What was the world like before the Teddy bear was invented

Teddy Bear is a toy bear made from fabric and stuffed. They are invented in the early 20th century in both United States of America and Germany. Teddy Bear got his name from the United States President Theodore Roosevelt which was called Teddy by public, although he did not like that name, and from an incident that happened in 1902.

President Roosevelt was on a hunting trip in Mississippi with some other hunters in a form of competition. Most of other hunters were had already killed an animal so Roosevelt's attendants decided to chase, club and tie an American Black Bear to a tree and invite President Roosevelt to shoot it. He declined because it would be unsportsmanlike but ordered bear to be killed to be put out of its misery. Incident inspired political cartoon drawn by Clifford Berryman of The Washington Post with text "Drawing the Line in Mississippi". Drawing inspired Morris Michtom to make a new toy - a stuffed bear cub. He sent one to President Roosevelt and received permission to use a name. And that’s hoe Teddy Bear was bor. Or at least one version of it. Michtom put one in the window of his shop and the bear started selling very well. So well that Michtom was able to found Ideal Novelty and Toy Co.

At the same time, on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, Richard Steiff' of Steiff firm created stuffed bear. Bear was presented to the world for the first time at Leipzig Toy Fair in March 1903 where Hermann Berg, a buyer for George Borgfeldt & Company in New York, ordered 3000 of them for distribution in United States. There is written record that that many had been produced but there is no record that they ever arrived in Unite States. One story is that ship transporting them shipwrecked while another says that they were not too durable and they didn’t last long while written records are of later date. Chance that both bears were designed without knowing of each other is pretty great because communications across the Atlantic were very poor at the time.

Earlier Teddy Bears were made very similar to real bears while modern are more stylized, have bigger eyes, smaller faces and are more “cute”. They are also made to look like other species of bear like polar bear, grizzly and pandas. Material used for early Teddy Bears was mohair fur made from the hair of the Angora goat. Modern ones use modern fabrics like synthetic fur, velour, denim, cotton, satin and canvas. They are mostly made as toys for children so they must meet standards that make them safe for use. They have safety joints for attaching arms, legs, and head and securely fastened eyes so they do not fall off and be choking hazard. Some firms sell handmade collectible bears. There are also many amateurs and hobbyists that make Teddy Bears for charity and for selling. They are usually made from felt, cotton and velour and they are stitched but they can also be knitted or crocheted.

Nominate this object for photography.   

Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.

If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.

Note: Comment submission is temporarily unavailable while we make improvements to the site. We apologize for the interruption. If you have a question relating to the museum's collections, please first check our Collections FAQ. If you require a personal response, please use our Contact page.

Tough, gritty, rugged, and adventurous, Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States, overcame a sickly childhood by adopting a strenuous exercise routine that included plenty of time outdoors. He embraced nature and is often considered to be the ‘naturalist president.” As he matured, he viewed as a robust cowboy personality that embodied the ideals of masculinity. Roosevelt was a man’s man. 

We’ve all played with one at some point; stuffed animal bears are rooted in our country’s childhood. But did you know that we have these stuffed bears because a certain man immersed himself in the natural world in the early twentieth-century? 

Theodore Roosevelt, commonly known as Teddy, became the 26th President of the United States in 1901. Being an avid outdoorsman and naturalist, Roosevelt loved to explore the natural world. In his presidency he was even able to protect over 200 million acres of public land, and establish the U.S. Forest Service, as well as five National Parks! But what does this have to do with the stuffed animal bears?  

In the fall of 1902, Teddy Roosevelt accepted a hunting invitation from Mississippi governor, Andrew Longino. Their guide was a man named Holt Collier, who knew the land well. Collier was determined to help an eager Roosevelt find a black bear. On the second day of their excursion, Collier came across one. Collier, who knew Roosevelt was significantly behind him with Longino, decided to tie the bear up for Roosevelt. However, when Roosevelt arrived on the scene, he was astonished. Roosevelt exclaimed that such an act would be unsportsmanlike.  

The news of this act of compassion from the President spread so quickly around the United States that Clifford Berryman of the Washington Post produced the sensational cartoon at the top of this blog.

Then, a couple in Brooklyn, N.Y., Rose and Morris Michtom, saw the cartoon. They owned a penny candy shop and decided, for fun, that they would make a stuffed plush bear and display it in the window to honor the President. Rose cut out some pieces of fabric and sewed on some button eyes and put it in the window with the name, Teddy’s Bear. It was an overnight hit. So much so, that the Mitchtoms had to ask if they could use Roosevelt’s name for the bear. Roosevelt obliged, and their business took off! Instead of selling candy the couple decided to start the Ideal Toy Company, which went on to produce a multi-generational love of Teddy Bears.  

Roosevelt’s children were some of the first to play with the Teddy Bear. Although not confirmed, It is said that as a gift the Michtom’s gave the above bear to Kermit Roosevelt, who was thirteen at the time. The bear was a constant reminder to the children of the tenderness of their father and his deep connection to the natural world.  

One of the world’s most beloved toys was named in honor of President Theodore Roosevelt, after he refused to shoot a bear during a Mississippi hunting trip in November 1902. During the trip, guides clubbed a bear and tied it to a tree then invited the president to shoot it. Instead, Roosevelt, an avid outdoorsman and hunter, declined, saying it would be unsportsmanlike to kill a defenseless animal that way. 

The incident generated national attention and was depicted in a popular political cartoon by Clifford Berryman. (According to some sources, the newspaper cartoon, titled “Drawing the Line in Mississippi,” was a reference not just to Roosevelt’s refusal to shoot the bruin but also to his handling of a boundary dispute between Mississippi and Louisiana. 

Other sources have suggested the cartoon was a comment on the president’s progressive stance on race relations.) Inspired by the cartoon, Brooklyn, New York, shopkeeper Morris Michtom and his wife Rose made a stuffed fabric bear in honor of America’s 26th commander-in-chief and displayed it with a sign, “Teddy’s bear,” in their store window, where it attracted interest from customers. After reportedly writing to the president and getting permission to use his name for their creation, the Michtoms went on to start a successful company that manufactured teddy bears and other toys.

Meanwhile, around the same time the Michtoms developed their bear, a German company founded in 1880 by seamstress Margarete Steiff began making a plush bruin of its own. Designed in 1902 by Steiff’s nephew Richard, who modeled it after real-life bears he’d sketched at the zoo, the mohair bear with jointed limbs debuted at a German toy fair in 1903. 

A buyer for a U.S. toy company placed a large order for the stuffed creatures, and Steiff bears (which in 1906 officially became known as teddy bears) quickly became popular and helped drive an international teddy bear craze. Other companies soon began turning out teddy bears of their own. More than a century later, Steiff continues to make stuffed toy bears, and its vintage teddy bears are prized by collectors, commanding steep prices at auctions.