The History of Boyds Bears

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Boyd's Bears' founder, G.M. Lowenthal, moved to rural Boyds, Maryland, near Washington, D.C., to open an antiques shop in 1979 with his wife, Tina. This was the beginning of The Boyds Collection Ltd. G.M. and Tina began to seek out and sell "antique reproductions," with the look and feel of true antiques at more affordable prices. This retail venture proved to be so successful that by 1982 they began to wholesale some of these top-selling antique reproductions to other stores. Some of their most successful wholesale items were antique reproduction duck decoys that ranged from a 9" stained teal to a giant 3' whistling swan.

G.M. added a new line when he found a group of 100% Merino Wool Bears from China. In 1984 he designed a 12" fully jointed wool bear and named it after his newborn son, Matthew. This was truly the beginning of Boyds Bears famous plush designs, and officially became coined as "Boyds Bears". Also in 1984, G.M. - tired of painting 20,000 duck decoys until 3 a.m.- turned to resin sculpting to produce "The Gnomes Homes," extremely detailed miniature houses based on American architecture. In 1987, G.M. and Tina relocated the firm to the Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, area, and the company continued to grow.he first bear was a stuffed bear made for the couple's newborn son, Matthew. They began making and selling stuffed bears, and the bears became known as "Boyds Bears" for the town of Boyds, Maryland, where they lived and operated their business. The line of plush bears and hares was a hugely popular success.

 In 1993, Boyds Bears released its first series of Resin Boyds Bears Collectibles and named them "The Bearstone Collection®". Then in 1994 G.M. introduced "The Folkstone® Collection" which included animals, santas, snowpeople, Boyds Faeriesprites, and angels. Uncle Bean's Treasure Boxes (now known as Boyd's Treasure Boxes) made their introduction in 1996. Every year since then, new resin figurines have been added to Boyds Bears wildly popular Resin figurine line.