HAPPINESSS IS A .

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HAPPINESS IS A ..... TEDDY BEAR
(Playing - "The Teddy Bears' Picnic")

This song brings back enjoyable childhood memories. When I was very young, a Saturday morning children's radio program
was introduced each week with this tune. I'm sure I always listened; as I recall, one week it might be the story
of Hansel and Gretel, one week the story of Cinderella, etc.

The words to "The Teddy Bears' Picnic" are printed below. Years ago I bought an LP album by Anne Murray just to get this song.

~ Remember Radar and his constant companion, his bedraggled Teddy Bear, in the old T.V. series, "Mash." ~

The following piece is by Marvin Scott, as it appeared in the Parade Sunday Magazine on December 24, 1978.
(Look for the 100th celebration early in this Century.)

Update: Teddy Bear Centennial - 2002

Click the Teddy Bear for ways to celebrate his 100th birthday

"He is soft, furry, cuddly, lovable, durable, dependable. As a protector, friend and confidant, he is worshipped and adored.
He has survived earthquakes, wars and broken homes.

His name is Teddy ~ Teddy Bear ~ and he's as stable an institution as motherhood and apple pie, and probably just
as indestructible. While still young in spirit and stuffing, Teddy is celebrating his 75th Christmas.
Tomorrow Teddy will delight tens of thousands of children anew.

His roots go back to November 14, 1902. President Theodore Roosevelt, while on a mission to arbitrate a boundary
dispute between Mississippi and Louisiana, took a side trip to go hunting. According to legend, after a bad hunting day,
a small bear was captured and brought to the camp for the President to shoot. Roosevelt refused, claiming the cub
didn't have a fair chance to defend itself.

That act of mercy was captured by political cartoonist Clifford Berryman, whose ensuing sketch of the incident
appeared in Washington and New York newspapers.

Brooklyn candy store owner Morris Michtom saw the cartoon and asked his wife to make a few stuffed bears.
"Mother was always deft with a needle," recalls Benjamin Michtom. "She had no trouble at all making
three 2 1/2-foot, honey-colored, plush bears by hand. Father placed the cartoon and the three bears in the window
and labeled them "Teddy's Bears."

A number of Michtom's customers wanted to buy the toy cubs, and Rose Michtom began producing them on a small scale.
Her husband sent one to the President, with a letter asking his permission to name the toy after him.
Rough Rider Roosevelt kept the bear and returned a handwritten letter giving permission to use his name,
but adding that he didn't think his name "would mean much to the toy bear business."

Michtom got the biggest toy wholesaler of the day to distribute the bear, and within a year the big chains
were clamoring for all the Teddies they could get. It was the beginning of an institution, and what was
to become a $150 million a year toy business ~ the Ideal Toy Corporation. When Morris Michtom died
in 1938, his company was turning out more than 100,000 Teddies a year.

Newspapers mourned Michtom as "The Father of the Teddy Bear," yet that distinction was contested by
the Steiff Toy Company of Germany, which claims several of its stuffed toy bears were first produced in 1897
and later used at a White House reception during Roosevelt's Administration. The President reportedly
was at a loss for an answer when someone asked what species of bear the decoration was. Steiff says
a guest suggested that it was a new species named "Teddy."

Teddy himself has remained silent about the controversy over his origin.
Herbert Collins, curator of the Smithsonian Institutions's Division of Political History in Washington, D. C.,
diplomatically says that while stuffed bears had been manufactured in Europe prior to 1902, Michtom's Teddy
was the first in the United States."

Whatever his origin, Teddy inspired some fierce competition. Dozens of manufacturers cashed in on the toy's
magical appeal and produced millions.

Why is Teddy so special? John Noble, toy curator of the Museum of the City of New York, says, "He's utterly
trustworthy, honest. He's the perfect confidant. You can tell him anything and you know it's safe." Peter Bull,
London-based actor and author of The Teddy Bear Book, says, "To a child, Teddy is a bridge between a human being
and an animal. He doesn't mind being taken for a walk, dressed in ridiculous hats or even being read to. You can
blame him for anything, and he won't deny it. His marvelous face expresses anything a child wants to feel or hear."

It's not unusual for grownups to become attached to their Teddy Bears, too. Rosemary Ritchie, 76, of Browns Mills, N. J.,
still has the Teddy she received as a Christmas present 71 years ago. She says she wants to be buried with the toy.
"He wouldn't have the same sentimental value to anyone else," she says.

One woman confided to Peter Bull that after a series of unhappy marriages, she was convinced she was
"unconsciously looking for my Teddy Bear, and I eventually found a man who greatly resembles one."

Adults have rushed into burning buildings to rescue their Teddies. Soldiers have carried bears with them into combat.
Toy curator Noble says the worse thing that happened to him during the Second World War was losing his Teddy Bear
in a bombing raid on London. In 1965, one Teddy conquered the Matterhorn, carried by an Italian Alpine climber.

Good Bears of the World, an international organization that provides Teddies for hospitalized children, now has
4000 members and chapters in five states, Great Britain, Canada, Germany, Norway and France. GBW founder
Jim Ownby says: "Sick children need someone to love and hang onto. A Teddy is that someone." Ownby,
who publishes Bear Tracks, a quarterly newsletter, has plans for an International Teddy Bear Museum
and has proclaimed October 27 ~ Teddy Roosevelt's birthday ~ as Good Bear Day.

Teddy Roosevelt busted trusts, began U. S. construction of the Panama Canal and mediated
the Russo-Japanese War. Yet, it is for Teddy Bear that millions remember him. What would life be like
if he hadn't spared that bear club in Mississippi?

You might say that growing up without a Teddy Bear to hug would be like
having December without Christmas."

"THE TEDDY BEARS' PICNIC"
(words to tune playing)

If you go down to the woods today
You're sure of a big surprise
If you go down to the woods today
You'd better go in disguise
For ev'ry bear that ever there was
Will gather there for certain, because
Today's the day the Teddy Bears have their picnic.

Ev'ry Teddy Bear whose been good
Is sure of a treat today.
There's lots of marvelous things to eat
And wonderful games to play
Beneath the trees, where nobody sees
They'll hide and seek as long as they please
'Cause that's the way the Teddy Bears have their picnic.

Picnic times for Teddy Bears
The little Teddy Bears are having a lovely time today
Watch them, catch them unawares
And see them picnic on their holiday
See them gaily gad about.
They love to play and shout; they never have any cares.
At six o'clock their mommies and daddies
Will take them home to bed,
Because they're tired little Teddy Bears.

If you go down in the woods today
You better not go alone
It's lovely down in the woods today
But safer to stay at home
For ev'ry bear that ever there was
Will gather there together because
Today's the day the Teddy Bears have their picnic.

~ John W. Bratton, composer
Jimmy Kennedy, lyricist

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