'A Super Duper Holiday:' Steiff animals superhero themed for 2019 BMO Harris Bank holiday display

MILWAUKEE -- BMO Harris Bank officials on Monday, Dec. 2  unveiled their 2019 holiday display, at the bank on Water Street in downtown Milwaukee. The theme for 2019 is "A Super Duper Holiday," and the display features the bank's collection of life-sized superhero-themed Steiff animals. It's open to the public through Jan. 2.

The hours are as follows (visitors may enter the lobby through the North or South doors on Water Street):

As part of BMO Harris Bank's 47-year tradition, the bank’s lobby was transformed into a winter wonderland -- featuring more than a dozen superhero stories involving mystical powers, tremendous obstacles, and courageous adventures.

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In conjunction with the holiday display, BMO Harris will donate $30,000 to Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin to help feed Milwaukee-area families throughout the holiday season, a news release said.

The release said the BMO Harris Bank holiday collection of animals began in 1972 when 30 life-sized Steiff animals were discovered at the world’s largest toy store, FAO Schwartz in New York City. The BMO Harris Bank collection of Steiff animals has steadily grown to include more than 150 Steiff animals -- collectors’ items originally made in Germany by Margarete Steiff, who hand-stitched the first tiny elephant and stuffed it with straw. Many of the figures are no longer being made. The world-renowned Steiff Company made the original teddy bear in 1903.