On September 9th, National Teddy Bear Day honors the history of one of childhood’s favorite toys. We have all had a special cuddly teddy as a child. Some of us still have our teddy bear from our childhood. No matter what kind of teddy bear you had, the day is a perfect time to celebrate your childhood friend!
- 1902 – American President Theodore Roosevelt refused to shoot a bear cub while hunting in Mississippi. The incident made national news. Clifford Berryman published a cartoon of the event in the Washington Post on November 16th, 1902, and the caricature became an instant classic.
- 1903 – The First Teddy was created. Morris and Rose Michtom of Brooklyn, New York, named a plush bear “Teddy’s Bear” in recognition of Roosevelt’s deeds.
- 1903 – A German firm called Steiff began manufacturing teddy bears with movable joints. First appearance in a toy fair. Steiff debuts its teddy bear version at the Leipzig Toy Fair.
- 1984 – Judy Sparrow opens the world’s first teddy bear museum in Petersfield, Hampshire, England.
- The Berryman cartoon of Teddy Roosevelt and the cub inspired New York store owner Morris Michtom. He created a new toy and even had a name in mind. Michtom wrote President Roosevelt to ask permission to name the new toy a “Teddy Bear.”
- The Oxford English Dictionary dates the first use of the term teddy bear to 1906
- Big Bird from Sesame Street named his Teddy Bear “Radar”.
- The lasagna-loving cat celebrated on Garfield the Cat Day by arming himself with Pooky, his lovable scapegoat.
- The British invasion of Teddy Bears includes Winnie-the-Pooh and Paddington.
- In 1981, the Care Bears first became greeting cards. Not long after, they launched into television and toy history.
- Let’s not forget the Muppet character Fozzie Bear. The lovable and comedic bear endlessly perseveres with one-liners, slapstick and musical comedy.
- The classic song, ‘Teddy Bear’s Picnic.’ was written in 1907, shortly after teddy bears were first manufactured in Europe and America.
- The Teddy Bears’ Picnic song was originally called The Teddy Bear Two Step.
- The Teddy Bears’ Picnic song was composed in 1907 by JK Bratton. Its words by Jimmy Kennedy were added in 1932.
- In 1902 Germany, the Steiff family developed a silk-like fabric bear, based on zoo animals. They caused a sensation at a toy fair and were snapped up by an American buyer.
- They aren’t just for children – 40% of teddy sales are for adults, and a quarter of us still have our childhood companions.
- A teddy bear has been into space! Magellan T Bear boarded the Space Shuttle Discovery in 1995 as part of a school project.
- If you love teddy bears, you are officially an arctophile (say “ark-toe-file”)! That’s from the Greek words arctos (meaning bear) and philos (meaning loving).
- There’s probably no bigger arctophile than Jackie Miley of South Dakota. She holds the Guinness World Record for having the most teddy bears — 8,026 at the time the record was set in 2012! She has so many, she keeps them in a separate house across the street from where she lives.
- The story of Goldilocks And The Three Bears was written in 1837 by Robert Southey who was the Poet Laureate at the time.
- In Southey’s original story, the visitor to the bears’ house was an ugly old woman. Goldilocks only entered the tale in later versions.
- The term “bear hug” meaning a tight embrace was first used in 1846, almost 60 years before the teddy bear was “born”.
- A staggering 5,000 artists globally make their money from designing custom-made teddy bears, according to the Chicago Tribune in 2020
- After the Titanic sank in 1912, German toy company Steiff created 500 teddy bears to honor the victims. The “mourning bears” were black with red-rimmed eyes to show their sympathy. They now sell for $20,000 or more in auctions.
- The oldest known Recordable teddy bear was made in 1887 and belonged to a soldier named Albert Lasker, who brought it back from France after the war ended.
- There are more than 500 types of Teddy Bears on sale at any time (as of 2019).
- Over 90% of teddy bears sold in the United States are created in China.
- The name “teddy bear” was first used in 1903 when a toy dealer named Edward Bear made stuffed animals for children at his shop on Broadway in New York City. He called them “teddies.”
- In Europe, Russia, and China, giving a bear without mentioning its name first is considered bad luck. This is why many Russian teddies have names such as Vladimir or Natasha inscribed on them!
- In 2004, more than 36 million teddy bears were sold in the U.S. alone!
- In December 2009, a new record was set for the most teddy bears sold in one day – more than 5 million bears!
- In 2013, it was reported that the average American spent about $220 on teddy bears each year!
- The world’s smallest embroidered teddy bear is only 0.29 inches tall! Cheryl Moss, a South African artist noted for her microscopic work, made it.
- There is a magazine devoted entirely to teddy bears. ‘Teddy Bear and Friends is the title of this magazine. It has approximately 40,000 subscribers.
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