American History: The Teddy Bear

Clifford Berryman's cartoon

On this day in 1903, the teddy bear first debuted. In November 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt needed a vacation which, in the Rough Rider's case, meant hunting. On the second day, an old black bear was caught, clubbed and tied to a tree for the president to shoot. Roosevelt refused the unsportsmanlike opportunity. Reporters caught wind of the event and Washington Post cartoonist Clifford Berryman depicted the bear as being a cub. Brooklyn candy-shop owner Morris Michtom saw an opportunity of his own and asked his wife, Rose, to make stuffed-toy bears to sell in their shop. They requested the permission, from the president to call them “Teddy’s bears" and he agreed.

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