18 Fun Facts About Stuffed Animals You Don't Know
of reading - words
Plush toys hold great significance for many people. There are many fun facts about stuffed animals that show just how important they can be. Or how unusual... people can be. We've tried to put together some fun facts, but that's just the tip of a huge iceberg 🧊. If you have any others, we'll be happy to hear from you in the comments or via email.
1) Fact #1: The stuffed animal origin story doesn't have a happy ending
Spoiler alert : Theodore Roosevelt 's story isn't as heartwarming as you thought 😪.You all know the classic teddy bears. But have you wondered why they are also called "Teddy" and not just teddy bears?
During a hunting trip in 1902, one of Theodore Roosevelt's companions managed to capture a bear 🐻 and tied it to a tree so that the president, who had not yet succeeded in killing it, could make him the honor of killing him. But when Roosevelt saw the cub, he walked away, stating that it would be unsportsmanlike to kill the poor creature. Inspired by a cartoon in the story, a Brooklyn store owner got permission from the president to call his stuffed animals "Teddy Bear" .
But not all hunting history is totally warm and fuzzy. Roosevelt told his companion to "end his suffering", so the man killed the bear with a knife after the president left. An additional fun fact is that Roosevelt didn't like being called Teddy at all 🤬 . Did you know that the history of stuffed animals is much older? Discover the complete history of stuffed animals .
2) Fact #2: Teddy bears would still exist without Theodore Roosevelt
German toymaker Margarete Steiff founded the Steiff company in 1880 and was the first commercial company to produce plush toys. She actually made a teddy bear after a trip to the zoo 🐘 prompted her nephew to design a teddy bear he asked her to make in 1903.
She was afraid that the bears were too scary for children, so she designed them with button-shaped eyes 👁, sewn-on mouths and noses, movable arms and legs - very similar to the American bears that have become so popular.
3) Fact #3: Winnie the Pooh is Based on the Story of a Real Pooh
Winnie the Pooh is one of the most famous teddy bears. He was born during the 20th century. A Canadian soldier bought a black bear cub from a hunter during the First World War 🔫, and the animal became a pet and a mascot for his troop.
The bear, named Winnipeg, was later donated to the London Zoological Gardens, where Christopher Robin Milne, son of Winnie the Pooh author, loved him so much he named his teddy bear after him. . Winnie 🍯 is so popular that in 2006 he even got his own star on the way to fame in Hollywood. But I bet all he wanted was honey.
4) Fact #4: The Celebrity Stuffed Toys
Another famous stuffed animal 😎: Russian Tchebourashka . It is also known as Topple in English.
He is a mix between a monkey 🐒 and a bear . Its name comes from a play on words and, roughly translated, means tumbled or to tumble. Given his large round ears and head, tumbling is easy for Tchebourashka!
5) Fact #5: The Teddy Bears have mourned the Titanic
After the sinking of the Titanic 🚢 in 1912, German toy company Steiff created 500 teddy bears to honor the victims. The "mourning bears" were black with red eyes to show their sympathy. They now sell for $20,000 or more at auction.
6) Fact #6: Plush Toys are Easier to Clean
Stuffing was unhygienic until toymakers Wendy Boston and Ken Williams invented washable teddy bears in 1954. Toys made in Wales used nylon instead of mohair, wood wool 🌲, kapok and other hard-to-clean materials. If you don't know how to clean them without damaging them, you can check out the 5 effective ways to clean lint .
7) Fact #7: Teddies Can Be Tiny...
The smallest sewn teddy bear commercially available measures just 7.5mm 📏 , made by South African "microbe" maker Cheryl Moss, whose largest creations are just over half an inch in height. high.
8) Fact #8: ...but Plush Toys Can Be Giant Too
The world's largest sewn teddy bear was made in 2008 in America, where it is bigger than ever. This 16-meter, 80-centimeter 😵 creation is called CTDreams, which stands for "Connect the Dreams," and you can visit it at Exploration Place in Wichita, Kansas, a state literally flatter than a pancake. Discover our giant stuffed animals , everyone loves them!
9) Fact #9: It is possible to Win one (or two or 3,000) Stuffed Animals in an Arcade Room
Yuka Nakajima is the undisputed world champion of claw machines, called "UFO catchers" in Japan, where she is from. She managed to catch more than 3,500 teddy bears in arcade games 👾!
10) Fact #10: These are the toys that have traveled the most
Between 2009 and 2010, British company ISPY sent teddy bear Raymondo on a journey that earned him the status of the world's most traveled toy mascot 🌏. In less than a year, he covered 636,664.5 km , crossing six continents and 35 countries with crew members and sponsors.
