100th year of the Teddy Bear Celebration

1902-2002

All of the above blinkies came from:

The year, 2002, marked the 100th Anniversary of the Teddy Bear. No wonder these little guys are celebrating.

My daughter bought me Teddy's Teddy to celebrate the occasion. The Teddy Bear is dressed as our 26th President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, right down to his glasses. When you push his paw, the sweetest voice explains that he is "Teddy's Teddy" and proceeds to tell the story of how the teddy bear came to be. He also came with his own little book that tells the story in detail.

In 1902 Theodore Roosevelt was on a hunting trip but there was no luck in finding any bears.  The hunting party thought he would be disappointed so they caught a baby bear and tied him to a tree.  They then told Teddy Roosevelt to shoot the bear. 

However, he refused and ordered that the bear be set free.

Clifford Berryman, a cartoonist  for the Washington Post captured the moment with an illustration titled "Drawing the Line in Mississippi."  A New York shop owner, Morris Mitchom, saw the cartoon and decided to make bears to sell and he wrote a letter to President Roosevelt asking if he could name his new bear Teddy.  Roosevelt gave permission and little stuffed bears have been called Teddy Bears ever since. 

The two animated bears at the top came from Jazzl's website.

The story of Teddy's Teddy came from Dandee International Limited,  106 Harbor Drive, Jersey City, NJ 07305

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