Margarete Steiff was born on July 24th 1847. In Giengen near Ulm.
At the age of 1½ she was taken ill with polio And spent the rest of her life confined to a wheelchair.After innumerable visits to the doctor and health resorts,Margarete Steiff finally comes to terms with her illness, But she never stopped enjoying her job.
.
1880 the first Steiff animal was created – an elephant,This was made of felt. The elephant was the first soft-filled fabric toy animal and soon become very popular with children
1886 5,170 elephants were sold and other animals were added to the product. For sales responsibility assumed, Margarete’s brother! Fritz Steiff.The family business expanded.
1892 The first Steiff catalogue was published to give the customers an overview of the products that had been added to the range.
1893 The first trade fair: Steiff felt toys were presented for the first time at the Spring Fair in Leipzig. The company was entered in the commercial register as a toy factory.
1895 The first foreign business contacts were established with Harrods in London.
1897 Richard Steiff, Margarete's nephew, joined the company.
1904 From November onwards, every Steiff animal leaving the factory had a "Button in Ear". The original button was made of metal, embossed with an elephant. Franz Steiff, another of Margarete's nephews, came up with this idea to distinguish Steiff articles from imitation products. The elephant was later replaced by the name "Steiff". This ingenious idea marked the launch of a world-famous trademark: Steiff "Button in Ear". Production increased to 12,000 Steiff bears.
1905 Richard Steiff revised the fundamental concept to create the basic design still used today.
1907 Steiff manufactured 974,000 Teddy bears. The five nephews of the company founder were appointed as directors of Steiff GmbH and the product spectrum expanded continuously. This was the breakthrough for the world-famous name from Germany.
