At the beginning of the last century (precisely in 1902), President Theodore Roosevelt was in Mississippi to settle a border dispute between Louisiana and Mississippi. While he was there he went on a hunting trip. Members of his hunting party tied a small, black bear cub to a tree for him to shoot. Naturally, when President Roosevelt saw how helpless the small bear was, he refused.

The very next day cartoonist, Clifford Berryman, drew a cartoon depicting Roosevelt refusing to shoot the bear. This on the other hand prompted shopkeeper, Morris Michtom, to ask his wife, Rose, to make a stuffed toy bear to place in his shop window. Morris then contacted the President asking his permission to name the stuffed bear - Teddy. The president agreed and at that day the Teddy was born.

Around the same time in Germany a company owned by Margarete Steiff was beginning to manufacture a stuffed teddy bear toy of their own. These were the first time plush teddy bears were introduced to the world.

From there the popularity of the stuffed toy bear grew. Today almost all kids have had a teddy bear at one time or another. Now you can find toy manufacturers, teddy bear artists, and stores selling teddies of all shapes and sizes. Gund(r) is a leading builder of soft toys, and is in the same league as The Vermont Teddy Factory when it comes to quality. You can visit them at: www.gund.com, and www.vermontteddybear.com.

Quite a few teddy bear artists have sites on the internet where you can view their teddies online.

The stuffed toy bears on, www.tbears.de, are the some of the most expressive, exclusive teddies you will find anywhere. The “Lovable Fellows” are one-of-a-kind or limited editions. Hours are spent creating each teddy bears face. This gives each stuffed bear toy his own personality traits. If you want to adopt one of these “Lovable Fellows” you should check them out quickly. Most of the teddies on this website have already been adopted. When you visit, www.theoriginalpakabear.com, you will find hand made, one of a kind teddies made of Alpaca. These stuffed bears come in many different colors and some of them are multi-colored

The web site, www.settlerbears.com.au, features one of a kind teddies inspired by the island of Australia.

The web site, www.designsbyterri.com, is a fantastic place to find miniature teddy bears. Domino, is a 2 3/4″ tall bent knee stuffed bear of black and white velvet. This tiny teddy comes with it’s own die cast, taxi pedal car.

On the site, www.tailoredteddies.com, you will find many “one of a kind” teddy bears. This site has many fantastic stuffed bears. You really don’t want to pass this one by. If you have been thinking about starting a teddy collection, you should visit: www.bearhollow.net. These teddy bear collectors have opened their home to many adopted teddy bears. Their teddy bears reside in every room of the house and some outdoor ports as well. There are also rooms dedicated to teddies only.

The history of the teddy is wonderful and heartwarming. To think of how many thousands of teddies have been loved and held by youngsters who considered them a best friend, guardian, and constant companion with whom we share anything, it is no wonder that they are still the most popular soft toy today.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008 at 9:45 am and is filed under Teddy Bear Facts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.