A teddy bear is a
stuffed toy in the form of a
bear
Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nor ...
. Developed apparently simultaneously by toymakers
Morris Michtom
Morris Michtom (1870 – July 21, 1938) was a Russian-born businessman and inventor who, with his wife Rose, also a Russian Jewish immigrant who lived in Brooklyn, came up with the idea for the teddy bear in 1902 around the same time as R ...
in the U.S. and
Richard Steiff
Richard Steiff (February 7, 1877 – March 30, 1939) was a German designer, known for helping create the teddy bear. In 1897 he joined Steiff, a stuffed toy company founded in his hometown Giengen by his aunt Margarete Steiff, and gave the compa ...
under his aunt
Margarete Steiff's company in Germany in the early 20th century, the teddy bear, named after President
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
, became a popular children's toy and has been celebrated in story, song, and film.
Since the creation of the first teddy bears which sought to imitate the form of real bear cubs, "teddies" have greatly varied in form, style, color, and material. They have become
collector's items
A collectable (collectible or collector's item) is any object regarded as being of value or interest to a collector. Collectable items are not necessarily monetarily valuable or uncommon. There are numerous types of collectables and terms t ...
, with older and rarer teddies appearing at public auctions. Teddy bears are among the most popular gifts for children and are often given to adults to signify affection, congratulations, or sympathy.
History
![TheodoreRooseveltTeddyBear](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/TheodoreRooseveltTeddyBear.jpg)
The name ''teddy'' ''bear'' comes from former
United States President
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United State ...
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
, who was often referred to as "Teddy" (though he loathed being referred to as such).
The name originated from an incident on a bear hunting trip in
Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
in November 1902, to which Roosevelt was invited by Mississippi Governor
Andrew H. Longino
Andrew Houston Longino (May 16, 1854 – February 24, 1942) was an American politician from Mississippi who served as a United States Democratic Party, Democrat in the Mississippi State Senate, State Senate (1880–1884), the U.S. District Attorn ...
. There were several other hunters competing, and most of them had already killed an animal. A suite of Roosevelt's attendants, led by
Holt Collier, cornered, clubbed, and tied an
American black bear
The American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), also called simply a black bear or sometimes a baribal, is a medium-sized bear endemic to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most widely distributed bear species. American black bear ...
to a willow tree after a long exhausting chase with
hounds. They called Roosevelt to the site and suggested that he shoot it. He refused to shoot the bear himself, deeming this unsportsmanlike, but instructed that the bear be killed to put it out of its misery,
and it became the topic of a
political cartoon
A political cartoon, a form of editorial cartoon, is a cartoon graphic with caricatures of public figures, expressing the artist's opinion. An artist who writes and draws such images is known as an editorial cartoonist. They typically combine a ...
by
Clifford Berryman
Clifford Kennedy Berryman (April 2, 1869 – December 11, 1949) was a Pulitzer Prize–winning cartoonist with ''The Washington Star'' newspaper from 1907 to 1949. He was previously a cartoonist for ''The Washington Post'' from 1891 to 1907.
Du ...
in ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' on November 16, 1902.
While the initial cartoon of an adult
black bear lassoed by a handler and a disgusted Roosevelt had symbolic overtones, later issues of that and other Berryman cartoons made the bear smaller and cuter.
Morris Michtom
Morris Michtom (1870 – July 21, 1938) was a Russian-born businessman and inventor who, with his wife Rose, also a Russian Jewish immigrant who lived in Brooklyn, came up with the idea for the teddy bear in 1902 around the same time as R ...
saw the Berryman drawing of Roosevelt and was inspired to create a teddy bear. He created a tiny soft bear cub and put it in his candy shop window at 404 Tompkins Avenue in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
with a sign "Teddy's bear." The toys were an immediate success and Michtom founded the
Ideal Novelty and Toy Co.
A little earlier in 1902 in Germany, the
Steiff firm produced a stuffed bear from
Richard Steiff
Richard Steiff (February 7, 1877 – March 30, 1939) was a German designer, known for helping create the teddy bear. In 1897 he joined Steiff, a stuffed toy company founded in his hometown Giengen by his aunt Margarete Steiff, and gave the compa ...
