A teddy bear is a
stuffed toy in the form of a
bear. Developed apparently simultaneously by toymakers
Morris Michtom 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, 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
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 Stat ...
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. 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 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 combin ...
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.
Dur ...
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 n ...
'' 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 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). 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 communication.
North American educator
Seymour Eaton wrote the children's book series ''The Roosevelt Bears'',
while composer
John Walter Bratton 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 num ...
", 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 spec ...
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 k ...
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 ...
s.
While early teddy bears were covered in tawny
mohair 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 ...
s, most commonly
synthetic fur, but also
velour,
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 pe ...
,
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 handbag ...
.
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 ...
one small, traditional teddy bear company remains,
Merrythought, which was established in 1930.
Mohair, 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 pe ...
and
velour. 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 manu ...
, either
knitted or
crocheted.
Cultural impact
Retail sales of stuffed plush animals including teddy bears totaled $1.3 billion in 2006, with manufacturers including
Gund and
Ty Inc.
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 se ...
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 adm ...
,
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 ...
, 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 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'' 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 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 anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard.
The first collection of stories about the character was the book ''Win ...
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 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 was featured in a series of fourteen shorts for the
BBC website between 2009 and 2012.
* ''
Ted'' (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