Teddy Bear
The story of the teddy bear begins in November 1902 when President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt traveled to Mississippi to mediate a border dispute between that state and Louisiana. It is told that he took some time out from his work to go on a hunting expedition and that his hosts trapped a bear cub to ensure the President's venture would be successful. When Roosevelt realized this scheme, he refused to shoot the cub. Hearing of the incident, cartoonist Clifford Berryman drew a sketch of the President holding a rifle and standing with his back to a terrified bear cub; the caption read, "Drawing the line in Mississippi." The cartoon caught the attention of Brooklyn candy store owner Morris Michtom, a Russian immigrant, who fashioned a brown plush toy bear with button eyes and movable limbs. He placed the bear in the front window of his store, along with a copy of Berryman's cartoon and a sign that said, " Teddy's Bear." Michtom's customers loved his bear and asked him to make more and sell them. Before doing so, the cautious inventor wrote to Roosevelt seeking permission to use the President's nickname for his product. Roosevelt obliged, commenting that he doubted his name was " worth much to the toy bear cub business." He may have been wrong about that, for by 1906 the teddy bear had become America's top-selling toy. Production had reached almost a million in 1907, and bears fashioned from mohair in various colors were available in sizes from three-and-a-half to forty inches.
Pirated versions appeared all over the world. Children so loved their toy bears that some people feared they would transfer to the plush creatures their affection for their mothers. Michtom was able to abandon his candy business and found the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company, which later became the Ideal Toy Company, the world's largest dollmaker.
At about the same time Ideal began marketing the teddy bear in the United States, the German company--Steiff--began distributing a similar toy in Europe. The Steiff bear featured a metal rod skeleton (rather than the usual cardboard disk and pin joints) that gave the toy movable joints. Developed from sketches the company's founder, Richard Steiff, made while watching bears at the zoo, the bear looked quite realistic when made to stand on all four legs. By 1910, many companies in Europe and the United States were producing teddy bears, including models that incorporated clockwork mechanisms to make the bears tumble and those that came equipped with muzzles and leads. Glass began to replace the shoebuttons previously used for eyes. During the 1920s, pastel-colored bears gained popularity. Teddy bears produced during the early years of the twentieth century are much coveted by modern collectors.
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