Best Mary Meyer Stuffed Toy Designs
Best Mary Meyer Stuffed Animal Designs – 1930s to Today
I’m writing to tell about great designs created during the past 50 or more years. My hope is these toy design will not be forgotten and they can see the light of day again.
Shearson Sheep is my favorite Mary Meyer toy and was introduced in 1995. Shearson is 9″ high stuffed sheep with removable sheep-skin suit. With a zipper in front, When the zipper is unzipped, the suite may be removed. This toy was a very popular seller during the mid 1990s and into the 2000s and was one of Mary Meyer’s most creative designs. At the time Shearson was introduced it sold for $15.99 in a retail store.
Kids loved to play with Shearson, dressing and undressing him. Where are these toys today? Most are in attics or toy boxes in a closet, How many are there out there? Many thousands of Shearson still exist. Very few have been thrown out. Some were lost but most are alive and well and waiting for someone to bring them down from their resting place in the attic.
The purpose of this story is to remind us of the great Mary Meyer toy designs created during the past 50 to 60 years. Mary Meyer started her toy company in 1933 and created the original designs her company made. I took over designing in the late 1950s and my son Steven Meyer took over in the late 1980s until today. I’ve seen 75 years of Mary Meyer toy designs done by my Mother, myself and by my son Steven.
I am also very familiar with toys made by my competitors – Dakin, Russ Berry, Pussy Cat Toy, La Mar, Eden, Knickerbocker, Gund, Rushton, Kamar, Trudy, California Stuffed Toy, etc. most of whom are no longer in existence.
Each year new stuffed toys are created. New fads take the place of last year’s fad. What ever happened to the great toys our children and grandchildren had 20, 30, 40 years ago?
I am going to try and resurrect some of the favorites of years ago, so Moms and Dads and Grandmas and Grandpas can relive some of the great toys we played with years ago.
Let’s see what we can find. I just happen to have a closet full of old great stuffed animals made by Mary Meyer, that Mother, Steven and I created for Mary Meyer over the years.
by Walter Meyer
Mary Meyer’s son
Company historian
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