figurine: Photographer Muffy

In 1902, Morris Mictom, a Russian immigrant and Brooklyn toy-shop owner, sewed a cuddly stuffed toy and dubbed it Teddy����_��s Bear. The bear became a hit. German toy manufacturer Richard Steiff created a stuffed bear, too, and began mass-producing copies in 1903. The stuffed bears became a hit with adults and children. Visitors who flocked to the boardwalks in New Jersey����_��s seaside resorts took home teddy bears as prizes and souvenirs. Women����_��s magazines featured ads for bear accessories and offered up-to-date patterns for sewing bear clothes. Books, songs, and even a 1907 feature film marked the rising popularity of teddy bears. This fascination has persisted ever since. The North American Bear Company (NABCO) released a collectible family of plush bears, the VanderBears, more than 80 years later. Muffy VanderBear����_��the smallest member of the fashionably dressed and collectible VanderBear family����_��proved the most popular. The company also released iterations of Muffy and her friends, Hoppy, Lulu, and Purrlie, and ornaments, figurines, and collectibles featuring the family.