The history of Appolonia Margarete Steiff is as extraordinary as it is impressive: born one of four children in 1847 in Giengen in Swabia, as an adult she established a toy concern of global rank. In the process, she not only had to fight her family’s opposition and assert herself in the male-dominated world of industry, but – since contracting polio at the age of 18 months – also had to live with a severe disability: Margarete couldn’t move her legs or right arm and sat in a wheelchair the whole of her life.
Margarete was hungry for knowledge while still at school. She never missed a day and her school record was well above average. Besides which, she was popular and had the ability to rally people around her. When she wished to attend sewing school later, her family opposed her at first. Her parents feared she would fail, and her older sisters feared embarrassment and trouble. But Margarete had her way, and with enormous drive – in the end also with the support of her sisters – she became a zealous seamstress: together with them, she bought the first sewing machine in Giengen and opened a ladies’ dressmaking shop.
Although Margarete found it difficult to operate the sewing machine, she didn’t give up. She was now 17 years old and had come to terms with her disability.
She received moral and financial support from a felt manufacturer she knew, and in 1877 the ladies’ dressmaking shop was converted into a shop for felt clothing. The enterprise thrived, and Margarete was able to employ further staff and invest. The girl with the seemingly hopeless future advanced to become a successful businesswoman.
At the end of 1879, she came across a little textile toy elephant in the magazine “Modenwelt”. She liked the idea and made five “Elefäntle” (little elephants, Swabian dialect) as pin cushions out of felt and wool. They were a huge hit, especially with children. She would have liked most to have kept the toys herself. Soon, Margaret started to produce a stock of stuffed toys. Her company registers list the following item: “Children’s Toys made of felt: durable and safe.”
During those years, Margarete’s brother Fritz was a tower of strength for her – he was, in fact, a building foreman in Giengen. He not only persuaded his sister – now 40 years of age – to move out of her parents’ house, but also constructed her first company building. A shop was set up on the ground floor, on the first storey a barrier-free flat. In 1889 , Margarete met Johanna Röck, and the two women moved in together. Johanna stayed at Margarete’s side for the next 20 years until her death.
Toy production grew constantly, and soon Margarete was introducing monkeys, donkeys, horses, camels, pigs, mice, dogs, cats, hares and giraffes into the programme. The stuffed toys were a huge hit; after all, they were among the first soft toys to find their place in the playroom. In 1894, the firm’s annual turnover was already 90,000 marks. Since rival firms kept trying to imitate the products, from 1904 on the world-famous button in the ear was introduced as trade mark.
With the advent of Richard Steiff, the second eldest son of brother Fritz, the toy factory was now fully established as a family enterprise. His five brothers also entered the concern, one after the other. Family ties and warm-hearted atmosphere in the firm were important to Margarete. And the social benefits were exemplary for that time: for instance, employees were given meal tickets for the restaurants in the vicinity.
It didn’t take long for another new building to be planned. This time, Richard envisaged a construction of iron and glass, far ahead of its time. Subsequently, the first of two glass buildings was erected, both of which are still used by the firm and listed as protected monuments. But not only the innovative buildings attracted attention; the motorbike spins undertaken by the now 56-years-old Margarete with her nephew were also proverbial far and near.
The history of Steiff teddy bears started off in the year 1903: Richard Steiff presented the “PG 55” bear – his development – at the Leipzig Toy Fair. At first, no one was interested in buying it, but at the last minute an American turned up and purchased the whole collection of 3,000 items. The follow-up model, the “PB 35”, launched the teddy bear on its triumphal march on both sides of the ocean.
The small Swabian factory had become a global player by 1907 already, two years before Margarete died of pneumonia at the age of 62. Four hundred employees and 1,800 outworkers were producing around a million teddy bears, along with other items. And Margarete paid heed to the flawless quality of every single one of them: “For children, only the best is good enough!”, she said.
The history of Appolonia Margarete Steiff is as extraordinary as it is impressive: born one of four children in 1847 in Giengen in Swabia, as an adult she established a toy concern of global rank. In the process, she not only had to fight her family’s opposition and assert herself in the male-dominated world of industry, but – since contracting polio at the age of 18 months – also had to live with a severe disability: Margarete couldn’t move her legs or right arm and sat in a wheelchair the whole of her life.
Margarete was hungry for knowledge while still at school. She never missed a day and her school record was well above average. Besides which, she was popular and had the ability to rally people around her. When she wished to attend sewing school later, her family opposed her at first. Her parents feared she would fail, and her older sisters feared embarrassment and trouble. But Margarete had her way, and with enormous drive – in the end also with the support of her sisters – she became a zealous seamstress: together with them, she bought the first sewing machine in Giengen and opened a ladies’ dressmaking shop.
Although Margarete found it difficult to operate the sewing machine, she didn’t give up. She was now 17 years old and had come to terms with her disability. She received moral and financial support from a felt manufacturer she knew, and in 1877 the ladies’ dressmaking shop was converted into a shop for felt clothing. The enterprise thrived, and Margarete was able to employ further staff and invest. The girl with the seemingly hopeless future advanced to become a successful businesswoman.
At the end of 1879, she came across a little textile toy elephant in the magazine “Modenwelt”. She liked the idea and made five “Elefäntle” (little elephants, Swabian dialect) as pin cushions out of felt and wool. They were a huge hit, especially with children. She would have liked most to have kept the toys herself. Soon, Margaret started to produce a stock of stuffed toys. Her company registers list the following item: “Children’s Toys made of felt: durable and safe.”
During those years, Margarete’s brother Fritz was a tower of strength for her – he was, in fact, a building foreman in Giengen. He not only persuaded his sister – now 40 years of age – to move out of her parents’ house, but also constructed her first company building. A shop was set up on the ground floor, on the first storey a barrier-free flat. In 1889, Margarete met Johanna Röck, and the two women moved in together. Johanna stayed at Margarete’s side for the next 20 years until her death.
Toy production grew constantly, and soon Margarete was introducing monkeys, donkeys, horses, camels, pigs, mice, dogs, cats, hares and giraffes into the programme.
The stuffed toys were a huge hit; after all, they were among the first soft toys to find their place in the playroom. In 1894, the firm’s annual turnover was already 90,000 marks. Since rival firms kept trying to imitate the products, from 1904 on the world-famous button in the ear was introduced as trade mark.
With the advent of Richard Steiff, the second eldest son of brother Fritz, the toy factory was now fully established as a family enterprise. His five brothers also entered the concern, one after the other. Family ties and warm-hearted atmosphere in the firm were important to Margarete. And the social benefits were exemplary for that time: for instance, employees were given meal tickets for the restaurants in the vicinity.
It didn’t take long for another new building to be planned. This time, Richard envisaged a construction of iron and glass, far ahead of its time. Subsequently, the first of two glass buildings was erected, both of which are still used by the firm and listed as protected monuments. But not only the innovative buildings attracted attention; the motorbike spins undertaken by the now 56-years-old Margarete with her nephew were also proverbial far and near.
The history of Steiff teddy bears started off in the year 1903: Richard Steiff presented the “PG 55” bear – his development – at the Leipzig Toy Fair. At first, no one was interested in buying it, but at the last minute an American turned up and purchased the whole collection of 3,000 items. The follow-up model, the “PB 35”, launched the teddy bear on its triumphal march on both sides of the ocean.
The small Swabian factory had become a global player by 1907 already, two years before Margarete died of pneumonia at the age of 62. Four hundred employees and 1,800 outworkers were producing around a million teddy bears, along with other items. And Margarete paid heed to the flawless quality of every single one of them: “For children, only the best is good enough!”, she said.