The world’s oldest bear is 96 years old, and is worth £100,000. He lives in Germany and was labelled a ‘Teddy bear’ after US President Theodore Roosevelt, who was an avid bear hunter.
In 1912, a black bear was commissioned as a mark of respect after the Titanic tragedy.
The most valuable bear is called Teddy Girl and sold at Christies in London for £110,000 in 1994. It is owned by Japanese toy company boss Yoshihiro Sekiguchi.
The collectable bears cost around £150 each, their valuable is decreased if the ear button is removed.
In 1902 in Giengen an der Brenz, northwest of Augsburg in Germany, the first teddy bear was created by Richard Steiff, a bear-admirer working in his Aunt Margarete’s toy factory.
The drawing of Pooh bear was based on the illustrator E. H. Shepard’s son’e Steiff bear, called Growler.
A miniature 1950s bear called Theodore, which, at only 31/2in tall and reputed to be one of the tiniest teddies ever.
Steiff bears were given swivel limbs to make them easy to cuddle, a protruding black snout and leather or felt pads on their paws. Many had a humped back and some had stomachs fitted with a growler box.
In 1908, the Grand Duke of Russia bought a red Steiff bear for his daughter, Princess Xenia Georgievna, which she called Alfonzo in In 1989 it was sold at Christie’s for the then record figure of £12,100.
The bear’s popularity can be traced to when the famous Washington Post cartoonist Clifford Berryman drew the cartoon ‘Drawing the line in Mississippi’ which was a comment on a border dispute the President was trying to resolve. The bear became known as Teddy’s Bear and Berryman featured a bear cub in all future cartoons involving the president.
