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Teddy Bears:
Teddy Bears received their name from President Theodore
Roosevelt. In 1902, President Roosevelt took a trip to Mississippi to
settle a boundary dispute between that state and Louisiana. The
newspapers of the day stated that the purpose of Roosevelt's trip was to
"draw the line." While in Mississippi, the President took time off to go
bear hunting. Some newspaper reporters traveling with Roosevelt made
much of an incident in which the President refused to shoot a little
bear cub.
 Clifford Berryman, a cartoonist for the
Washington Star, used the hunting incident as the content for a
political cartoon. Berryman's cartoon pictured Roosevelt, gun in hand,
with his back to the animal and his hand in the air to indicate that he
was drawing the line at shooting the cub. The cartoon, captioned
"Drawing the Line in Mississippi," was reprinted in newspapers across
the country and quickly caught the public's fancy.
Historians may never know who made the first Teddy Bear.
Sometime between 1902 and 1906 someone capitalized on Berryman's cartoon
and produced a stuffed bear cub toy named Teddy's Bear. Several people
later were given credit.
By 1906, more than a dozen manufacturers were making Teddy's
Bears. They also were imported from Germany. They had become a fad
throughout the country. Besides making walking, talking, and many other
varieties of bears, manufacturers produced Teddy Bear lamps, tea sets,
stationery, postcards, pedal automobiles, hammocks, balls, rocking
horses, shoo flies, wagons, banks, paper dolls, party games, targets,
blocks, rubber stamps, and water pistols.
The Teddy Bear is one novelty toy that has survived its initial
popularity. Although they are now made in many styles, Teddy Bears
continue to be a favorite of American children.
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Dolls