's designs. Steiff exhibited the toy at the Leipzig Toy Fair in March 1903, where it was seen by Hermann Berg, a buyer for George Borgfeldt & Company in New York (and the brother of composer
Alban Berg
Alban Maria Johannes Berg ( , ; 9 February 1885 – 24 December 1935) was an Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School. His compositional style combined Romantic lyricism with the twelve-tone technique. Although he left a relatively sma ...
). He ordered 3,000 to be sent to the United States. Although Steiff's records show that the bears were produced, they are not recorded as arriving in the U.S., and no example of the type, "55 PB", has ever been seen, leading to the story that the bears were
shipwreck
A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwrecking may be intentional or unintentional. Angela Croome reported in January 1999 that there were approximately ...
ed. However, the shipwreck story is disputed – author Günther Pfeiffer notes that it was only recorded in 1953 and says it is more likely that the 55 PB was not sufficiently durable to survive until the present day. Although Steiff and Michtom were both making teddy bears at around the same time, neither would have known of the other's creation due to poor
transatlantic
Transatlantic, Trans-Atlantic or TransAtlantic may refer to:
Film
* Transatlantic Pictures, a film production company from 1948 to 1950
* Transatlantic Enterprises, an American production company in the late 1970s
* ''Transatlantic'' (1931 film), ...
communication.
North American educator
Seymour Eaton
Seymour Eaton (May 7, 1859 – March 16, 1916) was a Canadian-born American author, journalist, editor, and publisher. He founded the Booklovers' Library in 1900 which became known as the world's largest circulating library, and is credited with ...
wrote the children's book series ''The Roosevelt Bears'',
while composer
John Walter Bratton
John Walter Bratton (January 21, 1867 – February 7, 1947) was an American Tin Pan Alley composer and theatrical producer who became popular during the era known as the Gay Nineties.
Early life
Raised by his grandmother, Mary Bratton, in New Ca ...
wrote an instrumental "
The Teddy Bears' Picnic
"The Teddy Bears' Picnic" is a song consisting of a melody by American composer John Walter Bratton, written in 1907, and lyrics added by Irish songwriter Jimmy Kennedy in 1932. It remains popular as a children's song, having been recorded by nu ...
", a "characteristic two-step", in 1907, which later had words written to it by lyricist
Jimmy Kennedy in 1932.
Early teddy bears were made to look like real bears, with extended snouts and beady eyes. Modern teddy bears tend to have larger eyes and foreheads and smaller noses,
babylike features intended to enhance the toy's "
cuteness". Some teddy bears are also designed to represent different species, such as
polar bear
The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear specie ...
s and
brown bear
The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear species found across Eurasia and North America. In North America, the populations of brown bears are called grizzly bears, while the subspecies that inhabits the Kodiak Islands of Alaska is kno ...
s, as well as
pandas and
koala
The koala or, inaccurately, koala bear (''Phascolarctos cinereus''), is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae and its closest living relatives are the womb ...
s.
While early teddy bears were covered in tawny
mohair
Mohair (pronounced ) is a fabric or yarn made from the hair of the Angora goat. (This should not be confused with Angora wool, which is made from the fur of the Angora rabbit.) Both durable and resilient, mohair is notable for its high luster ...
fur, modern teddy bears are manufactured in a wide variety of commercially available
fabric
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
s, most commonly
synthetic fur, but also
velour
Velour, occasionally velours, is a plush, knitted fabric or textile similar to velvet or velveteen. It is usually made from cotton, but can also be made from synthetic materials such as polyester. Often, it contains a percentage of elastane, ...
,
denim,
cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...
,
satin, and
canvas
Canvas is an extremely durable plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, shelters, as a support for oil painting and for other items for which sturdiness is required, as well as in such fashion objects as handbags ...
.
