What do you get when you combine a U.S. President, four Mississippi bear hunters, a Brooklyn toy maker and The Washington Post? You get one of the most adorable of all American icons, the teddy bear.
As the story goes, our 26th President, Theodore Roosevelt, traveled to Mississippi to assist in settling a border dispute between that state and Louisiana. Roosevelt was know as an avid hunter, so his hosts decided to take him bear hunting. After many hours of traipsing through the woods, the President had not managed to bag a trophy so some of the members of the hunting party captured a bear and invited the President to have first shot. Roosevelt refused to take a shot at the restrained and defenseless animal, settled the border dispute and headed back to Washington.
This story became the topic of Clifford Berryman’s now famous political cartoon, “Drawing the line in Mississippi” which appeared in the Washington Post in November of 1902. Response to the cartoon was so great that within a few weeks it was reprinted in papers throughout the country.
Brooklyn toy makers Morris and Rose Michtom were inspired by the cartoon (which showed a gentle side of Roosevelt that was seldom seen) and made a bear in honor of the President, which they named “Teddy Bear.” Unlike the other toy bears of the day, with their fierce looks and angry posturing, the Michtom’s bear was sweet and cuddly. Demand from the American buying public for the Teddy Bear was so great that the Michtom’s joined forces with Butler Brothers Wholesale to assist with distribution. Within a few months the two companies merged, and the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company was formed.
Meanwhile, across the pond, a young German art student named Richard Steiff was working at the family business putting the stuffing in stuffed toys. An avid an animal lover, Steiff often spent his free time at the Stuttgart Zoo sketching animals, his favorite models being the bear cubs. In 1902 the Steiff Company made a prototype bear cub based on Richard’s drawings. Introduction of the bear (Baer 55BP) to the public came in 1903 at the Leipzig Toy Fair. The response was not good.
Unlike the cute and cuddly toy bears of the day, the Steiff’s bear was more realistic, with a humped back and long snout. People all but ignored it at the Fair, with the exception of one American buyer who ordered 3,000 units to be sent to the States. America loved the Steiff cub! Orders came pouring in and by 1907 they were producing 975,000 bears a year with nearly 90 percent of them being exported to the United States. Within the next few years most major toy manufacturers both here and in Germany joined in production. Everybody loved “Teddy.” Women decorated with them, children had portraits painted with them and Theodore Roosevelt used one as his mascot for his re-election campaign.
The war years of the 1940s all but halted production of stuffed bears, and many of leading companies were forced to close. The 1950s saw the return of the teddy bear but this time as a mass produced bear made of cheap synthetic materials, with plastic eyes and noses and stuffed with foam rubber. The 1960s “Race for Space” turned children’s interests from stuffed toys to space toys and the once popular teddy bear fell out of fashion.
While it has never returned to it’s pre-war popularity, the teddy bear has managed to sustain a loyal audience. Collectors look for early bears from Steiff, ideal, Bing and Hermann and Schudo. Until next time………Linda
Irvington resident Linda Kennett is a professional liquidation consultant specializing in down-sizing for seniors and the liquidation of estates and may be reached at 317-429-7887 or lkennett@indy.rr.com