Harman Manufacturing Company is a New York company that made teddy bears and other items like teddy bear purses, teddy dolls and possums. Many Harman bears had voice boxes, short bristle mohair, arms set low on body and straight legs. A 1907 Harman 18 inch bear would go for about $530.
FAO Schwarz is one of the oldest and largest toy retailers in the world and opened their first outlet in 1862. Many of the F.A.O. Schwarz teddy bears are commissioned from other leading manufacturers like Steiff and American bear artist John Wright who was granted the exclusive rights from the Walt Disney Company to make Winnie the Pooh, Christopher Robin and Piglet in a limited edition of 250 for FAO Schwarz in 1994 called Wintertime Pooh and Piglet.
Other well known FAO Schwarz bears include The Golden Gate bear developed to commemorate the opening of F.A.O. Schwarz’s new store in San Francisco in 1989. Another is “Truffles” made of synthetic fur made to resemble old mohair.
Annette Funicello produced a line of teddy bears for the Annette Funicello Collectible Bear Company from 1992 until the last collection was made in 2004.
She partnered with talented teddy bear artists from around the world to make bears for her company. Each bear comes with Annette’s signature logo pin, sewn in label and comes in a gift box with a hand tag and a certificate of authenticity.
Annette Funicello bears were issued in a series of collections that are now retired. Some of her collections include:
Angel Bears
Bear Buds
Bears Of The Sea
Beary “Licious
Holiday Collection
Spring Collection
Annette Funicello suffers from multiple sclerosis (MS) and donates a portion of the profits from the sale of her teddy bears and other enterprises to MS research and the Annette Funicello Fund for Neurological Disorders.
Hecla was an American manufacturer that made bears from the early 1900′s. Hecla bears had voice boxes in direct competition to Steiff. Hecla teddy bears were made with imported German mohair and were assembled by German toymakers making it very difficult to tell the difference between Hecla bears and those made by Steiff.
Some typical features of Hecla bears include ears that are set wide apart, rust colored noses and claw stitching, closely set eyes made of clear glass with painted backs. They also have the hump on the bear’s back, large round feet and long limbs and arms set very high on the body.
