Teddy bear history Your Site for Teddy Bear and Stuffed Animal Information and Fun ... Fun And Games Teddy Bear History Teddy Bears got their name from Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States. In 1902, the president went bear hunting in Mississippi without success, so members of his party caught a bear cub, tied it to a tree, and offered it to the president as an easy trophy. The president refused. The event was drawn by a cartoonist for the Washington Post the next day. The cartoon emphasized the helplessness of the bear and conveyed the message that Roosevelt would not make decisions for the wrong reasons. Roosevelt's popularity soared as a result of his actions and the cartoon. Morris and Rose Michtom made a stuffed bear in honor of the president's actions. Teddy Bears name is based on one of two stories. One story is that the president gave the Michtom's permission to christen the new stuffed toy bear "Teddy Bear". The other story is that at President Roosevelt's daughter's wedding, bears decorated the tables. When a guest asked what breed of bear they were, a guest said, "Why, they're Teddy Bears, of course".

By 1908, over 20 companies were making stuffed teddy bears in the United States alone and teddy bears were on their way to a love affair with all of us that continues today. ANTIQUES; A Teddy Bear Celebrating A Real Teddy - The New York Times The New York Times Arts |ANTIQUES; A Teddy Bear Celebrating A Real Teddy Search Continue reading the main story One new stuffed animal on the market this Christmas may resonate, particularly with adults, after the events of Sept. 11. Steiff, the 121-year-old German toy company, has produced a police commissioner teddy bear to honor President Theodore Roosevelt, the man who gave his name to the teddy bear and who served in 1895 as the first police commissioner of New York City. Steiff will offer 1,500 of these foot-tall bears, dressed in blue period policemen's uniforms with bright brass buttons. ''Steiff pays homage and gives thanks to all the brave heroes of New York's finest with this bear,'' said Paul H. Johnson, president of Steiff North America.

The bear, at $275, comes with a certificate signed by Tweed Roosevelt, the president's great-grandson, and is available at F.A.O. Schwarz in New York or from stores listed on the Web site Teddy bears are big business. In 1999 they represented more than 60 percent -- $2.7 billion of the $4.5 billion total -- of the plush-toy market in the United States. ''It is the No. 1 item for the Steiff company,'' Mr. Johnson said. ''We sell over 100,000 a year.'' Vintage teddy bears are their own bull market. In London, two auctions a year are dedicated to teddy bears at Christie's South Kensington. The most recent sale, on Dec. 3, included 319 lots and totaled $315,591. Continue reading the main story The top 10 lots were all early 20th-century Steiff bears. The most expensive, a center-seam bear circa 1904, sold for $16,732, more than twice the high estimate of $8,000.

(The New-York Historical Society owns a bear circa 1905 with a voice box called a growler and a 1907 board game called the New Game of Teddy's Bear Hunt.) Advertisement Continue reading the main story Sotheby's no longer has teddy bear auctions. This year it began collaborating with Vectis Auctions in London to sell toys at auction there and online at Sothebys.com. Many people prefer old bears, the older the better. There are some 50 teddy bear museums worldwide, including ones in Naples, Fla.; Nevada City, Calif.; Douglassville, Pa.; Chesaning, Mich.; and Indianapolis. About a half-million Americans are members of 21 teddy bear clubs and there are several million teddy bear collectors. Vintage bears are listed on eBay and are featured on television's ''Antiques Road Show.'' Two magazines, Teddy Bear Review and Teddy Bear and Friends, track collecting trends and contemporary fabricators. ''Rare vintage teddy bears have sold in excess of $100,000,'' Mr. Johnson said. ''A 'mourning bear,' made just after the Titanic sank, sold for $135,000 in the U.K.

last year.'' ''If I could get my hands on one of Steiff's first articulated bears, the Bear 55 PB of 1902, I could retire,'' he said, referring to the earliest bears with movable joints. Next year is the 100th anniversary of the teddy bear in America, and several toy companies are organizing events. Not that there weren't toy bears before 1902. Steiff began making stuffed felt bears in the 1880's. In Germany, the bear has been considered the king of the animals since ancient times. That is not what made the teddy bear a household name in America, however. Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up Privacy Policy It was an act of kindness on the part of President Roosevelt. In November 1902 he went on a bear hunting expedition in Smedes, Miss. A guide sent out a pack of hounds that tracked down a 235-pound female black bear. The hunting party never caught up with the dogs, which chased the bear for hours, wearing it out.

After the bear attacked one of his dogs, the guide clubbed the bear and tied it to a tree. Then he sent someone to find the president. When the president arrived and saw the tethered bear, he could not shoot. The Associated Press circulated the news nationwide. A couple of days later, The Washington Post published a Clifford Berryman cartoon showing the president refusing to shoot the bear. The caption read: ''Drawing the line in Mississippi.'' The Post was flooded with letters. But the public never knew that the unfortunate bear was put out of her misery and shipped back to Washington. The Smithsonian owns the pelt. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Nonetheless, Berryman continued to draw the bear, which became smaller, younger and cuter, in subsequent Roosevelt cartoons, and it became known as Teddy's bear. ''The cub bear became the Berryman trademark,'' Mr. Johnson said. A legend was born, and the bear turned into an icon, even before the publication of A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh books and John W. Bratton and Jimmy Kennedy's song ''The Teddy Bears' Picnic,'' later published as a book with the same title. Who produced the first teddy bear toy has long been in dispute.

