Teddy bear 120

At the end of October 2022, Tartu Toy Museum opened an exhibition dedicated to the 120th birthday of the teddy bear.

In the late 19th century, toys resembling real wild bears were still made for children, and the teddy bear that looks more familiar to us was born in Margarete Steiff’s family business in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. In October 1902, Margarete’s nephew Richard Steiff designed the first soft toy bear with movable paws and an exact copy of that bear is displayed at the exhibition at the Toy Museum. The exhibition also features a large number of different old teddy bears from the Toy Museum’s collections. The oldest teddy bears to have reached the exhibition have lived in children’s games for over a hundred years. The newest teddy bears arrived just in time for the jubilee exhibition.

AT TARTU TOY MUSEUM’S BIG BEAR EXHIBITION, YOU CAN

· find out what real bears are like and how the teddy bear was born

· see teddy bears, both old and new, giant and tiny

· read and listen to bear stories and songs

· be a guest at the 120th birthday party of the teddy bears

· play bear games with bears and friends.

After visiting the bear exhibition, everyone will become a truw teddy bear scientist who can surprise their friends with new knowledge!

The bear house was provided for this exhibition by AS Palmako.