Production
Commercial
Commercially made, mass-produced teddy bears are predominantly made as toys for children. These bears either have safety joints for attaching arms, legs, and heads, or else the joints are sewn and not articulated. They must have securely fastened eyes that do not pose a choking hazard for small children. These "plush" bears must meet a rigid standard of construction in order to be marketed to children in the United States and in the European Union.
There are also companies, like Steiff, that sell handmade collectible bears that can be purchased in stores or over the Internet.
The majority of teddy bears are manufactured in countries with low production costs, such as China and Indonesia. A few small, single-person producers in the United States make unique, non-mass-produced teddy bears. In the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
one small, traditional teddy bear company remains,
Merrythought, which was established in 1930.
Mohair
Mohair (pronounced ) is a fabric or yarn made from the hair of the Angora goat. (This should not be confused with Angora wool, which is made from the fur of the Angora rabbit.) Both durable and resilient, mohair is notable for its high luster ...
, the fur shorn or combed from a breed of long haired goats, is woven into cloth, dyed and trimmed.
File:Making of a teddy bear 1 cutting.jpg, 1: Cutting
File:Making of a teddy bear 2 sewing and turning.jpg, 2: Sewing and turning
File:Making of a teddy bear 3 filling.jpg, 3: Filling
File:Making of a teddy bear 4 assembling.jpg, 4: Assembling
Amateur
Teddy bears are a favourite form of soft toy for amateur toy makers, with many patterns commercially produced or available online. Many "teddies" are home-made as gifts or for charity, while "teddy bear artists" often create "teddies" for retail, decorating them individually with commercial and recycled ornaments such as sequins, beads and ribbons. Sewn teddy bears are made from a wide range of materials including
felt
Felt is a textile material that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing fibers together. Felt can be made of natural fibers such as wool or animal fur, or from synthetic fibers such as petroleum-based acrylic or acrylonitrile or wood ...
,
cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...
and
velour
Velour, occasionally velours, is a plush, knitted fabric or textile similar to velvet or velveteen. It is usually made from cotton, but can also be made from synthetic materials such as polyester. Often, it contains a percentage of elastane, ...
. While many are stitched, others are made from
yarn
Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, used in sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery, ropemaking, and the production of textiles. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufact ...
, either
knitted or
crochet
Crochet (; ) is a process of creating textiles by using a crochet hook to interlock loops of yarn, thread (yarn), thread, or strands of other materials. The name is derived from the French term ''crochet'', meaning 'hook'. Hooks can be made from ...
ed.
Cultural impact
![IWM CH2526](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/IWM_CH2526.jpg)
Retail sales of stuffed plush animals including teddy bears totaled $1.3 billion in 2006, with manufacturers including
Gund
Gund is a Canadian-owned manufacturer of plush stuffed animals. The company is based in Edison, New Jersey, and distributes throughout the United States and Canada as well as in Europe, Japan, Australia, and South America. Gund is currently ru ...
and
Ty Inc.
Ty (stylized as ty) is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. It was founded by Ty Warner in 1986. It designs, develops and sells products, most notably Beanie Babies, exclusively to spec ...
Teddy bear plush toys have enjoyed ongoing popularity, complete with specialty retailers such as
Teddy Atelier Stursberg and
Vermont Teddy Bear Company
The Vermont Teddy Bear Company (VTB) is one of the largest producers of teddy bears and the largest seller of teddy bears by mail order and Internet. The company handcrafts each of its teddy bears and produces almost 500,000 teddy bears each year ...
, as well as
do-it-yourself
"Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and semi ...
chains including
Build-A-Bear Workshop.
Museums
The world's first
teddy bear museum was set up in
Petersfield, Hampshire, England, in 1984. In 1990,
a similar foundation was set up in
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, United States. These were closed in 2006 and 2005 respectively, and the bears were sold in auctions, but there are many teddy bear museums around the world today.
Emergency services
Because police, fire and medical officials found that giving a teddy bear to a child during a crisis stabilized and calmed them,
NAPLC The National Association of Police & Lay Charities (NAPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) Charitable organization, charity started in 1997 in Washington, D.C.
