Teddy Bears and Their Origins

There are not very kinds of toys whose appeal lasts and lasts without end, and teddy bears are one of those toys. Their universal popularity has continued uninterrupted for generations, and I imagine it will for many more. But stuffed toy bears have not always been part of our toy collections. They were born in the early Twentieth century, after an unfortunate sequence of events that you may find surpising as the origin of a children's toy.
Teddy bears got their named from US President Theodire Roosevelt, as "Teddy" is the short familiar version of the name "Theodore". The President attended a hunting trip with several other men included the governor of Mississippi. While on the hunting trip, they held a bear-shooting competition, and Roosevelt was in the possition to lose, having not shot a bear yet even after most others had. Some of Roosevelt's assistants, in an attempt to help him win the competition, themselves captured and restrained a black bear and called for Roosevelt to come and shoot the bear. But he refused to shoot the bear himself, feeling that this violated the spirit of the competition since he himself did not capture the bear. But during the capture of the bear it had been clubbed over the head and badly hurt, so Roosevelt ordered that the bear be put out of its misery.

This story of course made the papers, and was turned into satirical cartoon in the Washington Post. A toy maker named Morris Michtom saw the political cartoon and decided to create a new toy based on the bear. He created cute stuffed bears and placed them in his shop window, with a signing reading "Teddy's Bear", a smart way to capitalize on the publicity. The bears instantly skyrocketed to the heights of popularity, prompting Michtom to enlargen his business by founding the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company. By 1906 large numbers of other companies were producing similar bears, and they became the biggest toy craze the world had ever seen up until that point.

In today's world teddy bears continue to be the most universally loved of all children's toys, cherished by both kids and grownups alike all over the Earth. It seems strange that such a gruesome incident inspired such a craze for cute stuffed animals, but maybe the happiness that teddy bears have given to so many people has made something good out of an unfortunate occurrence.