A Basic History about the Teddy Bear

The Two Teddies

When President William McKinley was assassinated in 1901, Vice President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt became the 26th president of the U.S.A.. Because of his newfound position, every act of this showy figure was widely covered. Public officials unavoidably become the butt of political cartoonists and Mr. Roosevelt offered plentiful grist for the mill. Books exalting his famous hunting expeditions and African safaris were released in great numbers and the saga of his rough riders at San Juan Hill was fabled.

It was, however, a bear hunt in his own nation that became his most celebrated adventure and eternally impacted the collecting world. In 1902 Mr. Roosevelt and his hunting party visited Mississippi in pursuit of black bear. Regrettably the president did not get a shot, although he was often on the chase of a bear. At length in an effort to aid him, his guides caught a large female bear, tied it to a tree, and offered the "trophy" to Mr. Roosevelt.  Of course the consummate sportsman declined to shoot the trussed bear. The incident was covered in The Wasington Post via a cartoon drawn by Clifford Berryman and captioned "Drawing The Line In Mississippi". The first drawing, published in 1902 and currently pretty much forgotten, accurately portrayed an old bear. A later version, redrawn in 1906 and more widely distributed, depicts a young and frightened cub; it is this second cartoon that most collectors recognize.

The first teddy bears to appear on the market after "Drawing The Line In Mississippi" were presented at about the same time in both America and Germany. In Giengen, Germany, Richard Steiff was the primary designer for his aunt, Margarete Steiff, founder of the company that still has her name. To attain the realism characteristic of Steiff toy animals, Richard spent a good deal time sketching the bears and animals at the Stuttgart Zoo. In 1902 he dreamed of animals whose heads and legs could move freely, and in early 1903, such creatures - including a bear - made their first appearance at the company's showroom in New York and at the Leipzig Toy Fair in Germany. The bears (called "Bear 55 PB.") were criticized as being big, too heavy, and too hard for children's toys, and were saved only when Hermann Berg, a buyer for George Borgfeldt & Co. of New York was charmed by them and bought 3000.

In the meantime, in New York City, shopkeepers Rose and Morris Michtom were enchanted by the Roosevelt/Berryman tale. Rose's agile fingers went to work with needle and thread to create a bear toy. It was placed in their store window with a sign that said, "Teddy's Bear." It sold immediately, and orders were taken for more. When demand overpowered the Michtoms' ability to produce, the couple organized the Ideal Toy Corporation. Because early Ideal bears were not branded in a permanent manner, we must glean clues to their identification by analyzing ads in Playthings magazines and the example residing in the Smithsonian Institution.

It is obvious that teddy bears can't be separated from Teddy Roosevelt. One teddy bear legend claims that the Michtoms composed a letter to the president and asked - and received - his permission to name their bear toys after him. Regrettably no record of such correspondence exists. In another story, also undocumented, Mr. Roosevelt saw a toy stuffed bear and commented in his jocular way that even as a alleged "bear expert," he couldn't identify the breed. At this point another man exclaimed, "Why, it's a Teddy bear, of course!" Both are fascinating tales, whether true or not.

While Teddy Roosevelt can be regarded the Father of the Teddy Bear, a man named Peter Bull was the Father of Teddy Bear Collecting. Peter was an English actor whose pleasing persona was far different from the characters he played. With diabolic relish he portrayed the dastardly gun boat captain in "The African Queen" and a scalawag in "Dr. Doolittle." At an early age to Peter had suffered a trauma when his mother discarded  his childhood teddy bear while he was away at boarding school. Many years later he acknowledged this at a dinner party and discovered he wasn't alone in his teddy experience. The stories related by others were at last published as The Teddy Bear Book, and Peter became a national TV celebrity. Hearing a grown man announce his love for Teddy bears prompted similar confessions from those who secretly felt the same. The bear hunt was on.

By the end of the 1970's, adults were quietly accumulating bears, and a few had begun to make them as well. During the ensuing decade, an industry grew up around teddy bears: collectors, manufacturers, artists, shops, suppliers, publications, conventions. And having observed the 100th anniversary of the invention of  teddy bears, it is hard to envision a toy with more comprehensive appeal.