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