Stuffed toy
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A stuffed toy is a
Stuffed toys are made in many different forms, but most resemble real
Description
Stuffed toys are distinguishable from other toys mainly by their softness, flexibility, and resemblance to animals or fictional characters. Stuffed toys most commonly take the form of animals, especially bears (in the case of teddy bears), mammalian
Stuffed toys come in an array of different sizes, with the smallest being thumb-sized and the largest being larger than a house.
Stuffed toys are commonly sold in stores worldwide. Vendors are often abundant at tourist attractions, airports, carnivals, fairs, downtown parks, and general public meeting places of almost any nature, especially if there are children present.[citation needed]
History
Hoffmann von Fallersleben wrote in 1835: Bring’ uns, lieber Weihnachtsmann, Bring’ auch morgen, bringe Musketier und Grenadier, Zottelbär und Pantherthier, Roß und Esel, Schaf und Stier, Lauter schöne Dinge! Translation: Dear Father Christmas, bring us musketeer and genadier, shaggy bear and panther, steed and donkey, sheep and steer: lots of lovely things. Forty-five years later, the first stuffed
The toy industry significantly expanded in the early 20th century. In 1903, Richard Steiff, nephew of Margarete, designed a soft stuffed bear that differed from earlier traditional rag dolls because it was made of plush furlike fabric.[4] As an art student in Stuttgart he visited the zoo and sketched the bears, which became the inspiration for his first life-like toy bear, known as "55 PB".[6] At the same time, in the US, Morris Michtom created the first teddy bear after being inspired by a drawing of President "Teddy" Roosevelt with a bear cub.[7] In 1903, the character Peter Rabbit from English author Beatrix Potter was the first fictional character to be made into a patented stuffed toy.[8][9] The following year they went on sale and were mass produced by Steiff.[10] The popularity of stuffed toys grew, with numerous manufacturers forming in Germany, the United Kingdom,[3] and the United States.[4] Many people also handmade their own stuffed toys. For instance, sock monkeys originated when parents turned old socks into toys during the Great Depression.[11]
In 1921, A. A. Milne bought a stuffed toy from Harrods department store in London for his son Christopher Robin, a toy which would later inspire the author's creation of Winnie-the-Pooh.[12] Stuffed toys of Paddington Bear, a character created by Michael Bond, were first produced by the family of Jeremy Clarkson in 1972, with the family eventually selling the rights to London-based Hamleys, the world's oldest toy store.[13] More recent lines of stuffed animals have been created around unique concepts, like Uglydoll, introduced in 2001, with a number of recognizable characters and overarching style.[14]
Modern plushies from Japan are known for kawaii styles, generally thought of as (at least globally) starting with Sanrio's Hello Kitty, with many popular characters from popular media like Pikachu and Eevee from Pokémon, and characters from stationery company San-X including Rilakkuma and the Sumikko Gurashi characters.[15] There is also a trend of Japanese plushies being shaped like mochi.
Psychology
Children, as well as adults, can form connections with their stuffed toys, often sleeping or cuddling with them for comfort. They can be sentimental objects that reduce
Production
Stuffed toys are made from a range of materials. The earliest were created from felt,
Manufacturers sell two main types of stuffed toys: licensed, which are toys of characters or other licensed properties, or basic, which take the shape of ordinary animals or other non-licensed subjects.[19]
Stuffed toys can also be homemade from numerous types of fabric or
Cultural impact, marketing, and collectors
Stuffed toys are among the most popular toys, especially for children. Their uses include imaginative play, comfort objects, display or collecting, and gifts to both children and adults for occasions such as graduation, illness, condolences, Valentine's Day, Christmas, or birthdays. In 2018, the global market for stuffed toys was estimated to be US$7.98 billion, with the growth in target consumers expected to drive sales upwards.[22]
Fads
Many stuffed toys have become fads that have boosted the industry overall.[19] Teddy bears were an early fad that quickly grew into a cultural phenomenon.[4] Close to 100 years later, in the 1990s, Ty Warner created Beanie Babies, a series of animals stuffed with plastic pellets. The toys became a fad through marketing strategies that increased demand and encouraged collection.[23][24] Pillow Pets, which can be folded from a pillow into a stuffed animal, were another successful brand, launching in 2003 and selling more than 30 million toys between 2010 and 2016.[25]
Other recent fads have involved toys paired with technology.
