Throughout the years the toy market has seen many toys come and
go but few have the staying power and the unique history of the
Teddy Bear. Let’s explore this unique story of this classic toy
and a piece of American heritage.

It was November 1902 and our president at the time, Theodore
Roosevelt went on a hunting excursion to Mississippi. The trip
was business and pleasure: He was there to try to settle a
boundary dispute between Mississippi and Louisiana and a
hunting excursion for the president, who loved the sport.

But on that particular day, the hunt did not go as planned as
President Roosevelt could not find a suitable target to his
liking. However, his staff, in an effort to accommodate him,
somehow managed to capture a Louisiana black bear cub for him
to shoot and tied it to a tree. The thought of shooting a baby
bear tied to a tree did not seem sporting to the accomplished
outdoorsman and he refused, instead sparing the life of the
black bear cub and setting it free.

Mr. Clifford Berryman, a famous political cartoonist for the
Washington Star at the time, drew a cartoon titled, “Drawing
The Line In Mississippi”, depicting the President letting the
bear live, and using the story as a metaphor as for how the
president dealt with the boundary dispute.

The cartoon also showed the President with his rifle and his
back turned on the cute, cowering, baby bear. This gave
Brooklyn toy store owner, Morris Michtom the inspiration for a
display for his shop.

He placed a copy of the newspaper cartoon next to a hand-sewn
stuffed bear his wife made in the window of his store. To his
surprise, he was inundated with customers eager to buy his
stuffed bear!

Michtom quickly requested and received President Theodore
Roosevelt’s permission to use his name for the stuffed bears
that he and his wife were now selling. Thus the “teddy bear”
was born, and soon Michtom was producing the bears by the
thousands. With the profits from the sales of the teddy bears
Michtom went on to form the Ideal Toy Company.

Teddy bears continue to be best friends to children of all ages
all over the world. Their mass appeal will never go out of style
and they are a true classic to, albeit, with a little
presidential help.


About The Author: Robert Benson operates
http://www.ezshoppinghere.com a website devoted to helping
shoppers find unique gift ideas in unique places. Look for more
artilces about classic toys on the website and shop at over 400
stores and specialty shops.

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