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The Teddy Bear at Age 100
 | | Ursula and some of her collection of teddy bears and other stuffed animals. |
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By Ursula B.G. Kilner, Salisbury
In 1902 "Teddy" Roosevelt, who was U.S. President from 1901-09, was on a hunting trip. The story—apparently true, as it was reported by a number of men in the hunting party—was that "Teddy" had a perfect opportunity to shoot (and presumably kill) a black bear cub or a treed black bear that was being harried by hounds. Whatever kind of bear it was, "Teddy" Roosevelt refrained from shooting it.
The story of "Teddy" Roosevelt not shooting the bear became well known and the bear quickly became known as the "Teddy Bear." It is a story that catches the emotions and imagination. Theodore Roosevelt had become a chest-thumping "he-man" because he was a sickly child who determined when he was still very young that he would be a strong, physically fit adult. As he matured he went on hunting trips (a sure sign of being a he-man) in the U.S., in Africa, in South America. He went on safaris where he killed an elephant. According to his son Kermit, "T.R." bagged more than 500 assorted birds and animals—including 17 lions and the elephant.
Theodore Roosevelt had tremendous energy and an adventurous spirit, and his hunting prowess made his "sparing" of the bear all the more noticeable. So, very quickly, Theodore Roosevelt's decision not to shoot the bear overwhelmed the reports of his hunting prowess. Shortly after reports of the incident appeared in the newspapers, an enterprising shopkeeper designed and made a stuffed "Teddy Bear," which she placed prominently in her shop window. Everyone who saw the "Teddy Bear" apparently fell in love with it, and the shopkeeper was swamped with orders for "Teddy Bears." Very soon other enterprising sewers were also busy making and selling "Teddy Bears." So far as I can find through my research, no one patented the name "Teddy Bear." In 1909 the University of Cambridge in England presented Theodore Roosevelt with a "Teddy Bear" in honor of his not shooting the bear on that 1902 hunting trip.
Here we are a hundred years later and teddy bears (no longer in quotations, but an accepted member of common English usage) are more popular than ever. One can buy (or make) teddy bears in all sizes, all colors, in all kinds of costumes. The teddy bear's popularity has, without a doubt, encouraged the manufacture of all kinds of stuffed animals over the past hundred years. Bridgeport Hospital has given each open-heart surgery patient a teddy bear to hug. Any cough or sneeze causes terrible pain in the chest of an open heart surgery patient, and clutching a teddy bear tight to the chest eases some of that pain.
A hundred years and the teddy bear has not only helped ease the terrible pain of recovering open heart patients, but teddy bears have absorbed many tears of crying babies and many tears of unhappy young (perhaps jilted) women. Will the teddy bear be with us for another hundred years? I think so … don’t you?
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