| The story of a
President who saved a bear cub's life has a special place in American
Folklore and inspired the creation of teddy bear plush toys.
The teddy bear's
story begins in November 1902 when President
Theodore Roosevelt was hunting in Mississippi. After an
unsuccessful day, the hunting party brought a small bear cub to camp for the President to shoot. He refused because the animal did not
have a chance to defend itself.
Clifford
K. Berryman, cartoonist for the Washington Post at the time,
sketched the incident and captured the public's imagination as well as
that of American toymakers. Soon the country was flooded with
teddy bears.
Teddy bears are
as popular now as they were early in the century. |
