| It's hard to find someone who hasn't had a special | | | | it all his cartoons. It signified to the public how |
| toy. Seems everyone has had a special friend | | | | Roosevelt could not be swayed from doing what |
| that's been with them forever, listening and | | | | he thought was right. It is debatable how much of |
| comforting them. For many that friend came in | | | | a role it played in his re-election in 1905. |
| the form of a TEDDY BEAR. It's hard to believe | | | | As news spread of Roosevelt's adventure and |
| those cute and cuddly friends, so much a part of | | | | Berryman's cartoon the imagination of New York |
| our lives, haven't been around forever. The | | | | toy storeowners Morris and Rose Michtom was |
| Teddy Bear is younger than the electric light, the | | | | sparked. Using Berryman's Bear as a guide, they |
| motor car, and the telephone. | | | | designed a bear very unlike the toy bears |
| On November 14, 1902, the 26th President of the | | | | available at the time. Toy bears were typically |
| United States, Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt, went | | | | portrayed on all fours with features similar to real |
| to Mississippi to settle a border dispute between | | | | bears. The Michtoms new bear was sweet and |
| Mississippi and Louisiana. While there, Roosevelt | | | | cuddly, filled with excelsior stuffing and adorned |
| agreed to join in a bear hunt. Accustomed to a | | | | with black buttons for eyes. |
| strenuous, physical hunt, he was a bit dismayed | | | | Rose made two of the bears and they were |
| by the unfamiliar method of using packs of dogs | | | | placed in the store's window. They became an |
| to track and chase prey leaving the hunter to | | | | instant success. The Michtoms then asked |
| only wait for his animal. | | | | President Roosevelt for permission to call the |
| Hunting conditions proved unfavorable for the | | | | bears "Teddy's Bears" and the Teddy Bear was |
| president and late into the day he still hadn't had | | | | born. |
| success. Determined to find a suitable quarry for | | | | The demand for Teddy's Bears was so strong |
| his president, guide Holt Collier set off to find him | | | | that within a year of its creation the Michtoms |
| a bear. Tracking a 235 pound bear to a water | | | | closed their candy store. With the help of the |
| hole, he clubbed it over the head and tied it to a | | | | wholesale firm, Butler Brothers, the first teddy |
| tree. Roosevelt was then summoned to shoot | | | | bear manufacturer in the United States was |
| the bear and claim his prize. The president was | | | | founded. They called it the Ideal Novelty and Toy |
| unimpressed by the bound, dazed, and bleeding | | | | Company. It remained a successful business and in |
| bear. Saying, "Spare the bear! I will not shoot a | | | | 1938 changed its name to Ideal Toy Company. |
| tethered animal." He refused his prize and forbade | | | | The term Teddy Bear (without the s) first |
| anyone else from claiming it. | | | | appeared in the October 1906 issue of Playthings |
| Reporters with the hunting party spread the | | | | Magazine. Soon even the Steiff Company was |
| news of Roosevelt's fair play nationwide. Among | | | | using it for their bears and it became the |
| those inspired by the story was political cartoonist | | | | accepted term. |
| Clifford Berryman. Berryman drew a cartoon of | | | | The teddy bear is the most popular plush toy and |
| the incident portraying the tethered bear sitting | | | | it's possible it's the most popular of all toys. While |
| innocently with huge, scared eyes. The cartoon | | | | other toys have enjoyed their popularity and then |
| captioned "Drawing the Line in Mississippi" was | | | | disappeared, the teddy bear has stood the test |
| featured on the front cover of The Washington | | | | of time. They are bought for our new babies, our |
| Post on November 16, 1902. | | | | friends, and our loved ones. There just doesn't |
| The cartoon was reprinted in newspapers all over | | | | seem to be an occasion where a teddy bear isn't |
| the country and Roosevelt's popularity soared. For | | | | just the right gift. We dress them up, make them |
| the remainder of his political career his mascot | | | | musical, and treasure them as collector's pieces |
| was Teddy's Bear and Berryman continued to use | | | | and beloved friends. |