The History of the Teddy Bear

This web site is an effort by me...Lee. I are into teddy bears. I (Lee) have another other web site ... Lee's Lair, where you can connect to learn more about me. Also,at Lee's Lair, you can check out some other links to fun and interesting sites. This site is devoted to bears...in particular, teddy bears. The history given in the next three paragraphs is taken from a number of web sites.

No matter which way you look at it, the teddy bear was born in 1902. It was first made in the USA and Germany in that year. In Germany, Richard Steiff started work on a new toy for the family business after touring American circus in search of a new idea for a toy. He saw a group of performing bears and started work. Meanwhile,....back in the USA....President Teddy Roosevelt was on a trip on the Mississippi to settle a border dispute and decided to go hunting one day. He had not bagged one animal in several hours when an aide decided to insure the President a trophy. The aide found a lost bear cub and tied it to a tree and brought the President to see it...his trophy for the day! Well, Teddy R would have no part of this and thus a legend was born.

The press got a hold of the story and a cartoonist, Clifford Berryman drew a cartoon about the incident. It made all the papers and inspired Morris Michtom and his wife (using Berryman's cartoon) to work out a pattern and put together a jointed toy bear cub, which they named "Teddy's Bear". The bears were a great sucess and sold like wild fire. Within a year, Michtom sold his candy store and founded the Ideal Novelty and Toy Co....still one of the biggest toy companies in the world over ninety years later.

Meanwhile, back in Germany...Richard Steiff has not met with the same sucess as the Mochtoms...his "Friend Petz" did not take off until legend has it that he was packing away his bears at the 1903 Spring Toy Fair at Leipzig and an American toy buyer saw him, seized the bear and ordered 3000 on the spot.

There is more to the story of the origin of the teddy bear and it's subsequent history, but you can go to: