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History of the "Teddy
Bear"
The most common explanation for the rise of the "teddy bear"
begins in November 1902, when Roosevelt visited the southern United States
to help settle a border dispute between Mississippi and Louisiana. While on
the trip, Roosevelt went bear hunting, but had little luck. Others in his
party did find a bear, which, cornered near a water hole, fought with and
killed one of the group's hunting dogs. When Roosevelt saw what had
happened, he ordered his men to humanely put the wounded bear out of its
misery.
Clifford Berryman, a newspaper
cartoonist for the Washington Post, witnessed the incident and turned
it into a cartoon. Called "Drawing the Line in Mississippi," the cartoon
depicted Roosevelt's dual accomplishments on the trip—negotiating border
disputes and protecting wildlife. To Berryman's surprise, the cartoon was
published in newspapers across the country. However, the bear had not really
been the helpless animal Berryman had first drawn, but, rather, an angry
animal that just killed a dog. So, the cartoon, as well as the story of
Roosevelt's hunting trip, was soon altered.
Berryman redrew the cartoon,
changing the angry bear to a small, frightened-looking cub. The story
changed too. The newly invented legend said that, after having poor luck
hunting, Roosevelt was given the opportunity to shoot a bear a cub that his
staff had captured. Of course, Roosevelt refused. This account of
Roosevelt's trip caught on and soon the cub was appearing in all of
Berryman's cartoons featuring the president. "Teddy's bear," as it came to
be called, quickly gained popularity with Americans of all ages.
The small cub sparked the
imagination of Morris Michtom, the owner of a small novelty store in
Brooklyn, New York. Michtom's wife stitched several plush toy replicas of the
bear for sale in the family store. When they sold quickly, Michtom decided
to send Roosevelt a bear and ask his permission to use the president's name
on the bears. Roosevelt responded positively and Michtom, along with a large
wholesaling company, Butler Brothers, began to mass-produce the toy bears.
Michtom probably didn't know it, but he had created a new piece of American
heritage
This information is from the following:
http://www.historychannel.com/exhibits/toys/teddy.html
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