Stuffed Animals

Some plushies get to dine in luxurious resorts, while others get to travel to Bali and beyond… but some stuffed animals really take home the price: they get to travel to outer space! Find out everything there is to know about these awesome space cadets and read about some of the most famous plushie astronauts…

Why do astronauts take stuffed animals into outer space?

The tradition of carrying stuffed animals into outer space is as old as space travel itself: even cosmonaut Yuri Gagarain, the first man to travel in outer space, was accompanied by a tiny doll on the Vostok 1 spaceship. Since then it has become a small tradition for astronauts and cosmonauts to take plushies on as passengers on their spaceships and have them accompany them on their journey into outer space.

The stuffed animals are not just there because of their cuddly nature: they have an actual job aboard the ship! The stuffed animals serve as so-called “zero-gravity indicators”: they signal the astronauts that they have escaped the pull of Earth’s gravity, by happily floating around the cabin.

Famous Stuffed Animals in Outer Space

Teddy Bears in Outer Space

In February 1995, Magellan T. Bear became the first teddy bear in outer space. Magellan was the designated “education specialist” of the Space Shuttle Discovery during the STS-63 mission. The little blue bear’s adventure in the great beyond was part of an educational project to stimulate interest in geography, science, and social studies. The bear’s journey had been arranged by the students and faculty of the Elk Creek Elementary School in Pine, Colorado. Magellan was an avid traveler, as he also visited the South Pole, attended U.S. Space Camp and flew on United Airlines’ first Boeing 777 flight. Magellan now resides in the Moving Beyond Earth exhibition at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.

Magellan was succeeded by Smokey Bear of the Soyuz TMA-04M in 2012. Smokey joined his human Joe Acaba on his second flight to the International Space Station. Smokey is a famous icon in the United States, reminding forest recreationists of the dangers of human-caused forest fires. Though the spaceship was of Russian origin, Smokey was welcomed by all crew members.

To Infinity and Beyond: Celebrities in Space

In 2008, Pixar’s famous animated astronaut Buzz Lightyear from the Toy Story-franchise flew to the International Space Station on the Space Shuttle Discovery STS-124. He was the first known Disney/Pixar character in outer space. In 2014, snowman Olaf from the Frozen franchise followed him “to infinity and beyond” on the Soyuz TMA-15M crew. Another celebrity plushie that made it into space was Red, the red bird from the Angry Bird video game series. Red boarded the Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft in 2011.

At the Right Owltitude

The first plushie owl to be blasted into space was the little cosmonaut owl who accompanied Alexei Ovchinin on his trip to the International Space Station. The tiny space explorer was a great indicator for when the Russian cosmonauts had reached the right “owltitude”.

The First Plushie Created in Outer Space

Astronaut Karen Nyberg packed a few unusual items when preparing for her trip to the International Space Station: she took sewing needles, threads and small fabric samples. While onboard the International Space Station, she fashioned a stuffed dinosaur out of the velcro-like fabric that lines the Russian food containers found on the International Space Station. Nyberg stuffed the plushie with scraps from a used t-shirt and launched him into fame by photographing him while he was happily floating around the space station. The young t-rex plushie most likely was the first stuffed animal made in outer space.

Earth Plushie to Earth

Perhaps one of the most out-of-this-world plushie experiences in outer space was when SpaceX’s celestial Earth plushie Buddy looked at itself from above. Buddy was chosen by Elon Musk to single-handedly man SpaceX’s first commercial spaceship the Crew Dragon Demo-1 in 2019. Buddy successfully docked his ship at the International Space Station, were he was received by the station’s astronauts. The Earth plushie became an instant hit after his launch into space, causing Celestial Buddies’ Earth stuffies to rapidly sell out. In May 2020, SpaceX launched their first fully manned spacecraft, which will retrieve Buddy from his outer space holiday.