A recent article by Wendy Mitman Clarke in Smithsonian Magazine states that some say it was Morris Michtom, founder of the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company in New York. ''Apparently Michtom saw Berryman's cartoon, was struck with the idea of making a small bear and had his wife, Rose, stitch one up,'' Ms. Clarke writes. ''According to family history, Michtom then wrote to Roosevelt himself, asking for permission to use his nickname for the new bears. Roosevelt agreed. Alas, no such correspondence has ever surfaced.'' Steiff, based in Giengen, Germany, also claims credit. Steiff was founded in 1880 by Margarete Steiff, who contracted polio when she was 2 and, partly paralyzed, spent the rest of her life in a wheelchair. She supported herself by sewing clothes and felt toys. Her toys became so successful that she eventually employed most of her family members in the stuffed animal business. By 1897, she had 10 full-time employees and 30 who worked out of their homes. Around the turn of the century, Steiff put her nephew Richard in charge of new product design.

He had gone to art school in the 1890's and often went to the Stuttgart Zoo and attended traveling circuses to sketch bears and other animals. In 1902 he was sent to America to promote Steiff, but his 21-inch-tall toy bear, the Bear 55 PB, found no buyers. It was considered too big and too hard for young children to play with. He introduced the same bear at the 1903 toy fair in Leipzig, Germany. Again, it did not sell, but at the close of the fair, as the staff was packing up, a buyer for the George Borgfeldt Toy Company in New York spotted the bear and ordered 3,000. Steiff was in the bear business. In 1904 a new, softer Steiff bear won an award at the St. Louis World's Fair and the company sold 12,000. By 1908, the company was selling almost a million bears a year. Why do we love teddy bears? ''They elicit an immediate response from young children, who then develop a lifelong attachment to them,'' said Sheila Clark of the Museum of the City of New York.

''Teddy bears seem to be the outstanding winners over the long term.'' History of Teddy Bears - Teddy Bear Friends History of Teddy Bears Who made the first teddy bear? In 1847 in a small river town called Giengen in southern Germany Margarete Steiff was born. Sadly at the age of two Margarete Steiff became confined to a wheel chair through polio but she continued to go to school like any other child. Later on in life Margarete Steiff took needlework and sewing classes and became so competent she started lessons teaching others the art. Eventually with the money she earned she purchased a sewing machine - the first sewing machine to arrive in Giengen. With the new machine Margarete immediately started making dresses and by 1879 Margarete Steiff started her own dressmaking business and quickly became a success with high demand for her dresses, coats and other items. In December 1879 in a magazine called 'Modewelt', Margarete Steiff noticed a pattern for a toy elephant - she started to produce these as gifts for her family and close friends. Before long other animals followed such as bears, poodles and donkeys.

By 1883 these new toys were added to her price list as a range of felt items. In 1892 Margarete Steiff decided to sell soft-filled bears for children. Four employees and ten out workers were taken on in 1893 as Margarete Steiff's business grew with a total turnover of £17,000 pounds (£12,000 from toys). The company continued growing and by 1897 six more people were employed as the company turnover more than doubled to £38,000. The Steiff Teddy Bear Story In 1894 Margarete Steiff's nephew, Richard Steiff, received a full order book after he ran a stand at the famous Leipzig fair. Previously Richard had studied art at school but now helped his aunt with the design and production of the company's stuffed toy animals. Later in Germany Richard Steiff went to the Stuttgart Zoo in search of an idea for a new toy. Among the animals he saw there was a troupe of performing bears which gave him an idea. He envisioned a toy bear, which stood upright, and was jointed similar to the way in which dolls were made.

By 1902 Richard had sketched some bears and gave the drawings to his aunt. Margarete took her nephew's drawings and designed a jointed bear based on them with fur made of mohair plush and glass eyes. The new jointed bears appeared for the first time at the Leipzig Toy Fair in 1903 soon after the story of Roosevelt's Teddy's Bear had appeared but at first, they generated little interest. However, while Richard was packing up his stand at the end of the fair, Hermann Berg, a buyer from the New York firm Geo Borgfeldt & Co approached him stating how he couldn't find anything new. The jointed toys were produced and upon seeing them Hermann Berg knew they would be a hit. He placed an order for three thousand toys on the very same day. By 1904 the Steiff bear had become a big American success and the company was awarded various gold medals for the their enterprise and a prestigious Grand Prix Award. In total 12,000 jointed toys were sold by the end of 1904. The publicity from Roosevelt's adventure had placed teddy bears in the hearts of all Americans.

