The Origin of Teddy Bears

The Teddy bear has some interesting origins. In November 1902, the 26th president of the United States Theodore Roosevelt was invited to join a bear hunt in Smedes, Mississippi. While on the hunt, Theodore, a noted hunting enthusiast was summoned to shoot an old black bear that had been chained up. In a surprise turn of events, he refused to shoot it and it wasn't long before the hunting party's reporters started spreading word of Roosevelt's fair play which inspired Washington Post cartoonist Clifford Berryman to draw a political cartoon where the bear was portrayed be cuter and smaller than it actually was. This in turn inspired Brooklyn residents Russian Jewish immigrants Morris and Rose Michtom to create the first Teddy Bear which was made from velvet and shoe buttons for the eyes. It sold within a day of being in the shop's window in February 1903. Despite not liking the name Teddy, Theodore Roosevelt granted the Michtoms permission to use his name and soon the Michtoms began selling more Teddy Bears faster than Rose could sew them. Who knew that a popular and simple children's toy had some unique and somewhat political origins.