11) Fact #11: Stuffed Animals even travel to outer space!
Magellan Teddy Bear became the first teddy bear to go into space when he boarded the space shuttle Discovery 🚀 in 1995. But he wasn't just a bear on vacation, he was the "specialist education" of the mission, having been a project for an elementary school in Colorado. The cub then traveled around the world, visited the South Pole and many other things.
12) Fact #12: Teddy Bear's Birthday
Did you know that teddy bears or, as we established above, the Teddy Bear, are the most popular type of stuffed animals? They are over 125 years old 👴 .
For their 125th anniversary, a special teddy bear was made . It was so exclusive that it is in fact the most expensive ever made. It was sold for the impressive price of 193,000 dollars 💰.
13) Fact #13: The Travel Agency... for your Plush
In Japan, there is a travel agency 🛫 that is entirely dedicated to plush toys. Are your stuffed animals tired of endless play with you? They can take a nice break from traveling around the world.
The basic service of the agency is to show stuffed animals around Tokyo 🇯🇵 . But if you are very generous, you can send your comforter to Paris, London and other cities in Europe and even to the United States.
Unagi Travel even posts photos 📸 of your furry friends on their travels so you can see where they are and share some fun. You can also make sure your stuffed animal feels happy and enjoys the trip.
14) Fact #14: Your Teddy Bear Collection Has No Chance
Jackie Miley of Hilly City, South Dakota has the largest collection of teddy bears 🧸 in the world. In 2012, she owned 8,026 teddy bears .
15) Fact #15: Take your Coffee… With Stuffed Animals!
When staying in Japan again, you may find a cafe ☕ that has a particular type of visitors . In fact, they are not visitors. They live there and keep the customers of the cafe company.
Yes, the café has plenty of stuffed animals to keep visitors company 🤠 if they fancy having a special friend. That's coffee (or tea) in a pleasant environment.
16) Fact #16: Stuffed Animals Take a Ride on the Belmont Park Roller Coaster (San Diego)
Many theme parks are closed due to the pandemic, but this is also an opportunity. One of them is that stuffed animals can enjoy rides 🎡 . That's what Belmont Park in San Diego did a few days ago. The roller coaster held a special event where several stuffed animals were given a ride.
The Ursa Major roller coaster has to run multiple times a day, no matter what . This is a very old roller coaster - 95 years old. She must therefore work several times a day to keep her machines in working order. But park staff don't want empty seats. So they decided to strap a dozen stuffed animals 🐴 to the seats and let them ride.
As you can imagine, the stuffed animals loved the experience . They love to have fun and riding the historical roller coaster 🎢 for free was a great experience.
17) Fact #17: Stuffed Animals are Awesome
The main assumption is that plush toys are for children. In fact, over the years they have become a great gift 🎁 for everyone . Many people give stuffed animals for Valentine's Day. But they're also available for graduations, sporting events (like the PyeongChang 2018 Olympics ), and more.
The reason is simple: they are simply awesome 😃 . If you're not convinced yet, we have 9 more reasons why soft toys are awesome !
18) Fact #18: 10 More Facts About Plush Toys:
- Stuffed animals are soft and made in many different shapes and sizes. They often look like animals 🦊 or cartoon characters and are often given as gifts for birthdays or holidays like Valentine's Day. to express his feelings of love.
- The first patented stuffed toy was a rabbit from the Beatrix Potter stories, Peter Rabbit.
- Some antique plush toys ⏳, notably Steiff toys from the late 1800s and early 1900s, have sold for hundreds or even thousands of dollars .
- During Egypt and Ancient Rome, the poorest made rag dolls stuffed with straw, beans, cotton or wool.
- Amigurumi is a type of hand-knitted or crocheted Japanese plush. Amigurumis are usually made to be cute 🐥 with an oversized head and undersized extremities.
- Stuffed animals are also referred to as " stuffed animals ", " cuddly toys ", " stuffed toys", " soft toys ", " cuddly toys ", and " cuddly toys ".
- Over the years, plush toys have been stuffed with fibers, wool 🧶, plastic pellets, beans, cotton, thatch and straw.
- Plush toys are often shaped like animals or other objects .
- Electronics and mechanics are sometimes placed inside plush toys to allow them to be interactive, such as moving or making sounds 📣 .
- Plush toys are toys made of fabric and stuffed with some kind of stuffing material.
There you go, now that you know his 18 (even 28) fun and awesome facts about stuffed animals 🐯, you can enjoy these awesome stuffed animals and gift them to your kids or friends right now!
And one last little reminder; If you have any other fun facts about stuffed animals, feel free to share them in the comments 🖌 . We would love to hear from you.