By 1907 almost a million teddy bears had been made by Steiff and exported to many different countries. The story of Teddy's Bear In November of 1902 President Theodore Roosevelt , a noted hunting enthusiast, had been invited to join a bear hunt near the town of Smedes, Mississippi. When the President had initially proven unsuccessful on this hunt, guide Holt Collier determined to find a suitable quarry for Roosevelt. Tracking a 235-pound bear to a watering hole, Collier stunned the unfortunate bear by clubbing it over the head, and tied it securely to a nearby tree. A messenger was sent to summon the President, but when Roosevelt arrived he was unimpressed by the spectacle of a bound, dazed and bleeding bear. He had been dismayed by this unfamiliar method of hunting, using packs of dogs to track, flush out and wear down the prey while the hunter need only lie in wait for the animal to be driven to him. This was far from the strenuous physical challenge Roosevelt was accustomed to and fond of. He not only refused to claim the bear himself, but forbade anyone else from doing so as well.

Regrettably, the rarely repeated resolution to the story does not include a happy ending for the bear. Seeing the condition of the injured bear, which had been badly mauled by the dogs, Roosevelt asked that it be put out of its misery and it was killed with a hunting knife. Reporters with the hunting party soon spread news of Roosevelt's fair play nationwide. Among those inspired by the story was Washington Post political cartoonist Clifford Berryman, who produced a massively popular cartoon of the incident later nicknamed Berryman's Bear. The cartoon, captioned Drawing the Line in Mississippi, showed Roosevelt unable to gun down a small defenceless bear cub. It was featured on the front cover of The Washington Post on November 16, 1902 and emphasises the child-like helplessness of the cub and was designed to convey the political message that such an upstanding President as Roosevelt could not be persuaded to make decisions for the wrong reasons. The cartoon was printed in all the papers and Roosevelt's popularity soared as a result of his actions. For the rest of his political career Roosevelt's mascot was Teddy's Bear, which Berryman continued to use in all his cartoons and which played a key part in the Presidents successful re-election campaign of 1905.

The making of "Teddy's Bear" New York City store owners Morris and Rose Michtom were inspired by the cartoon and can take credit for creating the first Teddy Bear in the United States. The Michtoms used the Berryman cartoon as a guide to design a pattern of a bear cub and produced two stuffed bears for sale in their candy shop window along with a copy of the cartoon. They called the toy Teddy's Bear. It became so popular that within a year of its creation, Mr Michtom had closed the candy store and founded the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company, which was, at one time, the largest teddy bear factory in the United States. 100 Years of Teddy Bears In December 2002, the BBC put together this excellent article called Teddy bear celebrates 100th birthday . It talks of a number of famous teddy bears and how some collectors are willing to pay thousands of pounds for the right teddy bear. At Teddy Bear Friends we might not sell teddies costing thousands but, to their owners, they feel like it! Treasured gifts for all - young and old alike. Find the right one for yourself.

The History of the Teddy Bear The History of the Teddy Bear Also On This Site  Current Events The teddy bear as we know it has been around only since the early part of the 20th Century. And, as with other famous inventions (like the telephone), it was a shared process. One of the first known appearances of any kind of stuffed toy bear was in the 1894 catalog put out by German toy company Gebruder Sussenguth. This was in conjunction with the hand-making of stuffed bears by German seastress Margarete Steiff. This woman had been making such toys for a few years by the time the Gebruder Sussenguth came out, but the idea of a toy stuffed bear wasn't a high priority for many people in Europe at the time. Things changed in 1903, when a buyer from an American toy store saw the bear at a fair in Leipzig and promptly placed an order for 3,000. This buyer saw an opportunity for capitalizing on a real-life event. The President of the United States in 1902 was Theodore Roosevelt, who liked to hunt in the wild.

On a hunting trip in Mississippi, Roosevelt failed to kill a bear, so the people hunting with him found one and tied it to a tree. It would have been an easy shot for Roosevelt, who could have claimed a certain kill. But "Teddy," as he was known, had this to say: "Spare the bear! I will not shoot a tethered animal!" He refused to shoot an animal that could not fight back by trying to escape. This incident was reported in American newspapers, of course. It was particularly the subject of a cartoon by Clifford Berryman of the Washington Post. The cartoon was titled "Drawing the Line in Mississippi." The American toy store buyer who ordered 3,000 bears from Margarete Steiff definitely saw an opportunity. So did Morris and Rose Michton, Russian immigrants who created their own stuffed toy bear. They made several bears and planned to sell them. They even sent one to President Roosevelt, asking for permission to name the bear after him. They wanted to call it "Teddy's Bear." Roosevelt gave his permission, and sales took off.

