Giant Stuffed Animals and the Manufacturing of Toys
Giant Stuffed Animals and the Manufacturing of Toys
The problem with giant stuffed animals is that once you have succumbed to purchasing one, another (and another) will soon follow. With the allure that these soft, over-sized soft toys undoubtedly have, proceeding with caution is always wise.
Phoenician merchants living in the Nile delta, were trading toys made of glass in 1000 BCE, in exchange for imported goods. The thought is that the Phoenicians were exporting toys from what was their homeland, which was north of what we know today as Israel, all the way across the Mediterranean to North Africa, Spain, and into Southern Italy. They worked in groups which were generally comprised of family members and both the toys they exported and made, likely included miniature ceramic cooking items and dolls. Later on, when Greek merchants were travelling, they bought toys from makers of toys; these were small in size making them easy to add on to the larger goods they were carrying. Traveling salesman also sold dolls in Greek markets since the doll-making area sat between their routes Athens and Persia (now known as Iran). In some parts of their empire, the Romans also had doll-manufacturing industries. From these early trade in toys, toy manufacturing and export became a long-standing tradition in addition to the establishment of the cross-cultural influence of toys.
In northern Europe, by the time the 13th century rolled around, town fairs located in the Smithfield area of London (called the Bartholomew Fair) and the fairs held in Leipzig, Germany twice a year, were the places to sell a diverse range of goods. Toys were included in these sales and they were generally small, hand-crafted productions made by artisans. All manner of toys at the time were made from cloth, cane, wood, leather, ceramic, pewter, or other materials found locally; there were balls, rattles, dolls, spinning tops, animals, toy kites, whistles, and whirligogs (a spinner on a wooden stick that had paddles on the ends like windmills and moved in the wind). The world of adults could also be found in miniature form toy soldiers, and metal and ceramic cooking utensils for children. Besides artisan toymakers, who were responsible for making most of these items, it was also parents who made toys for their children. Sometimes it was even the children themselves.
From 1200, evidence has been found indicating that the toy manufacturing industry was a growing one, especially in London. During the middle ages, between England and Northern Europe, there was an increase in both the import and export of toys. In fact, by 1582, trade was so successful, an import duty was applied to packs of 144 items. The importing of dolls and puppets also took place, most likely coming from Germany. The greatest toy making area in the world, however was established by the merchants on European trading routes. With forests able to supply an abundant supply of cheap wood, trading routes and skilled woodworkers, all of these elements were instrumental in establishing Nuremberg in central Germany as the toy industries world renowned center. Right from the start, both the structure of manufacturing and marketing in Nuremberg was favored and more organized to toymakers compared to what could be found in London. Over time, Nuremberg became renowned as the place where good toy-making took place and as a result, toys were exported across Europe and the fair held there began to specialize in them.
We know from the very earliest history of toy manufacturing, that animals were part of the industry. It wasn't until 1902, however, when Germany's Richard Steiff invented the teddy bear, that the soft toy industry really began to take off. While hir plush toys were by no means the giant stuffed animals we know today, making them into these much larger versions, seemed inevitable; given how much children were drawn to their stuffed toys and how much they loved animals, combining larger sizes with the animal was only a natural progression. And, so, giant stuffed animals were born.
giant stuffed toys
giant stuffed animals
Copyright Shelley Vassall, 2010. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.
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