“I don’t think my name is likely to be worth much in the toy bear business, but you are welcome to use it”
- Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt, 1902

How wrong the 26th president of the United States was. He had unwittingly given the toy industry the hook it needed to manufacture the most commercially successful toy in history....the Teddy Bear!

Stuffed toys were an active cottage industry by the end of the 19th century. One such company was founded by Margarete Steiff, an expert seamstress. At the turn of the century, she introduced a new line, a stuffed bear. Although bears had been the subject for children’s pull toys for some years, the Steiff bear did not capture the hearts and imaginations of the Europeans. She might have discontinued the line entirely, except for a fateful incident. An American buyer from a New York department store happened on the Steiff booth at the Leipzig Toy Fair in March 1903, and to the utter amazement of Margarete Steiff, ordered 3000 bears!

The buyer was well aware that in 1902, President Roosevelt had been on an unsuccessful bear hunting trip. The president has failed to make a kill so his hosts caught and tethered a bear, presenting it to the President as a sitting target. When invited to shoot the captive, Roosevelt refused, disdaining such unsportsmanlike conduct. The incident was illustrated in the Washington Post by Clifford Berryman, with the caption “Drawing the Line in Mississippi.” By the time the New York buyer saw and ordered the Steiff bears, the bear cub was well established in the minds of Americans as a symbol of innocence and affection.

The first Teddy Bears
This first order of Steiff bears would not be marketed as teddy bears though, if it had not been for two Russian immigrants, Morris and Rose Michtom, who began making a jointed stuffed bear. Picking up on the popularity of the bear cub in Berryman cartoon, the Michtoms struck upon the idea of calling their creation a teddy bear. One of their stuffed bear toys, and a letter asking permission to use the President’s name was sent to the white house. The rest is history... The Michtoms founded the first teddy bear manufacturing company in the United States, the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company.

And how did President Roosevelt react to the incredible popularity of the teddy bear? The popular song “The Teddy Bear's’ Picnic” was used as a theme song during Roosevelt’s subsequent reelection campaign!

Teddy Bear crazy!
By 1906, everyone wanted a teddy bear! Ladies carried their teddies around and children had their pictures taken with their bears. Gund made its first bears in 1906 and is still making their exceptional plush toys today. In the 1920s and 30s, musical bears and mechanical bears were very popular, and they were produced all over the world. While traditional teddy bears were made with natural fibers and finished by hand, everything changed after World War II. Washable toys with synthetic fibers were in demand and companies could not compete with the cheaper, mass-produced teddy bears coming from eastern Asia. Bears were made from nylon or acrylic and had plastic eyes and foam rubber stuffing.

Teddy Bears make a comeback
A british actor, Peter Bull expressed his love for teddy bears and his belief in its emotional importance. In 1969 he wrote a book Bear with Me, later called The Teddy Bear Book, and his words created a popularity comeback for the teddy bear, especially for adults.

Collectible Bears
From 1974 talented artists began designing and making bears. A dollmaker named Beverly Port is called the mother of teddy bear artistry and she coined the term "teddy bear artist" Today, thousands of artists produce unique teddy bear art for collectors worldwide. The increase in appreciation for talent has caused the value of antique teddy bears and hand-finished bears to rise significantly. In 2000 a Steiff bear sold for $210,000.

The Future
In the United States, just for the year 1999, over 400 million dollars was spent on teddy bears! Teddies continue to grow in popularity and manufacturers are developing new materials and character bears every day.