GUND was originally a small toy and novelty company in New York, founded by a German man named Adolf Gund in 1898. Their first products were produced in loft factories on Third Avenue, Broadway, West 19th Street and 42nd Street. By 1922, the company had offices on East Ninth Street.

In 1925, after Gund retired he sold the company to Jacob Swedlin, who had been mentored by Adolf and taught how to cut and make patterns. Swedlin then brought his two brothers on board and the company took off from there.

As of today, the company is run by Jacob’s grandson, Bruce Raiffe, making him the third-generation family owner.

GUND: The Expansion

In the 1970’s, GUND decided to spread internationally by expanding its product line to animals that were popular in other countries. In 1972, President Richard Nixon visited China and the United States was gifted two pandas called Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing, this drove up the demand for plush pandas which allowed GUND to expand further.

In 1998, the company made a one-of-a-kind 100^th anniversary bear and is was auctioned to Yoshihiro Sekiguchi for $100,000. The bear was placed in one of Sekiguchi’s three teddy bear museums in Japan and the money was donated to children’s charities. In 2002 the United States Postal Service used a GUND teddy bear from 1948 on a stamp to honour the 100^th anniversary of the Theodore Roosevelt teddy bear.

Today, the teddy bear creators make a long line of stuffed animals, ranging from bears, horses, bunnies and dinosaurs to Grumpy Cat and Boo the Dog.

My Personal Experience

I first came across GUND in 2014, my school had a program for all ninth-grade students where we travelled to three places over three school terms, and during my first term I went to Melbourne, which is only a two hours flight from my home town.

Around half way through the week me and my group stumbled across a small gift shop on one of the main roads which had an array of games, toys, souvenirs and stuffed animals of different brands. A small Labrador-looking dog with a rose in its mouth caught my eye and I knew instantly that I had to get him, I named him Bounder after the name of program: Urban Bound, because I wanted his name to have relevance to the trip.

At the time, I was unaware that GUND animals come with their own names and later found out that his assigned name was Angelo – but Bounder stuck.

Future Collection Additions

There are many more GUND bears and other animals I would like to add to my collection in time. Some of which being: Ronaldo the Panda, Dug the Dog, and Rocco the Fox as well as many more.

Take a look at our bear collection today!