A Teddy Bear Story

Hi my name is Old Ted, I am a Teddy Bear, but I haven't always been known as a Teddy Bear.

Back in the beginning of the 20th century Margarete Steiff made her first toy bear inspired by the performing animals she saw at the circus that traveled through her hometown in Germany.  Margarete's nephew, Richard, worked with her to develop a bear with jointed limbs. The early bears limbs were attached with string which eventually came loose and made it very hard to walk and hold on to things.  Next they tried wire which proved unsafe for children.  In about 1905 Margarete started using metal rods which passed through the body and into the arms and legs.

Metal rod bears are very rare and highly sought after by avid collectors. The only sure way of telling whether we had rods for joints was a trip to the doctor for an x-ray.  Doctors make me very nervous.

In 1906 Richard designed a bear whose limbs were attached by discs of cardboard held in place by a metal pin. This proved to be the most successful of designs.

In 1902 a cartoon by Clifford Berryman entitled "Drawing the Line in Mississippi" appeared in a Washington newspaper. It showed Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt who was our popular current President, refusing to shoot a captive bear cub during a hunt arranged for his benefit while he was on a visit to Mississippi.

Morris Michtom a Russian immigrant owned a store in Brooklyn New York that sold sweets, novelties and toys. Many of the toys were hand made by him and his wife Rose. When they saw the cartoon they were inspired to recreate the image by making a bear cub from soft brown plush with moveable arms and legs. They displayed the bear in their shop window along with the cartoon which sparked great interest.

They wrote a letter to the president asking permission to market the bear calling it a Teddy Bear and they were extremely surprised to receive a reply from the president stating "I don't think my name is worth much to the toy bear cub business but you are welcome to use it." Thus the birth of the Teddy Bear.

I have gone through many changes since my birth, from traditional to ultra modern, and every bit of it has been loads of fun.