The Internet also presented an opportunity for new stuffed toy fads. In 2005,
See also
References
- ^ a b Laliberte, Marissa (2019). "11 Adorable Facts You Never Knew About Teddy Bears". Reader's Digest. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
- ^ "Largest teddy bear". Guinness World Records. 28 April 2019. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
- ^ a b c d Soft toys. (2003). In J. Miller (Ed.), Miller's antiques encyclopedia (2nd ed.). Mitchell Beazley.
- ^ ISBN 9780674030077. Archivedfrom the original on 4 January 2016.
- ^ Sachse, Gretchen (28 July 2016). "Ithaca Kitty was a success across America". The Ithaca Journal. Ithaca, New York. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
- ^ Cronin, Frances (26 July 2011). "The great teddy bear shipwreck mystery". BBC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2014. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
- ^ "Teddy Bears". Library Of Congress. Archived from the original on 5 December 2009. Retrieved 10 December 2007.
- ^ Lanzendorfer, Joy (31 January 2017). "How Beatrix Potter Invented Character Merchandising". Smithsonian. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
- ^ "The life of Beatrix Potter - Peter Rabbit". peterrabbit.com. Archived from the original on 17 January 2012.
- ^ "Steiff Peter Rabbit 1904 Replica". Steiffteddybears.co.uk. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
- ^ Boschma, Janie (5 November 2007). "History of the sock monkey: Stuffed animal created during the Great Depression". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 18 December 2009. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
- ^ "Winnie-the-Pooh goes to Harrods in new authorised AA Milne prequel". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
The story of how Winnie-the-Pooh went from a Harrods toy shelf to the home of Christopher Robin and the Hundred Acre Wood is set to be told for the first time, in an official prequel to AA Milne's original stories.
- Channel 5 (UK).
- ^ "Toy Industry Association 2006 Award Winning Products and Nominees. List of awards". toyassociation.org. Archived from the original on 24 June 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
- ^ "San-X net". www.san-x.jp. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
- ^ Kale, Sirin (5 January 2020). "'My bears are my lifeline': the adults who sleep with soft toys". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
- ^ Reid, Rebecca (20 May 2019). "1 in 3 British adults still sleeps with a soft toy". Metro. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
- ISBN 0-7509-3850-1.
- ^ a b c Byrne, Christopher (2013). A Profile of the United States Toy Industry : Serious Fun. Business Expert Press. pp. 14, 62–63.
- ISBN 978-0-7407-7812-4. Retrieved 20 March 2010.
Amigurumi.
- ISBN 978-0-596-52928-4. Archivedfrom the original on 28 December 2017. Retrieved 20 March 2010.
- ^ "Stuffed Animal & Plush Toys Market Size, Share - Industry Report, 2025". Grand View Research, Inc. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
- ^ Wickman, Kase (30 August 2017). "The Life and Death of the Princess Diana Beanie Baby Market". Vanity Fair. Condé Nast. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
- ^ Getlen, Larry (22 February 2015). "How the Beanie Baby craze was concocted — then crashed". New York Post. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
- ^ Glazer, Joyce A. (31 January 2017). "Celebrating Women: Jennifer Telfer". San Diego Magazine. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
- ^ "Just Tickled" Archived 2014-06-02 at the Wayback Machine. People, January 13, 1997.
- ^ "New toy an interactive fur ball". CNN. 5 October 1998. Archived from the original on 16 June 2007. Retrieved 13 July 2007.
- ^ Mabrey, Vicki; Janik, Kinga (20 November 2009). "Zhu Zhu Pets: Hamsters to Save Christmas?". ABC News. Archived from the original on 22 November 2009.
- ^ Anderson, Mae (27 November 2009). "Robotic hamsters are holidays' unlikely new craze". Denver Post. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
- ^ Pardo, Steve (11 April 2007). "Kids hooked on Webkinz world". The Detroit News. Retrieved 23 April 2007.
- ^ Barakat, Matthew (13 July 2007). "Review: Webkinz pleases parents and children". NBC News. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 20 August 2007.
- ^ Walujono, Amanda (26 February 2015). "How Disney's Tsum Tsum Craze is Taking America By Storm". Character Media. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 30 December 2021.