SpaceX: the Dinosaur on the Crew Dragon

SpaceX Crew Dragon spaceship launched into orbit in May 2020, manned by astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley. During their flight they were accompanied by Tremor, a sparkly plushie apatosaurus, who was eager to meet up with Earth plushie Buddy, and soon rose to plushie stardom himself. The astronauts had taken the third passenger with them as a little tribute to both their sons, who are avid dinosaur lovers. The dinosaur, a plushie of Beanie Boo lineage, was neither the first plushie in outer space, nor was he the first dinosaur, but he was certainly the most sparkly one!

The Celestial Plushies: buy an Earth Plushie!

The now-famous Earth plushie is part of a series of adorable stuffed animals named the “Celestial Plushies”. Each of the plushies is based on a famous planet or celestial body. You can buy the earth plushie and his friends through Amazon.com, or through the website of the Celestial Plushies. Though your plushie might not travel beyond the stars, together you can still explore the universe!

Every product purchased through this site will directly contribute to the welfare of wild cats and the preservation of their habitats. If you want, you can also take a look at some of our other top picks for buying other types of stuffed animals!

Planets

Aliens

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The direct origin of stuffed animals lies in the late 19th century, but its ancestors had been around for several millennia. Starting with the production of wooden toys in ancient Egypt, the production and use of similar toys has a long history.

From wooden toys to rag dolls

The history of stuffed animals and dolls started with the production of toys made from clay, wood, ivory and other materials. Early wooden dolls that were found in Egypt date back to the 21st century BC.

Historically, the more direct ancestor of the stuffed animal was the ragdoll. The oldest known rag doll dates back to the 1st – 5th century. This rag doll, made out of linen stuffed with rags and papyrus and decorated with colored wool, was found by the Egypt Exploration Fund in Oxyrhynchus in Egypt. The doll is now held at the British Museum.

Over the course of time, rag dolls became popular within all social classes. When fabric color printing was developed around 1830, mass production of soft, colorful dolls became a possibility. They were used as objects of comfort, but also as tools of education: the rag dolls helped young children develop their nurturing skills and provided them with the opportunity to learn how to handiwork. By repairing the dolls themselves, producing simple variations and producing clothes for them, children learned how to sew.

The origin of the teddy bear

So, who invented the stuffed animal then? The teddy bear simultaneously originated in Germany and the United States in 1902. It all started in 1880, Margarete Steiff created the first stuffed animal from her home in Germany: a pin cushion in the shape of an elephant. Margarete’s nephew Richard Steiff joined his aunt’s company in 1897, and came up with a design for a toy that would conquer the world in 1902: the (teddy) bear. At the same time, the Russian immigrant Morris Michtom came up with a similar design whilst living in the United States. Michtom based his design of his teddy bear based on a cartoon of acting President Theodore Roosevelt.

How did the teddy bear get its name?

In 1902, The Washington Post published a political cartoon drawn by Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Clifford K. Berryman named “Drawing the line in Mississippi”. The cartoon showed President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt showing compassion for the a cute looking bear cub during a hunt. Roosevelt was an avid bear hunter, but had refused to shoot a helpless bear during a hunting party in Mississippi in November 1902. The story goes that a party of Roosevelt’s hunters, led by Holt Collier, had captured a large American black bear and tied him to a tree after an exhausting chase. Suggesting the president should be the one to shoot the animal, Roosevelt refused, believing it to be unsportsmanlike.

Berryman’s cartoon turned the weakened grizzly into a cute bear cub, providing inventor Morris Michtom with the inspiration to create the first teddy bear. After sending a bear to the president, he received permission to use the president’s nickname “teddy” for the toy.

The most popular teddy bears

Which teddy bears are the most popular critters out there? We’ve listed our favorites below. Every product purchased through theBiteSizedBackpacker.com directly contributes to the welfare of wild cats and the preservation of their habitats. You can also take a look at some of our other top picks for buying alternative stuffed animals!

From bears to beluga whales

The teddy bears developed by Steiff and Michtom were an instant success. Over time, the original bears’ realistic features were softened to give way to a more baby-like appearance, enhancing the “cute” look of the toys. Due to the success of the bears new models were produced based on other species.

Nowadays there are plushies in all shapes and sizes. A research conducted by PPJR Productions revealed which stuffed animals are the most popular.

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