The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1906-11-18

pany of more than two thousand
workers whose busy fingers fly
from early morning till late at
night cutting out, stitching up and put
ting together plush bears for the Amer
ican market. The New York people.
grownups as well 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.
Years and years ago this woman de-
signed a pattern for bear which was
SO natural and appealed so to young
sters that she was called the mother of
the bears. Then she had tiny shop
in her house and only a few girls to
help her. That was before the bear
lad struck America. Now she has
factory that covers a whole square and
the machinery and employees are work
ed week in and week out at high
pressure because Young America must
have his bears. AS the orders pile in
with every mail and cables arrive
almost hourly the little old frau and
her workers hold up their two thousand
pairs OF hands in CONSERVATION and
wonder if every man, woman and child
in America is sending for a whole fam
lily 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
end out His Majesty Bruin now reigns
The bear rage started at the summer
resorts along the Jersey shore-some
say il was At Atlantic City AT any
rate. nice, fat. winsome little brown
bear sitting on d counter in a board
walk 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 young
ster remembered the fun he had had
one day watching the bears lumber
around the sides OF the big iron in
closed pit and give each other love pats
with their huge paws. He would have
q bear pit too. Only this little plush
bear looked so clean that il would be
e shame to get him all dirty and
frowsy. The youngster took hold OF the
coveted plaything and his delight grew
Bruin had such realistic little hump
at the back Of his neck. and, hulIyi he
had a voice and his legs moved.
They were jointed and his solemn lit
you wanted it to. and the soles of his
feet. really the bottoms of his paws
were all soft and nat and vclvety. and
he had such dear little ears and beady
black eyes. And the youngster remeu-
bered that the Bronx bears had mouths
exactly like this one and even the ex-
preston of his face was like the best
behaved and finest looking hear at the
park. Mamma must buy Rruin for him.
He begged her to. and after a little con-
versation with the shopkeeper over the
price, for the bear was rather an OK
pensive plaything, she finally paid
It and the wistful and anxious ewes
Of her small son and heir fairly beam
ed with JOY as he marched away hug
ging his prize. just as proudly as a
grown-up man or the President of the
United States returning from a sue
cessful hunt.
Bears Were Everywhere.
That started the bear fad. OF course.
every other little boy on the boardwalk
had TO have bear. II was just the
thing for a boy. Girls had dolls to play
with and boys ought TO have something
like bear 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 demands made
upon it. 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 10 the size OF a welI-grovn
youngster. So the shopkeeper tele-
graphed TO 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 swarm
Ing with ladies' after bears.
Then other shops stocked I'D with
them, and the big ones in New York
found themselves overwhelmed with
orders Tor Teddy bears. BY this time
Young America had christened them.
appropriately, too. Isn't the President
the hero of every boy who longs to
grow big enough to hold a gun to
shoot bears and some day do just the
very same things that Teddy Roose-
welt 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.
Never in the history of Wall street
wac the country more at the mercy OF
bears than il is today. Stuffed plush
Teddies are fairly rampant, and indf-
cations show prospects OF long and
continued reign Toy stores are pro-
viding dozen bears 10 one doll in