She made a special point of taking us upstairs to show us her collection of Steiff stuffed toys. Someone asked me: "What is the significance of Steiff?" I had to explain that during the Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt the idea of a Teddy Bear was born in the United States based on a cartoon showing President Roosevelt in Mississippi to resolve a border dispute between Missiisippi and Louisiana, refusing to shoot a bear his aids had tied up for him to shoot. The cartoon was published nation wide and the wild bear Teddy refused to shoot became known as Teddy's Bear, was made into stuffed bears by a small toy shop in New York City, thus starting the love affair with the Teddy Bear in this country. Simultaneously in Germany, Richard Steiff, son of a toy manufacturer, Margaret Steiff, drew more cuddly models of stuffed bears, modifying that companies stiff bears that were on all fours to an upright bear which was softer and more cuddly. This newer Steiff version of the stuffed bear appeared at a Leipzig toy fair where American buyers saw it, knew the Teddy Bear craze that was going on in the US, and brought the Steiff bear to the US. Hence the story of the simultaneous appearance of the cuddly stuffed bear in the US and Germany in the early 20th century. Heidi's collection includes not only bears, but many other Steiff stuffed animals.
We had the unusual pleasure of hearing Paul play his guitar for us. He has learned this instrument admirably and provided some background music to our conversations. Then he played two songs to which we could sing. They are two Beatle Songs. But I am not sure that most of us would listen or completely hear the words when listening to the Beatles sing them. We had the words printed out for us and I, for one, was surprised at the depth of the words. They are printed here for your perusal. Click Read More below.
