“Eight Decades of Toys”
Peek in on our designers and our family as Mary Meyer celebrates 80 years of bringing childhood companions to generations of stuffed toy lovers. Watch as we stuff a giant bear and sketch toys not yet in stores.

“Walter’s Mary Meyer Workshop”
In this video, Walter Meyer, our Chairman, describes learning how to design and make stuffed toys.

“Sketching Toys at Mary Meyer”
Watch a fun timelapse as one of our artists sketches a puppy.

The post See what eight decades of toys looks like, here at Mary Meyer appeared first on Mary Meyer Stuffed Toys.

Join us in supporting Stand for the Silent

Mary Meyer wants to help stop bullying:  A small band of quiet heros are arriving into specialty stores this winter.  These eye-catching critters are not into seeing through walls or leaping over skyscrapers– however they do lift spirits and raise both awareness and funds to help STOP BULLYING!

Mary Meyer is introducing ikimono’s, a group of five unusual looking critters (ikimono is Japanese for critter) that stand on two feet.  Each comes with a simple poem on a hang tag that commits ikimono to standing up for you.  Also included is the STOP BULLYING message and Mary Meyer’s promise to donate 10% of its profits from ikimono’s to “Stand for the Silent.”  This grassroots organization travels to schools throughout the United States to spread the STOP BULLYING message.  They have presented to over 600,000 students and counting.

Learn about Kirk Smalley & his vow to end bullying

Kirk Smalley and his wife, Laura, endured every parent’s worst nightmare – burying their child. Their 11-year-old son, Ty, was a victim of bullying.

“This kid that had been picking on him for over two years, came up and starting picking on him again. And I guess Ty finally had enough. He retaliated … he got caught. He was suspended for three days. They called his mama. She went and picked him up, took him home,” said Kirk Smalley.

“She told Ty to do his homework, told him to do his chores, told him we’d talk about it when we got home that evening. When Laura came home … she found out that Ty didn’t do his homework. Our boy didn’t do his chores. Instead, he killed himself on our bedroom floor.”

Ty’s death was nearly three years ago and the pain of that loss is still etched into the faces of his parents. Both seem perpetually on the verge of tears.

“I won’t say goodbye and actually take that time and show that grief for my baby. That’s a form of saying goodbye. And admitting that he ain’t going come through that door again … is something I’m not strong enough to do,” Kirk Smalley said. “His shoes are still in front of the front door, just in case he were to open it and come in.”

In the despair following Ty’s death, Kirk found purpose in continuing the battle his son fought in life.

“One month and seven days after Ty killed himself, it was on Father’s Day. I couldn’t sleep … and that day just loomed and loomed on the horizon and when it finally came, I knew I had to do something,” Kirk said, “so I made a promise to Ty on that day that I was going to stop bullying in this world for him and for all the other kids that are suffering from it. I don’t break promises.”

He and Laura formed an anti-bullying organization with a group of local high school students called Stand for the Silent. Kirk’s life is now a mission to stop bullying, and youth suicide, and his days are spent presenting his son’s story as a cautionary tale to students across the country.

Students in “Stand for the Silent.” Photo credit: Oklahoma State University, Oklahoma City

Kirk Smalley at a presentation for “Stand for the Silent.” Photo credit: The Oklahoman

“We do it because we don’t want another family to live our nightmare. Laura doesn’t ever want another mama to find her baby the way she found ours. We don’t want another kid to ever feel the way Ty felt, that that was the only option. We’re not doing it for Ty. We’re doing it for all the other kids out there,” Kirk said.

Another major objective for Stand for the Silent is to inspire students to be the change they want in their schools.

“The main part of our message is not to stand silent and watch it happen and that’s addressing the bystanders,” Kirk said. “If we can empower those kids to be willing to stand up and say ‘you know what – this isn’t right. It’s not funny,’ then we’ll greatly outnumber the bullies. One kid, one voice can make a difference.”

Kirk has done presentations at more than 500 schools and spoken to hundreds of thousands of kids in the nearly three years since Ty’s death. Although his work is now focused on students around the country, he always has his son in mind.

“I think that our boy would be proud of me,” he said. “I think that there’s a reason we’re doing what we’re doing. I think I feel him with me when I’m talking to these kids. I know for a fact that there is a reason that we were put on this path, no matter if we want to be here or not.” (from CNN.com)

Stand for the Silent on Anderson Cooper

The new AC360° documentary, “The Bully Effect,” follows the lives of families who were featured in the eye-opening film “Bully,” and also the filmmaker Lee Hirsch. CNN producers dedicated a year to tracing their journeys of self-discovery, and the transformative experiences they had as a result of the movie.

