This is how Teddy Bear got its name
Teddy Bear is one of the most popular stuffed toys and its name comes with a wonderful story that is worth to be known.
Most stuffed animals are called by their names such as stuffed giraffe, stuffed monkey, and many others. However, when it comes to stuffed bears, it is commonly called “teddy bears.” Have you ever wondered how it got its name?
Based on the article in Mental Floss, the story involved US President Theodore Roosevelt. It was said that the US president was invited by Mississippi Governor Andrew H. Longino to a bear hunt in November 1902.
For the first few days of the hunt, luck was not on Roosevelt’s side as no bear was seen near him. “I am going on this hunt to kill a bear, not to see anyone else kill it,” he said, based on what biographer Edmund Morris in Theodore Rex, wrote.
Roosevelt had an interesting history with bears. On a solo hunt in Montana in 1889, a grizzly bear nearly killed him. Then, his supporters from West Virginia sent him “a small bear” in 1900. His children named it Jonathan Edwards. The next year, he brought the bear to Bronx Zoo because they did not have the accommodation to keep it.
When Roosevelt was faced with a bear during the hunt in November 1902, he saw that it was tied to a tree after formerly enslaved man and legendary bear hunter Holt Collier caught it. The US president refused to shoot it and eventually, someone else killed it with a knife.
The next day, reporters caught the story that Roosevelt refused to kill a restrained bear. Then, this made it to the papers and he was lauded for his sportsmanlike behavior. Washington Post political cartoonist Clifford K. Berryman drew this illustration on November 16, 1902. Because it was a hit, this was followed by another illustration on November 19 which was captioned “After a Twentieth Century Bear Hunt.”
Brooklyn-based candy store owner Morris Michtom saw this as an opportunity. He had his wife Rose hand-sew a cuddly stuffed bear and then placed it in their store window. This was quickly sold and Rose made more. The mass production happened in 1903 and they called it “Teddy’s Bear.”
Roosevelt used the teddy bear in his re-election campaign in 1904 even though he hated the nickname Teddy.