(In his typical modest way, he had this to say: "I don't think my name is likely to be worth much in the toy bear business, but you are welcome to use it.") The Michtons' bear was a bit different from the Steiff bear. The Michtons' bear looked more like the bear in the Washington Post cartoon; the Steiff bear looked more like a real bear. Sales of both skyrocketed after Roosevelt's "approval." Other manufacturers have come on-board through the years, and the teddy bear remains a staple of toy collections around the world. Teddy bears were not only for children, however. Especially in the first several years of their existence, they found favor with adults, especially those who wanted to be "in fashion." As the popularity of teddy bears grew, so did the sophistication of the bears. Some were musical. Others were mechanical. Some walked and did somersaults. Many made after World War II were washable. Many made nowadays talk and sing. And they continue to be featured in the toy collections of both children and adults.

History of the Teddy Bear History of the Teddy Bear History of the Teddy Bear Teddy Roosevelt and the Teddy Bear sot/ The Image Bank/ Getty Images Inventors Expert By Mary Bellis Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States, is the person responsible for giving the teddy bear his name. On November 14, 1902, Roosevelt was helping settle a border dispute between Mississippi and Louisiana. During his spare time he attended a bear hunt in Mississippi. During the hunt, Roosevelt came upon a wounded young bear and ordered the mercy killing of the animal. The Washington Post ran a editorial cartoon created by the political cartoonist Clifford K. Berryman that illustrated the event. The cartoon was called "Drawing the Line in Mississippi" and depicted both state line dispute and the bear hunt. At first Berryman drew the bear as a fierce animal, the bear had just killed a hunting dog. Later, Berryman redrew the bear to make it a cuddly cub. The cartoon and the story it told became popular and within a year, the cartoon bear became a toy for children called the teddy bear. Who made the first toy bear called teddy bear?

Well there are several stories, below is the most popular one: Morris Michtom made the first official toy bear called the teddy bear. continue reading below our video What to Do If You Can't Pay Your Student Loans Michtom owned a small novelty and candy store in Brooklyn, New York. His wife Rose was making toy bears for sale in their store. Michtom sent Roosevelt a bear and asked permission to use the teddy bear name. Roosevelt said yes. Michtom and a company called Butler Brothers, began to mass-produce the teddy bear. Within a year Michtom started his own company called the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company. However, the truth is that no one is sure who made the first teddy bear, please read the resources to the right and below for more information on other origins. Who invented the teddy bear? - Ask History Ask History August 20, 2014 By Elizabeth Nix Share Trace Theodore Roosevelt's legacy of reforming deplorable labor conditions and preserving the American landscape. Share this: Who invented the teddy bear? Author Who invented the teddy bear?

URL Google One of the world’s most beloved toys was named in honor of President Theodore Roosevelt, after he refused to shoot a bear during a Mississippi hunting trip in November 1902. During the trip, guides clubbed a bear and tied it to a tree then invited the president to shoot it; instead, Roosevelt, an avid outdoorsman and hunter, declined, saying it would be unsportsmanlike to kill a defenseless animal that way. The incident generated national attention and was depicted in a popular political cartoon by Clifford Berryman. (According to some sources, the newspaper cartoon, titled “Drawing the Line in Mississippi,” was a reference not just to Roosevelt’s refusal to shoot the bruin but also to his handling of a boundary dispute between Mississippi and Louisiana; other sources have suggested the cartoon was a comment on the president’s progressive stance on race relations.) Inspired by the cartoon, Brooklyn, New York, shopkeeper Morris Michtom and his wife Rose made a stuffed fabric bear in honor of America’s 26th commander-in-chief and displayed it with a sign, “Teddy’s bear,” in their store window, where it attracted interest from customers.

After reportedly writing to the president and getting permission to use his name for their creation, the Michtoms went on to start a successful company that manufactured teddy bears and other toys. Meanwhile, around the same time the Michtoms developed their bear, a German company founded in 1880 by seamstress Margarete Steiff to produce soft toy animals began making a plush bruin of its own. Designed in 1902 by Steiff’s nephew Richard, who modeled it after real-life bears he’d sketched at the zoo, the mohair bear with jointed limbs debuted at a German toy fair in 1903. A buyer for a U.S. toy company placed a large order for the stuffed creatures, and Steiff bears (which in 1906 officially became known as teddy bears) quickly became popular and helped drive an international teddy bear craze. Other companies soon began turning out teddy bears of their own. More than a century later, Steiff continues to make stuffed toy bears, and its vintage teddy bears are prized by collectors, commanding steep prices at auctions. Tags IMA Hero: Teddy Bear History 1. Who inspired the first Teddy Bear?

President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt inspired the first Teddy Bear. Although the Steiff Company in Germany produced a jointed stuffed bear in 1902, the First Teddy Bear was made by Rose and Morris Michtom with the influence of Teddy Roosevelt and Clifford Berryman. Here's why: On November 14, 1902, then-President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt went to Mississippi to settle a border dispute between Mississippi and Louisiana. While there, he went on a hunting trip. The other members of the hunting party tied a black bear cub to a tree for President Roosevelt to shoot, but Roosevelt refused to harm the defenseless bear. The next day, political cartoonist Clifford Berryman, drew a cartoon showing President Roosevelt refusing to hurt the helpless bear. The cartoon's caption "Drawing the Line in Mississippi" refers to both the border dispute settlement and the hunting incident. This cartoon sparked the imagination of the country and of a shopkeeper in Brooklyn, New York. The shopkeeper, Morris Michtom, asked his wife, Rose, to make two plush stuffed bears for display in his shop's window. The popularity of the plush bears stuffed with excelsior and adorned with black shoe buttons for eyes quickly captivated the nation.

