With the introduction of the first ever teddy bear as we know it in 1905 by Richard Steiff, a new numbering system was produced so that every Steiff teddy bear could be described and identified by it.
This numbering system was used until 1968 when a more modern method took over. European article numbers or EAN numbers are given to each Steiff bear, they are used in the Steiff catalogues and printed on the tag of each bear or animal.
Steiff bears since the 1980's have had 6 digit numbers due to the shear number of variations and designs that Steiff have made over the last 130 years. Steiff began with a 4 digit system that could accurately describe each teddy bear or animal. This number had a comma after the 4th digit followed by a number or 2 describing clothing variations or special information.
If we use Dante (pictured above) as an example, if he was a Steiff bear made pre 1950 he would be given the first number 5, as he is jointed. The second number would be 3, which relates to the material used, in this case 3 means mohair. The third and forth digits relate the size of the bear. Dante is 30cm so the third and fourth digit would be 3 and 0. So Dante would have had the EAN number "5330," in the middle of the 20th century. He would likely have had a couple of numbers after the comma such as 1 which indicates that he is stuffed. He would redoubtably been given a number for the bell around his neck as well. There would also be the letter G at the end which stands for Green as Dante is green tipped.
