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Crämer
Company History
| Date |
Event |
| 1858 |
Eduard Cramer born, he was the son of a
tailor |
| 1885 |
Eduard takes over his father-in-law, Paul
Schwabacher's, toy factory in Sonneberg, Germany |
| 1896 |
Company founded by Eduard Crämer
|
| 1901 |
Hermann Crämer (Eduard's son) joined the Company |
| 1906 |
Large order of 6,000 bears was received for the export market,
the proceeds allowed a factory to be built |
| 1915 |
EDUCA trademark established |
| 1920 |
A limited partnership was created by Eduard and Hermann Crämer
and Eduard's sons in-law Walter Macheleidt and Heinrich Löhr |
| 1945 |
Eduard Crämer died |
| 1952 |
Hermann Crämer left the company and it was
rented to Hans Löhr and Erich Schubert |
|
A license agreement with Schildkröt-Puppen
GmbH set up allowing them to manufacture existing Crämer
products and to develop replica's of earlier Crämer products. |
Crämer
Bears
Eduard Crämer trained as a tailor and due to a surfeit of
tailors was then encouraged to design soft toys. One of the first
he produced was an elephant. He went on to design quality teddy
bears too including many novelties: brightly coloured bears, mechanical
and musical bears and clown bears that would play music when the
head was moved back and forwards. One of the better known, yet rare,
Crämer bears is Bearkin; made in the 1930's
for F.A.O. Schwarz, this series of 20cm (8") bears might be
dressed in, for example, felt jacket and trousers. "Scotch
Bearkin" wore a plaid cap, velvet top, kilt and sporran and
red leather shoes!
| Crämer Bearkin circa 1938 |
1930's masked Crämer bear |
1930's Crämer bear |
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Visit our Vintage Bears where, depending
upon availability, you may see more Crämer teddy bears
Crämer
Bear Identification
- Crämer did not affix permanent labels or buttons to their
bears. A triangular swing tag was used, which was usually attached
to the chest. The swing tag showed "Eduard Crämer"
or "E/C" during the 1920's. The "Educa" trademark,
with the drawing of a monkey, was briefly used next, then "Educa,
Made in Germany" appeared in the 1930's. Bears with these
original card tags remaining are rare.
- Muzzle: clipped/shaved mohair on the nose and surrounding area,
usually to the outside edge of the eyes to form a heart or shield
shape.
- Mouths: could be open with felt lining or closed. The closed
mouth bear's sometimes have a small embroidered red tongue.
- Feet: tended to be quite large.
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