The first teddy
Our love affair with cuddly toys began more than a century ago in a little town in Germany. In 1903, a toy maker named Margarete Steiff showed buyers at the Leipzig Toy Fair a cute stuffed bear she had made.
She didn't expect anyone to show much interest, but the cuddly bear was a huge success. She suddenly found her one-woman business blooming as her new toy became the hit of the fair.
Illness strikes
Margarete Steiff was born in Germany in 1847. Her father was a builder and the Steiffs had a comfortable life. But when baby Margarete was 18 months old, she had polio, a disease that usually left victims crippled. Margarete recovered, but her legs and right hand were paralysed.
The Steiffs had to accept that their daughter would spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair. But Margarete was a strong-minded little girl, determined to have as much independence as she could despite her disability. Her friends carried her where the wheelchair wouldn't go, and they came up with games in which Margarete could be included.
