It’s time to celebrate our furry friends as we delve into the Guiness Book of World Records for a look at some world famous, record breaking teddy bears.
The largest collection of teddy bears is held by Istvánné Arnóczki of Hungary. Istvánné grew up in poverty and as a child never owned a teddy bear. She bought her first teddy bear in 1978, when she was in her twenties and has not stopped collecting since. Her personal collection now comprises of a staggering 20,367 items and is stored in the Teddy Museum in her local village.
The smallest commercially available teddy bear measures just 9mm (0.35 in) in size and was made by Cheryl Moss of South Africa in 2003.
The largest teddy bear was made in Mexico in April 2019and measures 19.41 m (63 ft 8 in) in length. The bear was made with the same materials as a commercially available teddy bear including details such as tiara, dress, eyes and nose.
The Most Expensive Teddy Bear ever sold was a Steiff ‘Louis Vuitton’ teddy bear made in 2000 measuring 45 cm (17 in). It was sold at Christie’s in Monaco for a price of €213,720.00 ($182,550; £125,831) on the 14th October 2000.
The most expensive teddy bear of antique origin was a Steiff bear named Teddy Girl which was sold by Christie’s, London on the 5th December 1994 for £110,000 ($171,600) to Japanese businessman Yoshihiro Sekiguchi founder of the Izu Teddy Bear Museum in Ito, Japan where she now lives.. The bear was made in 1905 (the year after Richard Steiff made his first jointed plush teddy bear) and belonged to Colonel Bob Henderson. It’s reported that Colonel Henderson took her everywhere with him, even to his landing on the D-Day beaches, where he was a small arms adviser to Field Marshal Montogomery.