To combine the stuffed bear phenomenon with Teddy Roosevelt, Morris Michtom asked the president for permission to call these stuffed bears "Teddy's Bear." Roosevelt said yes, and the Teddy Bear was born. You may ask, "Wouldn't there still be stuffed bears without Roosevelt, Berryman, and the Michtoms?" And the answer is yes. If Roosevelt had not refused to shoot the innocent bear cub, if Berryman had not drawn the cartoon, if the Michtoms had not displayed the stuffed bears, if the Michtoms had not asked permission to call them "Teddy's Bear," or if Roosevelt had not granted permission, there would still be stuffed bears. However, these stuffed bears would not be Teddy Bears. They may have been stuffed bears, jointed bears, German bears, Giengen bears, or even Leipzid Trade Fair bears, but they would not be known as Teddy Bears -- a name that is as synonymous with our nation's culture as baseball and apple pie. 2. What was the name of Morris Michtom's company? Ideal Novelty and Toy Company. Morris Michtom was a shopkeeper in Brooklyn, New York.

In 1902, he and his wife, Rose, made two stuffed bears called "Teddy's Bear" named after then-President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt. The "Teddy's Bear" trend took off, and the Michtom store became the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company. Did you know the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company changed its name to the Ideal Toy Company in 1938? 3. What is the history of the Steiff jointed bear? At the same time the Michtoms were making their "Teddy's Bear" in 1902, the Steiff Company of Giengen was producing its jointed bear in Germany. Both the Michtoms and the Steiff Company were making stuffed bears at the same time independent of each other. The Steiff Company was a toy company owned by Margarete Steiff. It has been making toys since 1880. Margarete Steiff's nephew was Richard Steiff. After seeing performing bears at a touring American circus, Richard had an idea to make a toy bear standing upright. Until that time, toy bears were made standing on all four legs.

Richard was a former art student, and he went to the Stuggart Zoo to sketch pictures of bears and bear cubs for the new design of the bear toy. In 1902, Ms. Steiff used her nephew's drawings to make Steiff's new bear toy. It was jointed like dolls, stood on two feet, and could walk upright. Did you know the Steiff bears were the first jointed bears? With their humped back and long snout, the Steiff bears looked more like a real bear cub than the "Teddy's Bear" designed by the Michtoms. In 1903, the Steiff Company introduced its jointed bear at the Leipzig Trade Fair. While European buyers passed by the bear without notice, an American buyer expressed much interest in the bear. The American buyer, knowing about the recent trend of "Teddy's Bear" in the United States, placed an order for 3,000 Steiff bears. By the end of the year, this order rose to 12,000 bears. 4.

When was the teddy bear first called a "Teddy Bear?" We know the stuffed bear began when the Michtoms of Brooklyn, New York, and the Steiff Company of Giengen produced the first bears independently in 1902. And we know the Michtoms called their bear, "Teddy's Bear," and the Steiff Company called its bear, "Bar55PB." So when did these stuffed bears become Teddy Bears? The term "Teddy Bear" (without the "'s") first appeared in the October, 1906, issue of Playthings Magazine . It soon became the accepted term. Even the Steiff Company used this term to describe its bears. 5. Why is the Teddy Bear so popular? The Teddy Bear is the most popular plush toy, and it may even be the most popular of all toys. Other toys have been popular in their day -- the hula hoop, the yo-yo, the game boy -- but none have stood the test of time. Teddy Bears have been around for 100 years. They were popular then, and they are popular today. We like teddy bears for all occasions.

We place pastel pink and blue teddy bears on the outside of baby shower gifts. We carry teddy bears holding diplomas and wearing cap and gowns with us at high school graduations. We bring smiling teddy bears with a nurse's hat to visit a sick friend. We even place teddy bear bride and grooms on the tops of 4-tiered wedding cakes. Teddy Bears are especially popular during holidays throughout the year. From New Year's Day in January to Christmas Day in December, teddy bears fill up grocery store check-out counters with their Stars and Stripes for the 4th of July and Jack-o-lantern costumes for Halloween. Some teddy bears have a simple Pilgrim's hat or Easter bonnet. While others sing festive songs or shout "Ho, Ho, Ho!" Whether they are red for Valentine's Day or green for St. Patrick's Day, teddy bears bring us joy year-round. 6. Why do we love our Teddy Bears so much? Teddy Bears are cute, cuddly, and adorable. Their spark captures the attention and imagination of young and old alike. As kids, we love our teddy bears as if they were real people and a member of our family.

