The History and Evolution of Teddy Bears

The Survival of the Fittest?

Teddy bears have a history and an evolution just like real living creatures. The history of the Teddy bear is subject to some controversy but the following seems most likely.

In November of 1902 Teddy Roosevelt was in Mississippi to settle a border dispute between that state and Louisiana. Some of the locals took him hunting in Mississippi. They had no luck so when some of the hunters found an old and tired bear they roped him and tied him to a tree. They called for Roosevelt who refused to shoot the old bear, saying in was unsportsman like.

The next day an editorial cartoonist named Clifford Barryman produced a cartoon montage in which he included the incident. His bear had big round eyes and big round ears.

In the meantime Rose Michton, the wife of a shopkeeper Morris Michton, had been making toy bears from plush stuffed excelsior and black shoe button eyes. Morris Michton read the Roosevelt story and put two of the bears in his store window and they became immediately popular. He wrote to Roosevelt and got permission from the president to call the bears “Teddy’s bears.” Business was so good that Michton started a company called the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company.

In Germany the Stieff Company had been making stuffed bears. In 1902-02 they made the first jointed stuffed bears. The bears were not especially popular in Germany but the company got an order for 3000 bears from the United States. By 1906 the bears were called Teddy bears and Stieff called their bears Teddy Bears. Stieff’s Teddy bears looked more like real bears whereas the Idea Teddy bear looked more like the cartoon bear.

Teddy bears became all the rage, a craze similar to that of the Cabbage Patch dolls or Beanie Babies. Society ladies could be seen going about town carrying their Teddy bears. Bears of all colors and kinds were produced and there was competition for the Ideal and Stieff bears.

The Teddy bear has remained popular and is probably still the most popular toy in the United States.