Vermont Teddy Bear Factory

BurlingtonVermont

Founded in 1981 the first Vermont Teddy Bears were sold by John Sortino on the streets ofBurlingtonfrom an old-fashioned pushcart. When a customer asked Sortino to send a teddy bear to his mom the famous Bear-Gram gift delivery service was born. Sortino’s first bears were handmade — today you can visit the factory where 400 bears a day are made — over 430 000 a year! The stuffing machine originally used by the US Navy to stuff life preservers now stuff teddy bears at a rate of 100 miles an hour. You can also visit theBearHospitalat theBurlingtonsite. Vermont Teddy Bears are guaranteed for life so if your bear gets sick you can send him to the Bear Hospital where they’ll look after him until he’s well enough to come back home!