We name them, feed them, clothe them, care for them, and take them on all the family vacations. When our teddy bears get sick, we nurse them back to health. When our teddy bears get dirty, we give them a bath. As adults, we love our aging childhood teddy bear. When other people see our played-with and faded teddy bear, they see something that should be thrown out. We see our favorite childhood friend. We know this teddy bear is a trusted companion who shares in our good times and sticks by us through the hard times. As kids, the first thing we do when we get our new teddy bears is cut off the tags and introduce them to their new family. We cannot wait to take our new friends with us everywhere. We always go to the playground, school, and Grandma's house together. As adults, we are teddy bear collectors. We find a special shelf or table in our home to carefully display our new, clean, off-limits addition to the family. We leave on the original tags and dare not play with them. All people -- young, old, male, female -- have these images.

Even if a particular person has not directly experienced these feelings, they are sure to know someone who has. 7. How did Winnie-the-Pooh start? On August 21, 1921, A.A. Milne gave his son, Christopher Robin Milne, a teddy bear for his first birthday. Christopher named his bear Edward Bear because Edward is the proper name for Teddy. Milne bought Edward Bear at Harrod's in London, England. It was made by J.K. Farnell & Co. in England. Between 1920 and 1928, Christopher Robin Milne received other stuffed animals. In 1926, A.A. Milne began writing bedtime stories about his son's adventures with his stuffed animals, including his bear who was renamed, Winnie-the-Pooh. Thus Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Owl, Rabbit, and the 100 Acre Wood were born. Did you know the 100 Acre Wood is based on the Ashdown Forest? It is located near Milne's home in southern England.

Today, Christopher's original stuffed animals (Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore, and Kanga) are on permanent display in the Central Children's Room at the Donnell Library Center , part of The New York Public Library. Did you know Winnie-the-Pooh is 18" high? Eeyore is the biggest of the stuffed animals (25"), and Piglet is the smallest (4-1/2"). Roo, the baby kangaroo stuffed animal, is not on display at the New York Public Library because it was lost in an apple orchard in the 1930's. Did you know the name Winnie-the-Pooh came from a combination of a bear and a swan? "Winnie" was the name of a black bear in the London Zoo in the 1920's. Winnie had been the mascot for the Canadian Army's Winnipeg regiment. "Pooh" was the name of a swan in A.A.

Milne's book, "When We Were Very Young." The History of the Teddy Bear: From Wet and Angry to Soft and Cuddly | History | Smithsonian Contact Privacy Policy Terms of Use The History of the Teddy Bear: From Wet and Angry to Soft and Cuddly After Teddy Roosevelt's act of sportsmanship in 1902 was made legendary by a political cartoonist, his name was forever affixed to an American classic smithsonian.com December 21, 2012 This 1902 cartoon in the Washington Post was the inspiration behind the birth of the “teddy bear.” Photo: Wikipedia Boxed and wrapped in paper and bows, teddy bears have been placed lovingly underneath Christmas trees for generations, to the delight of tots and toddlers around the world. But the teddy bear is an American original: Its story begins with a holiday vacation taken by President Theodore Roosevelt. By the spring of 1902, the United Mine Workers of America were on strike, seeking shorter workdays and higher wages from a coal industry that was suffering from oversupply and low profits.

The mine owners had welcomed the strike because they could not legally shut down production; it gave them a way to save on wages while driving up demand and prices. Neither side was willing to give in, and fearing a deadly wintertime shortage of coal, Roosevelt decided to intervene, threatening to send in troops to the Midwest to take over the anthracite mines if the two sides couldn’t come to an agreement. Throughout the fall, despite the risk of a major political setback, Roosevelt met with union representatives and coal operators. In late October, as temperatures began to drop, the union and the owners struck a deal. After averting that disaster, Roosevelt decided he needed a vacation, so he accepted an invitation from Mississippi Governor Andrew Longino to head south for a hunting trip. Longino was the first Mississippi governor elected after the Civil War who was not a Confederate veteran, and he would soon be facing a re-election fight against James Vardaman, who declared, “If it is necessary every Negro in the state will be lynched; it will be done to maintain white supremacy.” Longino was clearly hoping that a visit from the popular president might help him stave off a growing wave of such sentiment.

Vardaman called Roosevelt the “coon-flavored miscegenist in the White House.” Holt Collier was Roosevelt’s guide on his famous 1902 hunt in Mississippi. Photo: Wikipedia Undeterred, Roosevelt met Longino in mid-November, 1902, and the two traveled to the town of Onward, 30 miles north of Vicksburg. In the lowlands they set up camp with trappers, horses, tents, supplies, 50 hunting dogs, journalists and a former slave named Holt Collier as their guide. As a cavalryman for Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest during the Civil War, Collier knew the land well. He had also killed more than 3,000 bears over his lifetime. Longino enlisted his expertise because hunting for bear in the swamps was dangerous (which Roosevelt relished). “He was safer with me than with all the policemen in Washington,” Collier later said. The hunt had been scheduled as a 10-day excursion, but Roosevelt was impatient. “I must see a live bear the first day,” he told Collier. He didn’t.