They have become empowered through telling their stories of struggle and perseverance. In their own unique ways, they’re on the front lines of the movement to stop bullying. As you can see in”The Bully Effect,” they were victims who are now inspirations and advocates for others suffering in silence.

There has been a remarkable outpouring of support and responses to the documentary. Viewers have taken to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google+, AC360.com, and iReport to share their own stories, advice, and words of encouragement. It’s a testament to the changes happening around the country in large and small communities, led by adults and kids who believe, like Anderson Cooper does, that enough is enough.

Read some of the messages and share your own in a comment, on Twitter with #bullyeffect, or on the AC360° Facebook page.  (from CNN.com)

View complete coverage of “The Bully Effect” including how schools go beyond bullying, empowering young people to speak up, how Congress can help, the filmmaker’s personal battle, culture’s unhealthy love with reality TV bullying, Anderson’s personal reflection, and when bullying goes high-tech.

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Displayed at the Toy Fair include all of the Pajama Pooch families. In center on lower shelf is the original Spotted Pajama Pooch (Dog) and to the right is the Tan and White versions of the PJ Dog.

On the upper shelf on the left is the PJ Cat in Grey and to the right the PJ Hound in White, Tan and Spot.

On the lower shelf are medium and small size versions of the Dog and Hound.

Each year in late January or early February the Toy Fair was held in New York City for buyers from all over the world and especially the USA of course. New design were introduced each year at Toy Fair.

By Walter Meyer

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Mother and dad, Hans Meyer, started making toys and pin cushions at the company they started in 1933 inNew York City.

I grew up in the family business my entire life. When I was a youngster in the 1940s, I began to pay close attention to the family business. My parents put me to work doing a variety of labor tasks at the company like sweeping floors and other odd jobs around the factory. Of course, that was normal in a family business back in those days. I worked fulltime for 58 years at the Mary Meyer Company and continue to dedicate some of my time to the company today where we still proudly own and operate our family business inVermont.

For the past few months, I have been trying to reconstruct how my mother designed her plush toys and what type of toys she made in the early days.  Mother told me a number of times that when we were manufacturing toys in New York Cityat 3 West 29^th Street – just offFifth Avenue – she had 108 girls making items for the company.  But the question is, “What did they make?”

Mother and dad started Mary Meyer Mfg. Co. in 1933 during the depression.  Mother was a very successful seamstress and could sew anything.  She worked for Miss Carroll, a high-end ladies dress maker who made $3,000 dresses for wealthy women in the early 1930s.   Dad was a great salesman.  He sold Fuller Brush Company products and was quite successful.

My parents were a natural team.  She created it, and he sold it.  Now what did they make and sell?  I can go back to the early 1940s and find stuffed animals, but before that in the 1930s, they made stuffed animal pin cushions and Tomato pincushions.

I never asked my mother how she designed the soft products that she made in the early days.  Being a designer myself, I can understand the progression or evolution of design work. Mother began the business with the Tomato Pincushion, then moved to designing the Animal and Doll Pincushions then onto stuffed animals and stuffed dolls.

In the 1930s almost every woman sewed – dresses for herself and her daughters and possibly shirts and shorts for the boys.  Since women sewed so much, they needed a way to keep and store their pins and needles, so a Tomato pincushion is what they began using.  After begin successful with the Tomato pincushion, mother went a step further in her design work. Using her design talent, she took that Tomato pincushion shape and with a little innovation she was able to design a Scottie dog, Lamb, Horse and a Doll pincushion.  These all became early Mary Meyer pincushions.

During the past few months, I have put together a collection of vintage Mary Meyer Pincushion Dolls.  These dolls were found on the Internet and from different parts of theUnited States.  It makes sense that these pincushions were found from so many different locations because dad traveled the Eastern half of the U.S. and sold the Mary Meyer products to department stores like Marshall Field’s in Chicago; the J.L. Hudson Company in Detroit; the Hecht Company and Woodward & Lothrop in Washington, D.C.; F. W. Woolworth 5 & 10 Cent Stores; and many others

But in the mid1930s, what did those 108 employees make for Mary Meyer Co.?

I may have found part of the answer.  What I found are they made both pincushions and dolls.  Some of these dolls have a loop on top of their heads for hanging.  (See the nearby photo.) It is easy enough to hang them by placing a straight pin on the wall in front of a work area and store pins and needles there.  Looking at the photo here, you can see the second doll down on the right column dressed in red is loaded with pins by a sewer who needed a place to keep them.

By looking at all of the pincushion dolls in the photo, you can see my mother’s evolution of her design work. The design elements are refined each time she made a different style of doll.

