[2] The company was founded in 1981 by John Sortino, who sold handcrafted teddy bears in an open-air market in Burlington, Vermont.

The concept was called the "Bear-Gram", which features the customized teddy bear placed in a box (complete with an "air hole") and stuffed with other goodies.

[3] In May 1997, the Vermont Teddy Bear Co. filed a copyright infringement suit against Disney over "Pooh-Grams" being similar to its mail-order "Bear-Gram" trademark and logo.

When mental health groups from all over the U.S. asked for the bear to be pulled out of production, VTB kept the bear up for sale but sold out quickly and Elizabeth Robert, the company head, resigned from the board of Vermont's largest hospital, Fletcher Allen Health Care.

The customer selects the fur, stuffing, and accessories, after which a representative completes the sewing and assists in filling out the bear's "birth certificate.

The bears can also come in Buttercream, Vanilla, Black Licorice, Gray, Pink, as well as longer premium fur colors Maple, Espresso and Snow.