The Real Story Behind the Teddy Bear
The teddy bear is the namesake of President Theodore Roosevelt and originated in 1902 when the president refused to kill a bear that his hunting party had captured. But there’s much more to the story than just this information.
Theodore Roosevelt went on a hunting trip in Mississippi on the invitation of the governor of the state, Andrew H. Longino. Roosevelt hadn’t seen a bear during three days of hunting, but other members of the party had seen and shot bears. Not wanting to look like the hunt had been a loss, the guides for Roosevelt tracked an old bear that had been followed by hounds used in the hunt. The men caught up to the bear and tied it to a tree so the president could bag a bear. Roosevelt refused to shoot the bear because it was unsportsmanlike and defenseless.
The story spread to newspapers around the country, and a cartoonist named Clifford Berryman saw it and drew a cartoon depicting Roosevelt refusing to shoot the bear. It originally ran in The Washington Post, and the association with Teddy Roosevelt and the bear was made.
Morris Michtom, a Brooklyn, New York candy shop owner, saw the cartoon and put two toy bears his wife had made on display in…
