Teddy Bear Interesting Facts, History and Story

Mar 12
06:35

2011

Susan Wong

Susan Wong

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A popular stuffed toy bear, teddy bear is usually stuffed with white, soft cotton and have soft and smooth fur. Im sure many of you have owned this cuddly bear, but have you ever wonder why teddy bear called Teddy? Why not Jimmy or Calvin or Celine? The 26th President of the United States Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt is the person responsible for giving the famous teddy bear his name.

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A popular stuffed toy bear,Teddy Bear Interesting Facts, History and Story Articles teddy bear is usually stuffed with white, soft cotton and have soft and smooth fur. Im sure many of you have owned this cuddly bear, but have you ever wonder why teddy bear called Teddy? Why not Jimmy or Calvin or Celine? The 26th President of the United States Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt is the person responsible for giving the famous teddy bear his name.

The story goes back to 1902, the President was called Theodore by his family and friends, but the people and the press all fondly called him Teddy. Actually he did not like that name but he accepted it. The name made him seem more informal to the people he served. One day, the President was helping settle a border dispute between Mississippi and Louisiana. During his spare time, the President attended a bear hunt in Mississippi. There are variations of what exactly happened  on this hunting trip.

Roosevelt loved nature and enjoyed being out in the woods where animals lived. After a few days of riding and climbing and walking, no bears were found. Since he was the President of the United States, many people who organized the hunt wanted to make sure this hunt was successful. The next day, they were happy that they finally found an old bear (according to other stories, it was not an old bear that they found but a little bear cub), so they followed the bear with their hunting dogs for quite a distance until the bear was very tired. The bear was then attacked and injured by the dogs and the guides tied it to a tree for the President to shoot.

After seeing the poor bear, the President Roosevelt refused to kill the old bear (or the cub as in other version of the story). The President told the people that no one should ever shoot this poor bear for sport, that would not be right. The President then ordered his people to release the animal and let it wander off.

An American newspaper heard about this story and decided to publish a cartoon showing Theodore Roosevelt with the bear. Some time later, a toy maker wrote to the president Roosevelt asking for permission to make a cute, soft and beautiful toy bear and named it after him. Ever since then, the Teddy bear has been one of the favorite toys of young children.