The Washington herald., 1906-12-17


woman. commanding a company Of more
than two thousand workers whose busy
fingers fly from early morning till late
at night cutting out, stitching I'D and
putting together plush bears for the
American market, The people here,
grown-ups as we'll as children, have ap-
parently gone crazy over these bears, and
they viii not be satisfied with any but
those made by the German frau, says the
New York Herald. Years and years ago
this woman designed a pattern for a bear
which was so natural and appealed so
to youngsters that she was called the
mother of the bears. Then she had a
tiny shop In her house and only a few
young girls 10 help her. That was be-
fore the bear fad struck America. Now
she has a factory that covers q whole
square and the machinery and employees
are worked week in and week ont at
high pressure because Young America
must have his bears. AS the orders pile
in with every mail and cables arrive al
most hourly the little old frau and her
workers hold up their 1900 pairs of hands
in CONSERVATION and wonder If every
man. woman and child in America IS
sending for whole family Of bears.
They are not far wrong. The entire
country is in the clutches. or rather the
embrace, of the plush bear. Even pet
dogs and dolls have had to step down
and out His Majesty Bruin now reigns.
started at the SeashOre.
The bear rage started at the summer
resorts along the Jersey shore. some say
It was at Atlantic City. At any rate.
nice, fat, winsome little brown bear sit
ting on a counter in a boardwalk shop
attracted the eyes Of youngster. and
nothing would do but mamma must stop
and look at the lovely plush animal.
Mamma liked the bear, too. He was an
excellent pocket edition of those big
cinnamon bears way up in Bronx Park,
and the youngster remembered the fun
he had had one day watching the bears
lumber around the sides Of the big iron
inclOsed pit and give each other love
pats with their huge paws. He would
have a bear pit. too Only this little
plush bear looked so clean that IL would
be a shame TO get him all dirty and
frOwsy. The yOungster took hold Of the
coveted plaything and his delight grew.
Bruin had such q realistic little hump
at the back Of his neck, and, bully he
had a voice and his legs moved.
They were jOinted and his solemn little
pointed head would turn any way you
wanted il TO, and the sOles Of his feet.
really the bottoms Of his paws. were all
soft and fiat and velvety, and he had such
dear little ears and beady black eyes.
And the youngster remembered that the
ha1
one. and even the expression Of his face
was like the best behaved and finest
looking bear at the park. Mamma must
buy BTuin for him. He begged her TO-
and after a little conversation with the
shopkeeper over the price, for the bear
was rather an expensive plaything, she
finally paid the price and the wistful and
anxious eyes of her small son and heir
fairly beamed with JOY as he marched
away hugginE his prize just as proudly
as a gTown-up man or the President Of
the United States returning from a sue
eessful hunt.
Went Like Hot Cakes.
That started the bear fad OF course.
every other little boy on the Boardwalk
had to have a bear Il was just the thing
for boy Girls had dolls to play with
and boys ought to have something like
that when It was too hot for baseball or
TO play Indian in the park or shipwrecked
sailors on the sand. They grew eloquent
in convincing their mothers Of their needs.
And the man in the shop found his bear
stock totally unequal to the sudden de-
mands made uDon 1t. Inside of a few
hours every bear In the shop had been
sold, tiny ones and big ones for they
come in several sizes, from the length OF
your hand TO the size Of well grown
yOungsteT. So the shOpkeeper telegTaphed
10 New York for more. and these, too,
went like hot cakes" No sooner were
the plush figures put in the window than
the shop was swaTming with ladies after
bears
Then other shops stocked I'D with them.
and the big ones in New York found them
selves overwhelmed with orders for Teddy
bears BY this time Young America had
christened them, appropriately, too. Isn't
the President the hero Of every boy who
longs 10 grow big enough TO hold a gun
10 shoot bears and some day do Just the
very same things that Teddy Roosevelt
does? SO Teddy the bears were named.
and as Teddy they are known now the
length and breadth OF our country. as
well as on the other side Of the Atlantic.
Teddies I'm Great Demand.
Never in the history Of Wall street was
the country more at the mercy OF bears
than il is to-day. Stuffed plush TedItes
are fairly rampant and indications show
prospects OF a long and continued reign
Toy stores are providing dozen bears IN
one doll in anticipation Of the Christmas
trade. Department stores are stocking nm
with them, and little Out-of-the-wav
sboDs have them for q vUhrla I,.. -. q
long. because as soon as the youthful
hunters get on their tracks they svoon
down and bring them TO bay
The mother of the bears. the little Ger
man frau. Is almost at her wits end 10
know what she is going to do. There is n
fear that the supply OF brown and white
plush will give out. and then what would
she do for they wouldn't be bears IL they
were made OF any other color. One New
York store. the largest we have, has al
ready sold over $1,000 Teddies. and by
every steamer It gets hundreds Of dozens.
which are bought up at once.
But boys are not the only lovers OF
Teddy bears. BY no means. Their little
sisters ike them. too. At first little girls
looked at the new playthings with some
trepidation. Bears and dolls are so very
different. Dolls are always ladylike In
their manners, but there Is no counting
on the action OF bears. But closer exam
nation proved that they weren't so very
different after all They were jointed lust
like dolls, and their bodies were plump
and round, and they had such dear,
quaint little faces. And, wonder of won
ders, no two really looked exactly alike!
They may have all been cut after the
same pattern. but there was a different
expression in the eyes and mouth and