In 1880, a German seamstress named Margarete Steiff, whose bout with polio had limited her to sewing with only one hand, founded the company that bears her name and is today the leader in stuffed, plush bears. Steiff’s nephew Richard created the first soft bear for his aunt, whose factory produced all sorts of toys at the time. Steiff's idea for the bear came from his drawings of the animals at the Stuttgart Zoo. An American wholesaler...Continue Reading