But the next morning, Collier’s hounds picked up the scent of a bear, and the president spent the next several hours in pursuit, tracking through mud and thicket. After a break for lunch, Collier’s dogs had chased an old, fat, 235-pound black bear into a watering hole. Cornered by the barking hounds, the bear swiped several with its paws, then crushed one to death. Collier bugled for Roosevelt to join the hunt, then approached the bear. Wanting to save the kill for the president but seeing that his dogs were in danger, Collier swung his rifle and smashed the bear in the skull. He then tied it to a nearby tree and waited for Roosevelt. When the president caught up with Collier, he came upon a horrific scene: a bloody, gasping bear tied to a tree, dead and injured dogs, a crowd of hunters shouting, “Let the president shoot the bear!” As Roosevelt entered the water, Collier told him, “Don’t shoot him while he’s tied.” But he refused to draw his gun, believing such a kill would be unsportsmanlike.

Collier then approached the bear with another hunter and, after a terrible struggle in the water, killed it with his knife. The animal was slung over a horse and taken back to camp. News of Roosevelt’s compassionate gesture soon spread throughout the country, and by Monday morning, November 17, cartoonist Clifford K. Berryman’s sketch appeared in the pages of the Washington Post. In it, Roosevelt is dressed in full rough rider uniform, with his back to a corralled, frightened and very docile bear cub, refusing to shoot. The cartoon was titled “Drawing the Line in Mississippi,” believed to be a double-entendre of Roosevelt’s sportsman’s code and his criticism of lynchings in the South. The drawing became so popular that Berryman drew even smaller and cuter “teddy bears” in political cartoons for the rest of Roosevelt’s days as president. Back in Brooklyn, N.Y., Morris and Rose Michtom, a married Russian Jewish immigrant couple who had a penny store that sold candy and other items, followed the news of the president’s hunting trip.

That night, Rose quickly formed a piece of plush velvet into the shape of a bear, sewed on some eyes, and the next morning, the Michtoms had “Teddy’s bear” displayed in their store window. One of the original teddy bears, donated by the Michtom family and on display at National Museum of American History. Photo: Smithsonian That day, more than a dozen people asked if they could buy the bear. Thinking they might need permission from the White House to produce the stuffed animals, the Michtoms mailed the original to the president as a gift for his children and asked if he’d mind if they used his name on the bear. Roosevelt, doubting it would make a difference, consented. Teddy’s bear became so popular the Michtoms left the candy business and devoted themselves to the manufacture of stuffed bears. Roosevelt adopted the teddy bear as the symbol of the Republican Party for the 1904 election, and the Michtoms would ultimately make a fortune as proprietors of the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company. In 1963, they donated one of the first teddy bears to the Smithsonian Institution.

It’s currently on view in the American Presidency gallery at the National Museum of American History. Sources Articles: ”Holt Collier, Mississippi” Published in George P. Rawick, ed., The American Slave: A Composite Autobiography. Westport, Connecticut: The Greenwood Press, Inc.,1979, Supplement Series1, v.7, p. 447-478. American Slave Narratives, Collected by the Federal Writers Project, Works Progress Administration, ”The Great Bear Hunt,” by Douglas Brinkley, National Geographic, May 5, 2001. “James K. Vardaman,” Fatal Flood, American Experience, ”Anthracite Coal Strike of 1902,” by Rachael Marks, University of St.

Francis, “The Story of the Teddy Bear,” National Park Service, “Rose and Morris Michtom and the Invention of the Teddy Bear,” Jewish Virtual Library, “Origins of the Teddy Bear,” by Elizabeth Berlin Taylor, The Gilder-Lehrman Institute of American History, “Teddy Bear,” Theodore Roosevelt Center at Dickinson State University, Real Teddy Bear Story - Theodore Roosevelt Association Real Teddy Bear Story Home > Resources > Real Teddy Bear Story How did toy bears come to be named after President Theodore Roosevelt? It all started with a hunting trip President Roosevelt took in 1902 in Mississippi at the invitation of Mississippi Governor, Andrew H. Longino. After three days of hunting, other members of the party had spotted bears, but not Roosevelt. Now what? The President's bear hunt would be a failure! The next day, the hunt guides tracked down an old black bear that the dogs had trailed quite a distance and attacked. The guides tied the bear to a willow tree and called for the President. Here was a bear for him to shoot! But Roosevelt took one look at the old bear and refused to shoot it. He felt doing so would be unsportsmanlike.

However, since it was injured and suffering, Roosevelt ordered that the bear be put down to end its pain. Word of this hit newspapers across the country, and political cartoonist Clifford Berryman picked up on the story, drawing a cartoon showing how President Roosevelt refused to shoot the bear while hunting in Mississippi. The original cartoon, which ran in the Washington Post on November 16, 1902, shows Roosevelt standing in front. The guide and bear are in the background, and they’re about the same size. Later, similar cartoons appeared, but the bear was smaller and shaking with fear. This bear cub then appeared in other cartoons Clifford Berryman drew throughout Roosevelt’s career. That connected bears with President Roosevelt. The Teddy Bear tie came when a Brooklyn, NY candy shop owner, Morris Michtom, saw Clifford Berryman’s original cartoon of Roosevelt and the bear and had an idea. He put in his shop window two stuffed toy bears his wife had made. Michtom asked permission from President Roosevelt to call these toy bears "Teddy's bears". The rapid popularity of these bears led Michtom to mass-produce them, eventually forming the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company.

