What Is The History of Plush Toys?

Plush toy is everywhere to see in our daily life, not only children but also many adults will buy plush toys to decorate their home or as presents. But, do you know the history of plush toys? Today, this article will talk about the history and future development of plush toys.

List: 1.Definition of Plush Toys

        2. History of Plush Toys

        3. Future Development of Plush Toys

Definition of Plush Toys

A plush toy is a toy with outer fabrics sewn from textiles and filled with flexible materials. They have many names, such as famous plush toys, plush animals, plushies, stuffies, plush toys or lovely toys. They are called "plush dudes" in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao. At present, we habitually call the plush toy industry plush toys. Textiles commonly used for outer fabrics include plain cloth, plush or Terry fabrics, and even socks. Common filling materials include synthetic fibers, cotton floss, cotton, straw, wool, plastic particles and beans.

There are many different forms of stuffed toys, but they are usually similar to real animals (sometimes exaggerated proportions or characteristics), legendary creatures, cartoon characters or inanimate objects. Plush toys have the characteristics of lifelike and lovely shape, soft touch, no fear of extrusion, convenient cleaning, strong decoration, high safety and wide application to the crowd. They can be used as comfort items; for display or collection; or as gifts, such as graduation, illness, mourning, Valentine's Day, Christmas or birthday. They are usually gifts for children, but they can be given to anyone.

History of Plush Toys

The first commercial problem in making plush toys was the German company Steiff in 1880. Steiff used newly developed technology to make interior decoration and their plush toys. In 1892, Isakakiti became one of the first batches of plush animal toys produced in the United States.

In 1903, Richard Steiff designed a soft plush bear, which was different from the early traditional dolls because it was made of plush fur fabric. Meanwhile, in the United States, Morris Michtom created the first teddy bear inspired by Roosevelt's painting of a president with a bear. In 1903, Peter Rabbit, the character of British writer Beatrice Porter, was the first patented plush toy.

Sock monkeys, a hand-made Stuffed Monkey made from socks, first appeared in the United States during the Great Depression.

Future Development of Plush Toys

With the rapid development of China's national economy and the continuous improvement of the standard of living in the home, the amazing potential of the Chinese toy market will gradually emerge. According to a foreign survey, plush toys are the first choice for European parents to choose toys for their children. The cost of Europeans spending on toys ($144) is much higher than that of developing countries such as China and Asia ($13). Second in the United States ($340), the second largest consumer market for toys, while Asian countries consume less than one-tenth of Europe's toys per capita. According to a survey by the China Toy Association and the Chinese Social Investigation Office, there are 286 million children and adolescents under the age of 14. Their per capita annual toy consumption is only 20 yuan (2.4 US dollars) to 30 yuan (3.6 US dollars), far lower than the Asian children's annual toy consumption of 13 US dollars and the world's children per year annual toy consumption of 34 US dollars.

If China's toy consumption reaches the Asian average, the market size is expected to exceed 30 billion yuan. In addition, the comprehensive survey report of the "China Toy Market" published by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council predicts that the mainland toy market will grow at a rate of 40% per year in the future. By 2012, sales will exceed 100 billion yuan.

According to relevant information, there are 380 million children under the age of 16 in China, of which 34% are children with only one child, reaching 129 million. Among the total children’s consumption, children’s toys increased from 5% in 2011 to 8% in 2012. These data show that the domestic plush toy market has broad prospects and great potential.

From this article, you have known what is plush toys also you know the past and future of plush toys, it seems that plush toys have a good development prospect.