If you are wondering how I found these pincushions, they were on Internet sites.  When I went to the eBay website, there were 5,539 pincushions listed.  More than likely, none were made by Mary Meyer as those are few and far between.  But after all, we are talking about dolls that were made 75 years ago and probably sold for 49¢ to 79¢ each in the 1930s.  How many of these vintage pincushions are people hanging on to today.  Possibly more than we think. At the top of the photo is a hang-tag that was on many of Mary Meyer dolls.

If anyone who reads this happens to have a doll pincushion or an animal pincushion please email me with a photo of it and where you live.

Those dolls and animals are part of “My Family” and I love to see them and find out more about where they are today.

You can email me at  walter_meyer@marymeyer.com

Thanks for listening to my story

Sincerely,
Walter Meyer

The post Have You Ever Wondered Where All the Vintage Stuffed Dolls Are Today? appeared first on Mary Meyer Stuffed Toys.

Stand for the Silent (Official), the cause we are supporting was featured last night on CNN. This is what the ikimono toys are all about. Watch “The Bully Effect” and learn more about Stand for the Silent’s Kirk Smalley’s story and see how he has turned grief into a mission to help kids all over the world.

A small band of quiet heros are arriving in to and specialty stores this winter.  These eye-catching critters are not into seeing through walls or leaping over skyscrapers– however they do lift spirits and raise both awareness and funds to help STOP BULLYING!

Mary Meyer is introducing Ikimonos, a group of five unusual looking critters (ikimono is Japanese for critter) that stand on two feet.  Each comes with a simple poem on a hang tag that commits ikimono to standing up for you.  Also included is the STOP BULLYING message and Mary Meyer’s promise to donate 10% of its profits to “Stand for the Silent.”  This grassroots organization travels to schools throughout the United States to spread the STOP BULLYING message.  They have presented to over 600,000 students and counting.  Visit their website:  StandfortheSilent.org  Read more about how Mary Meyer is supporting Stand for the Silent with our ikimono line of toys, and why we’re passionate about stopping bullying.

Read and watch snippets from “The Bully Effect”

Tonight on AC360: The Bully Effect

Anderson Cooper on “The Bully Effect”

A Father Find’s Purpose After His Son’s Suicide – Kirk Smalley, Stand for the Silent

Fighting for Your Bullied Child

Cartoon Network and Sen. Bob Casey raise anti-bullying flag

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*Awareness Owl will be available for purchase from our shopping site around mid-March 2013

2012 Awareness Owl
With the help of you, our valued customers, in 2011, Mary Meyer donated over $5,000.00 to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation from the proceeds of Awareness Owl. We started with a modest goal of selling 2,400 Awareness Owls from our Holiday catalog. Thanks to you, we exceeded our donation goal in four short months. Thus we produced another 2,400 Owls to carry us well into 2012. It is our hope that you will continue to buy Awareness Owl, we will continue donating $2.00 for every one of these owls we sell. Visit us on Facebook to link to the BCRF page. And thank you for supporting a cause we care deeply about.

The Meyer Family

The post Awareness Owl: Supporting The Breast Cancer Research Foundation appeared first on Mary Meyer Stuffed Toys.

Mary Meyer wants to help stop bullying.

Townshend, Vermont (January 2013) Mary Meyer Corp.

A small band of quiet heros are arriving in to and specialty stores this winter.  These eye-catching critters are not into seeing through walls or leaping over skyscrapers– however they do lift spirits and raise both awareness and funds to help STOP BULLYING!

Mary Meyer is introducing Ikimonos, a group of five unusual looking critters (ikimono is Japanese for critter) that stand on two feet.  Each comes with a simple poem on a hang tag that commits ikimono to standing up for you.  Also included is the STOP BULLYING message and Mary Meyer’s promise to donate 10% of its ikimono profits to “Stand for the Silent.”  This grassroots organization travels to schools throughout the United States to spread the STOP BULLYING message.  They have presented to over 600,000 students and counting.  Visit their website:  StandfortheSilent.org

About Mary Meyer:  Every Mary Meyer stuffed to is designed to withstand many, many hugs and be unconditionally welcomed into the life of a child.  Our family business has created cherished childhood companions for 80 years.  Mary Meyer toys can be found in thousands of gift and specialty stores throughout the United States and other countries.  Mary Meyer brand and licenses: Taggies, WubbaNub, Mary Meyer Baby, Marshmallow Zoo, Print Pizzazz, Flip Flps, Cheery Cheeks, and Stick Horses.

For more information on Mary Meyer, please visit MaryMeyer.com and join our fan page on facebook

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A few weeks ago a Father called me about a project his 8 or 9 year old daughter was working on.
It seems his young daughter and her pal visited a friend in the hospital a number of times while he was laid up there. They saw all the kids there who needed a boost, so they decided they wanted to do something for them. They had a tag sale with stuff they got together and raised $300 to buy something for the kids in the hospital who needed something to cheer them up.

