拍品专文
EDUARD CRÄMER
Until the beginning of the 1940s, the little village of Schlkau, 15 km from Sonneberg, was one of the centres for the production of toys. Eduard Crämer founded his firm there.
He was born in 1858, and as his father was a tailor, he learned the same craft and went to Dresden to study how to make patterns. In 1885 he married the daughter of Pul Schwabacher, another toy producer from Schalkau. In 1896 he bagn to make patterns for soft toy animals and soon had a collection. Very few of these catalogues have survived. The main problem was that he had very little money and business experience, also Schalkau was far away from any city and all the material had to be carried on foot. However, Crämer's business flourished and he soon gave up his tailor's workshop and survived on toy making alone. Twice a week he would drive to Sonneberg with his newly acquired horse and cart. When the teddy bear boom began in 1906/7, he was one of the first to pick up the Steiff formula for success. These copies allowed him to build a house for himself and a factory for the business. His son Hermann took over, assisted by Walter Macheleit, who after the 1st World war, married Crämer's daughter. After the 2nd World War and the many political changes (Schalkau was part of East Germany) the business was forced to close down. The bears they produced until then were made of mohair, both short and long, but also using long mohair in the fashionable colours gold, orange, green, violet as well as white, brown and blond. Voice boxes or musical mechanism were regularly used.
Until the beginning of the 1940s, the little village of Schlkau, 15 km from Sonneberg, was one of the centres for the production of toys. Eduard Crämer founded his firm there.
He was born in 1858, and as his father was a tailor, he learned the same craft and went to Dresden to study how to make patterns. In 1885 he married the daughter of Pul Schwabacher, another toy producer from Schalkau. In 1896 he bagn to make patterns for soft toy animals and soon had a collection. Very few of these catalogues have survived. The main problem was that he had very little money and business experience, also Schalkau was far away from any city and all the material had to be carried on foot. However, Crämer's business flourished and he soon gave up his tailor's workshop and survived on toy making alone. Twice a week he would drive to Sonneberg with his newly acquired horse and cart. When the teddy bear boom began in 1906/7, he was one of the first to pick up the Steiff formula for success. These copies allowed him to build a house for himself and a factory for the business. His son Hermann took over, assisted by Walter Macheleit, who after the 1st World war, married Crämer's daughter. After the 2nd World War and the many political changes (Schalkau was part of East Germany) the business was forced to close down. The bears they produced until then were made of mohair, both short and long, but also using long mohair in the fashionable colours gold, orange, green, violet as well as white, brown and blond. Voice boxes or musical mechanism were regularly used.