MOHAIR BEARS

During the very late 1950 and early 1960’s we manufactured a variety of Old Fashioned Teddy Bears made of mohair. In those days mohair bears were not the ultimate, top quality that they have become today.

We made four sizes:

#564 – 8”

#570 – 12”

#540 – 16”

#542 – 18”

The mohair plush to make this group came from Germany and was made by Hildebrandt & Co in Goepingen. The bears were stuffed with chopped foam rubber and later chopped polyurethane, which is synthetic foam.

This group of Old Fashioned Teddy Bears were very popular and we manufactured a large quantity of all 4 sizes.

There was also a 5th design – #975, which was the 12” version with a Wind-up musical mechanism.

In the late 1970’s the US Customs imposed a high rate of duty on Mohair plush because it was considered wool. The importing of this German mohair plush became too expensive and we changed our Old Fashioned Bears to an acrylic plush that looked like mohair, but was not as high priced as wool mohair.

We also made a change in the paws and feet of this group of bears. The paws were originally made of felt. Kids playing with the bears wore holes through the felt paws. We changed from felt to a woven fabric that resembles felt, but wore much better than felt.

The eyes were amber colored, realistic, locked-in plastic eyes. Nose and tongue were felt and each bear had a red satin neck-ribbon and a gold + black OFTB hang tag.

YEARS IN PRODUCTION: late 1950’s – early 1960’s

ORIGINAL RETAIL PRICE:

COLOR: brown

SIZE: 8”-18″ high

SKU: 540/542/564/570