Existing comment:
Teddy Bear, c 1906
President Roosevelt did not like to be called "Teddy," so it is somewhat ironic that the toy bearing his name is so familiar to us all. In 1902, a highly publicized hunting trip in which Roosevelt refused to shoot a bear in an unsportsmanlike manner captured America's imagination. Soon thereafter, toy manufacturers such as the Ideal Toy Company of Brooklyn and Steiff of Germany began selling the stuffed animal we know as the "Teddy Bear." |