The mission statement of NAPLC began simply enough, but in time was expanded to allow partnersh ...
created the Teddy Bear Cops program to distribute teddy bears to police, fire, and medical responders throughout the United States.
April Fools' Day
On
April Fools' Day 1972, issue 90 of ''
The Veterinary Record
''Veterinary Record'', branded as ''Vet Record'', is a semi-monthly peer-reviewed medical journal covering the field of veterinary medicine. It is published by Wiley on behalf of the British Veterinary Association and is distributed to its membe ...
'' published a paper on the diseases of ''Brunus edwardii'' detailing common afflictions of teddy bears.
In popular culture
* The original toy inspired
John Walter Bratton
John Walter Bratton (January 21, 1867 – February 7, 1947) was an American Tin Pan Alley composer and theatrical producer who became popular during the era known as the Gay Nineties.
Early life
Raised by his grandmother, Mary Bratton, in New Ca ...
to compose the melody to "
Teddy Bears' Picnic" in 1907, with lyrics by
Jimmy Kennedy added in 1932.
*''
Rupert Bear'' comic has appeared in ''Daily Express'' since November 1920.
*
Winnie-the-Pooh
Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear and Pooh, is a fictional Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard.
The first collection of stories about the character w ...
is based on a teddy bear owned by the son of author
A. A. Milne; the character first appeared in a
1926 children's book and has been adapted by Disney for
animated shorts since 1966.
* ''
Sooty
Sooty is a British children's television media franchise created by Harry Corbett incorporating primarily television and stage shows. The franchise originated with his fictional glove puppet character introduced to television in 1955, with the ...
'' began broadcasting on British television in 1955.
*
Paddington Bear is based on a teddy bear purchased by the British author
Michael Bond, first appearing in a 1958 children's book.
* ''
Corduroy'' is a 1968 children's book based on an anthropomorphic teddy bear in a department store.
*
SuperTed
''SuperTed'' is a Welsh superhero animated television series about an anthropomorphic teddy bear with superpowers, created by writer and animator Mike Young. Originally created by Young as a series of stories to help his son overcome his fear o ...
is a superhero teddy bear in an animated television series first airing in 1982.
*
Care Bears were first produced as colorful plush teddy bears in 1983.
*
Pudsey Bear has been the mascot for Children in Need since 1985.
*
Teddy Ruxpin
Teddy Ruxpin is an animatronic children's toy in the form of a talking 'Illiop', a creature which looks like a bear. The toy's mouth and eyes move while he reenacts stories played on an audio tape cassette deck built into its back. It was crea ...
was the best-selling toy of 1985 and 1986.
*
Teddy
Teddy is an English language given name, usually a hypocorism of Edward or Theodore. It may refer to:
People Nickname
* Teddy Atlas (born 1956), boxing trainer and fight commentator
* Teddy Bourne (born 1948), British Olympic epee fencer
* Tedd ...
is a knitted toy oddity in the 1990s sitcom ''Mr. Bean''.
*
Misery Bear
Misery Bear is the subject of a series of short films made by Roughcut TV and published on the BBC website. The films centre on the depressing existence of the title character and his lack of success in work, lack of a girlfriend, or any real fri ...
was featured in a series of fourteen shorts for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
website between 2009 and 2012.
* ''
Ted
TED may refer to:
Economics and finance
* TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar
Education
* ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association
** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey
** Transvaal Education Depa ...
'' (2012), and its
its 2015 sequel, bases its adult comedy on a teddy bear come to life.
* ''
Teddy
Teddy is an English language given name, usually a hypocorism of Edward or Theodore. It may refer to:
People Nickname
* Teddy Atlas (born 1956), boxing trainer and fight commentator
* Teddy Bourne (born 1948), British Olympic epee fencer
* Tedd ...
'' is a 2021 Tamil-language fantasy action film.
References
External links
The great teddy bear shipwreck mystery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Teddy Bear
1900s toys
2000s toys
Bears in popular culture
Cultural depictions of Theodore Roosevelt
Products introduced in 1902
Stuffed toys
Toy animals
1900s neologisms