The Den of Marbletown-The Teddy Bear Museum
One Basten Lane
Kingston, NY 12401
(845) 687-6441
https://thedenofmarbletown.com/
Open: Sunday11:00am-5:00pm/Monday-Wednesday Closed/Thursday-Saturday 11:00am-5:00pm
My review on TripAdvisor:
Den of Marbletown-The Teddy Bear Museum at One Basten Lane
The sign that greets you in the front of the business.
When you enter the museum, you will walk through an extensive collection of Steiff animals for sale in the museum gift shop. The owner of the museum and gift shop is a licensed Steiff store. After you pass the gift shop you get to experience all the beautiful stuffed toys which I would consider art.
The Steiff Teddy Bear Shop that sells all these beautiful works of art.
All the beautiful Steiff animals for sale in the Steiff Store.
The tour of the museum starts at the register where the museum has a small drink menu. You can get soft drinks like soda, homemade Lemonade and Bubble Tea or hot drinks like Coffee or Tea before or after your tour. A more extensive menu is being worked on the owner of the museum promised.
The drink menu at the Teddy Bear Museum.
Then you move room to room admiring all the beautiful graceful animals. The rooms are filled with all sorts of bears of all shapes, sizes and colors. There is every animal that was on Noah’s Arc and probably more. You can admire the bears from a distance but get to see them up close in the gift shop that offers such an extensive collection to choose from.
The extensive collection of wooden toys on the way up the stairs.
You can see an original “Teddy Bear” like the one created for Theodore Roosevelt. You can see a collectible “Rod Bear” one of the original bears created by the company.
The “Teddy Bear” in the collection.
On the second floor, the collection continues with an extensive collection of wooden toys. They also come in every shape and color. There is also an extensive set of collectables as well.
The Wooden Animals in the collection.
The museum creator’s mother in law continues to collect bears and other animals today so the collection keeps growing. There is an extensive amount of ‘collectable’ items on display as well.
Some of the smaller ‘collectables’.
More ‘collectables’.
The owner of the museum also has a special section for his friend, Sandy Sherman with a portrait of her as a girl with her Steiff toy and then a picture of her as an adult with the same toy years later. It was a very touching piece in the collection.
The Sandy Sherman exhibition
The portrait of Sandy Sherman and the photo of her holding the same bear as in the painting.
When you have had enough of everything stuffed animals, there is a place for parents to relax while their kids play with some toys provided by the museum in the “Mama Bear” room. The lounge is for parents to relax and kids to continue to play.
The Mama Bear Lounge
The “Mama Bear” Lounge is a place of comfort and relaxation. It is set up perfectly for those who want o play and for those who want to relax.
The Children’s Room in the ‘Mama Bear’ Lounge
The entrance to the gardens and the pond.
The path with the gardens.
The pond at the end of the path.
When you finish exploring the inside of the museum, the grounds outside offer much more as well. There is lush green lawns to relax on and a path with a garden to a pond in the woods that is just as relaxing. it is a nice way to spend the day exploring the paths and relaxing under the trees.
The beautiful grounds outside the museum.
The museum is a perfect way to capture the inner child in each of us and a place to relax and just enjoy a nice day. The museum owner also added he is working on a new café menu so there will be a place to eat as well at the museum. Then you can really spend the day there.
It was a wonderful afternoon tour.
The History of the Museum:
(from the museum’s website)
The Den of Marbletown is a teddy bear museum in Kingston, New York. We have a large collection of original Steiff teddy bears on display, and we sell rare Steiff collectibles in our gift shop. We also feature an on-site café, where you can enjoy scratch-made food and homemade baked goods.
The sign that greets you in the front of the museum.
The Teddy Bear Museum features more than 5,000 Steiff teddy bears and animals, Madame Alexander dolls, Barbie dolls, and hand-carved wooden toys. Steiff is the German company that invented the Teddy Bear, as we know it, more than 100 years ago. Today Steiff is considered the world’s premier manufacturer of high-end toys and collectibles. Indeed, Steiff is the only “luxury” toy brand in the marketplace today.
The Grace Bear Collection Room
The Collection
The Teddy Bear Collection
The core of the collection comes from “Gracebear,” a Steiff enthusiast who continues collecting to this day. Gracebear has shared this collection with her daughter and son-in-law, Nan and Steve, who are the founders of The Den. Gracebear’s other collections rotate throughout the museum as temporary exhibits, including Madame Alexander dolls, Barbie dolls, Schuco toys and bears, and hand-carved wooden toys.
Dioramas
The Steiff Circus exhibit
Local artists share their talents through the creation of charming dioramas that rotate throughout the year.
The Steiff History Room
The “Teddy Bear” exhibit
The history of the Teddy Bear (and Teddy Roosevelt); the poignant story Margarete Steiff, the founder of the luxury toy company; and the design evolution of the Teddy Bear are some of the displays featured in this section of the museum.
The Rod Bear
The “Original Rod Bear”
On Loan from the collection of the late Mary Couke is the exquisite and rare 1904 Rod Bear, considered by many as “The Holy Grail” of Steiff Collectors. This bear features an early design attempt at movable joints through three metal rods in the body – horizontal ones for legs and arms, and a vertical one for the head.
The Teddy Bear Café:
The Teddy Bear Café
After you spend the day in our teddy bear museum, stop by our café for a quick pick-me-up. The Den of Marbletown serves a variety of menu items at our coffee shop in Kingston, Ulster County, Hudson Valley, NY.. You can create your dream drink, including flavored lemonade or 40 plus flavors of bubble tea at the den. Need to get some work done? Take advantage of our free Wi-Fi. Need a place for your kids to unwind? We have indoor and outdoor play spaces.
The drink menu is extensive and the beverages are homemade.
The Teddy Bear Gift Shop:
The gift shop offers everything Steiff
When you step into The Den of Marbletown’s souvenir shop in Kingston, Ulster County, Hudson Valley, NY, it’s like stepping back in time. Experience the joys of a classic toy shop when you browse our selection of Steiff teddy bears and stuffed animals. We’re one of the few shops in the area that sells Steiff toys, and we sell a wide variety of rare collectibles.
The gift shop has an extensive collection of bears and other animals for sale.
The Basten House
The Basten Homestead houses the collection.
The museum exists in a very special space – a marvelous 1860 farmhouse, in which houses seven generations of “The Basten” family. The museum experience is enhanced by this context – the old wall paper, the slopping floors, the secret passage ways, the antique door knobs, the original shutters, and the stone wall of “the keeping room.”
The Basten House history.