At about the same time, a Germany company, Steiff, started making stuffed bears. Margaret Steiff earned her living by sewing, first by making stuffed elephants, then other animals. In 1903, an American saw a stuffed bear she had made and ordered many of them. These bears, which also came to be called Teddy Bears, made the international connection. More than a century later, teddy bears have never lost popularity, and all can be traced to that one hunting trip in Mississippi. Rose & Morris Michtom | Jewish Virtual Library Rose & Morris Michtom Tweet Teddy bears are a symbol of cuddly gentleness and security the world over. It is well known that the teddy bear is named for President Theodore Roosevelt. Less well known are the inventors of the teddy bear, Rose and Morris Michtom, two Russian Jewish immigrants who lived in Brooklyn. The American bear as a symbol of gentleness is filled with ironies. For generations, bears prompted fear, not affection. The teddy bears namesake, Theodore Roosevelt, was a ferocious warrior and big game hunter  a man who killed for sport.

However, an unlikely alliance between the rugged, native-born American Protestant president and the inventive, immigrant Jewish couple from Brooklyn created one of the most lovable and enduring American icons. The story begins in 1902. The states of Mississippi and Louisiana disagreed over the location of their common boundary, which bisected some of the least well-developed land in the United States. The governors of both states invited President Roosevelt to arbitrate the dispute. Roosevelt decided to combine his tour of the disputed territory with a five-day black bear hunt. The presidents foray attracted a large contingent of journalists, who reported on Roosevelts every move. Even more compelling to the reporters than the boundary dispute was the presidents pursuit of a trophy bear. For four days, the press reported little about Roosevelts arbitration of the boundary dispute and harped on the ability of the areas bears to elude his crosshairs. On the fifth and last day of the junket, apparently to redeem the presidents reputation, one of his hunting companions caught and tied a bear cub to a tree so that the president could shoot it.

When he came upon the cub, Roosevelt refused to kill it, saying that he only took prey that had a sporting chance to defend itself. Roosevelts demurrer took the nation by storm. The leading American cartoonist, Clifford Berryman, published a cartoon showing Roosevelt turning his back on the young bear, tied by its neck, and public response to the presidents self-restraint was overwhelmingly favorable. The next day, the Washington Post published a second cartoon, depicting the bear as a more placid beast, cementing the docile image of the young bear even more firmly in the public imagination. Enter the Michtoms. Morris had arrived penniless in New York in 1887, when only in his teens, a refugee from pogroms. He married Rose and opened a small store that sold notions, candy and other penny items. In the evening, to help make ends meet, Rose sewed toys that they sold in the shop. Like millions of other Americans, the Michtoms avidly followed press accounts of Roosevelts journey into the Louisiana backcountry. Roosevelts refusal to shoot the defenseless bear touched the Michtoms.

Morris suggested to Rose that she sew a replica of the bear represented in Berrymans cartoons. That night, Rose cut and stuffed a piece of plush velvet into the shape of a bear, sewed on shoe button eyes and handed it to Morris to display in the shop window. He labeled it, "Teddys bear." To his surprise, not only did someone enter the store asking to buy the bear, but twelve other potential customers also asked to purchase it. Aware that he might offend the president by using his name without permission, the Michtoms mailed the original bear to the White House, offering it as a gift to the presidents children and asking Roosevelt for the use of his name. He told the Michtoms he doubted his name would help its sales but they were free to use it if they wanted. The rest is an amazing  yet characteristic  American Jewish immigrant success story. The Michtoms sewed teddy bears and placed them in the window of their shop, but demand was so great they couldnt keep up. The couple concluded that there was more profit in teddy bears than in penny candy and dedicated full time to producing them.

Because of the dolls popularity, Roosevelt and the Republican Party adopted it as their symbol in the election of 1904, and Michtom bears were placed on display at every public White House function. The Michtoms labor grew into the Ideal Toy Company, which remained in family hands until the 1970s. Ideal Toys sold millions of teddies throughout the world; yet, their good fortune did not spoil the Michtoms. Ever mindful of their humble origins, supported the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, the Jewish National Fund, the National Labor Campaign for Palestine and numerous other Jewish causes. While Ideal Toys could not secure a patent on the teddy bear and many imitators entered the market, the Michtoms created an American  and worldwide  icon. Their original teddy bear, treasured and saved by Teddy Roosevelts grandchildren, is now displayed at the Smithsonian.

Question: What was the full first name of the President who gave his name to Teddy Bears?
Answer: Theodore