoring to buy a sewing machine with her earnings. Hers would be the first sewing machine in her town, and she began to sew professionally for the neighbours and the town’s folk. By her mid-twenties, she was fully self-employed making clothing for women.
When she was 30, she moved to Stuttgart and opened her own shop offering clothing she had made from felt. Felt underskirts had recently become popular (they must have been lovely and warm during the cold German winter) and Margarete’s business took off. She soon had to hire a number of seamstresses to work for her.
It was 1880 when Margarete started to make charming little stuffed felt elephants that she intended to be used as pincushions. At first, she just made them to give to her friends and family and then she began to sell them in her store as the demand increased. They were a big hit, but people weren’t using them as pincushions. Instead, they were sought after by children as toys.
She added other animals to the group and as the focus shifted from clothing to toys, she published her first catalogue. It showed that the little elephant had been joined by a monkey, cat, donkey, horse, dog, camel, pig, mouse, rabbit, and a giraffe!
In 1893 she rebranded her business as a felt toy factory and was referred to as such when she participated in that year’s Leipzig Toy Fair. She had 4 full-time seamstresses working out of her shop and employed 10 home sewers (who would be referred to as “sewists” these days) to produce her line of toys.
Two years later, she was able to begin to sell her work internationally, thanks Harrod’s in London England who agreed to carry her line. However, it was when her 20-year-old nephew, Richard, came to work for her in 1897, that things really took a great leap forward. Margarete was 50 years old at this point and Richard was a creative and talented artist who had just graduated from art school. He had big ideas and very little fear, and he combined those traits with his sketching ability in order to bring many new designs to the animal toy line while he ran the company alongside his aunt.
It was Richard’s design in 1902 for a plush bear, romantically named, “Bear 55 PB” that catapulted itself into the toy world’s spotlight at the next year’s Toy Fair. The instant popularity of the bear, made from cuddly mohair pile and boasting moveable arms and legs, forced the company to expand into a new purpose-built factory as they attempted to ride the wave of sudden notoriety from the increased interest.
And it was with that fascination in its teddy bear, that the Steiff Toy Company secured its place in toy history.
The next year, one of Margarete’s other nephews designed the button which, from 1904 onwards, would be found securely attached (usually in the ear) to all of the products the Steiff company would go on to produce. This important trademark was needed in order to stem the flow from other toy makers who were trying to capitalize on the popularity of the Steiff bear. The first buttons featured the image of an elephant, in tribute to the beginning of Margarete’s toymaking career, but that changed over the years to merely state “Steiff”. That button proved a toy’s authenticity.
By 1907, the Steiff Toy Company had made almost a million bears, its work force having grown to 400 employees in the factory and 1800 home sewers.
Margarete Steiff passed away in 1909 as a result of pneumonia. She was 61 years old. Her company would carry on under the leadership of her nephews and would build on its accrued success, winning many awards for their products and establishing the company as an icon in the toy world. They are still known as such today.
Margarete Steiff has been inducted into the toy industry’s Hall of Fame and continues to be considered a giant in the history of German entrepreneurship. What that young girl with a physical disability who hailed from a small town was able to accomplish for herself and to formulate as a business owner and visionary, is inspiring and powerful.
Happy Teddy Bear Day (September 9th).
“Freedom is believing in yourself” – Margarete Steiff
Hi there, who knew! Another successful woman to celebrate on Labour Day. A timely piece with the passing of Dolly Parton and Gloria Steinem. Although I would not have appreciated they were philosophically connected until recently.