Saturday, December 10, 2011

History of Teddy Bear

Have you ever wondered how the name of Teddy Bear comes about?

Teddy Bear is named after United States 26th President, Theodore Roosevelt. "Teddy" was Roosevelt's nickname. It happened on November 1902 when President Roosevelt was hunting in Mississippi. On that day, he had  failed to make a kill so his hosts caught a bear cub presenting it to him as a target. The President refused and uttered "Spare the bear!, I will not shoot a tethered animal."  A Political Cartoonist, Clifford Berryman drew a cartoon of the scene (Drawing the Line in Mississippi), which was published in the Washington Post had made the cartoon successful and had provoked a huge public response. This had inspired a toy maker named Morris Michtom to produced his own bear toy named "Teddy" which was granted permission from the President.

Drawing the Line in Mississippi by Clifford Berryman

In 1905, bear making factories sprung up. Companies such as Steiff, The Ideal Novelty and Toy Co., Chad Valley, Chiltern and Farnell are the few of the early companies that started manufacturing bears.

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