This is where I come into the picture. I’m the Closeout King at a stuffed toy company in southern Vermont and I sell last year’s teddy bears at discount prices. What so great is these two little girls decide they want to do something to help some other kids and they did. They raised $300 and came to me and basically said to me, ”Give me the best deal you can for some kids in a hospital”.

I picked out an assortment for them which was a “good deal” and they went happily on their way. One of the young ladies fell in love with “Cheery Cheek” Mopsy Mouse” and she went home with one of them. A couple of weeks later I received a hand-made “ Thank You” note from them and it was great. I’m a grand father and I have 18 grandchildrens. I have a soft spot in my heart for grand-kids, especially when they doing something for others. These two young ladies made an extra effort to help other kids. They raised money – $300 – to provide happiness to some other kids who were having a hard time in their lives. I am happy to have been a part of it.

Here’s the Thank You note: it reads “To: Walter From: Sidney, Thank you Walter”

The post Cheery Cheeks Mopsy Mouse Comes Through appeared first on Mary Meyer Stuffed Toys.

Zoey Zebra is a soft and sweet take on the zebra

• Cozy Blanket: A luxurious, soft 16” x16”, this satin lined blanket has 23 Taggies ribbons and a sweet appliqued zebra. Batting inside adds a layer of cushioning.
• Character Blanket: Zoey Zebra peeks from the top of this colorful satin lined blanket. Just under 14” square with 23 Taggies ribbons.
• Soft Toy: Give your child plenty of cute ribbons to play with! Zoey Zebra Soft Toy is fashionable with Mary Janes on all fours! She is perfect for baby girls.This 5” rattle is perfect for little hands. Embroidered race and stripes, and 3
• Rattle: Taggies ribbons make Zoey Zebra an adorable rattle.

Spotted Frog is a super cute unisex gift

• Cozy Blanket: A luxurious, soft 16” x16”, this satin lined blanket has 18 Taggies ribbons and a sweet appliqued frog. Batting inside adds a layer of cushioning.
• Character Blanket: The Spotted Frog sits atop this colorful satin lined blanket. Just under 14” square with 16 Taggies ribbons.
• Soft Toy: Our 12″ frog features 9 Taggies ribbons and soft, embroidered face details. Lots of good hugs with this darling.
• Rattle: Our 6″ frog rattle is the perfect size for little hands. Features 3 Taggies ribbons and soft, embroidered face details.
  • 

    #38386 TAGGIES Spotted Frog Cozy Blanket - 16" x 16" $27.98

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    #38385 TAGGIES Spotted Frog Character Blanket - 13.5" x 13.5" $19.98

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    #38383 TAGGIES Spotted Frog Soft Toy - 12" $23.98

  • 

    #38382 TAGGIES Spotted Frog Rattle - 6" $8.98

  • 

    Zoey Zebra Cozy Blanket

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    Zoey Zebra Character Blanket

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    Zoey Zebra Soft Toy

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    Zoey Zebra Rattle

The post Taggies toys & blankets make perfect coordinating baby shower gifts appeared first on Mary Meyer Stuffed Toys.

Can you find four Meyer sons and their parents?

That’s what my son Michael said about his Mother.  “She’s had quite a life” and yes she has had quite a life.  She’s been married to me for 55 years and we’ve raised 6 kids and worked along with me.  It wasn’t always easy.

I was the Father and I remember many great moments in our lives- both good and bad.  I remember the accidents that broke legs on the “down” side and the birth of grandchildren and the happy events on the “up” side.You see we live in “Not-heavily-populated Southern Vermont”.  We’ve raised 5 sons and a daughter – 3 over 50 and 3 under 50.

I was a tough Father and made them behave.  I made them go to work in the family business starting about the age of 12 sweeping the floor in the old factory.  Today 4 of the 5 sons still work in the family business and have responsible management positions.

I’m a great believer in “Two Heads are Better Than One”.  Which means – if I have a problem or a question, share it with one of the boys and their in-put will help you find the answer?

Just because you are the Father, it does not mean you know all the answers – no matter how much you think you do.  As the Father and only being able to learn so much information in my life time, I can’t learn everything.  My 4 sons in the family business have 4 times the exposure to problems that I have had.

When I have a question about my pick-up truck I ask Michael. If it’s a computer question I ask Peter.  Steven is the artist in the family and answers my design questions.  Kevin is the finance manager and he advises me there.

As a Father I am blessed with great minds everyday to help and advise me.  They are also good family men with wonderful families.  I also know they will be there for their Mother and me, when the end of our lives approaches.

But for today and the immediate future I know they are a wonderful product of Elaine and my lives.  We – Mother and Father – are blessed with great children, wonderful grandchildren and a family built on love and working together.

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