Tick Tock
9/9/24
National Teddy Bear Day
Today is National Teddy Bear Day! Do you have a favourite teddy bear? I bet you have a lot more than one! It is safe to save that most children love teddy bears, it is often one of the first toys bought for a baby when they are born.
But where did teddy bears come from?
The History of Teddy Bears
Teddy Bears have been created as toys for children for over 100 years.
From 1901 to 1906 the United States had a president called Theodore Roosevelt. A common nickname for Theodore is Teddy. In 1902 the president was on a hunting trip. During this trip some people, trying to help the president, tied a bear to a tree so it couldn’t escape and encouraged the president to shoot it. The president didn’t think it was right to shoot the bear while it was tied up and refused.
This story was shared across America by newspapers and cartoons. As the cartoons continued, the bear in the story became smaller and cuter. Inspired by these cartoons, a shopkeeper called Morris Michtom and his wife Rose made a bear out of material and displayed it in their shop window, calling it Teddy’s Bear, dedicating it to the president. This bear was really popular and after receiving permission from the president they started making more bears named after him.
Around the same time, inspired by the same story, a man in Germany called Richard Steiff designed a stuffed toy bear too and these ones had moveable arms and legs. Their first Steiff bear was displayed at a German toy fair in 1903. In 1906 these bears began being called Teddy Bears. This company is still making Teddy Bears today.
The first Teddy Bears weren’t soft and cuddly like the ones we have today. When they were first made they were often made out of mohair which was quite soft but filled with wood wool, which was wood shavings, making them quite solid. They were also designed to look much more like real life bears. Over the years they have become cuter and much more cartoon like.
(Teddy) Bears in books, cartoons and films
Bears, often in cute teddy bear form are often characters in stories and they can be found in story books, cartoons and films.
Winnie the Pooh is a story created by A. A. Milne. Winnie the Pooh was based around a Teddy Bear that his son owned. The first story was published in 1926, with lots more written after that and it is still a story that lots of children know today. It has even been made into cartoons and films. Lots of cuddly toy versions of Winnie the Pooh have been created based on this story.
Paddington is a story about Paddington Bear. The first story was published in 1958 and again like Winnie the Pooh is still popular today. Lots of stories have been published and cartoons and films have been created too. Again, there are lots of toy versions of this bear that can be found. When Queen Elizabeth II died people laid flowers in memory of her and dotted amongst the flowers were lots of Paddington Bears. This was because during the Platinum Jubilee the Queen did a famous sketch with Paddington Bear!
SuperTed was a children’s tv programme based on a teddy bear that was a superhero. It was created for tv between 1982 and 1986. It’s not on tv anymore but maybe your Mum and Dad would remember this from when they were children!
The Care Bears were also on tv at a similar time. There were lots of bears in this cartoon, all different colours with different talents and personalities. It stopped for a while but recently has been recreated, have you watched it or seen the bears in the shops?
Lotso in Toy Story is a cute teddy bear but actually a villain in the story and very unlike most teddy bear characters who are often kind and friendly.
Even story books, such as Whatever Next are based on a teddy bear. Can you think of any other story books that are based on a teddy bear being one of the characters?
All photos and illustrations in this blog post are Whizzbots, Shutterstock and Public Domain Images.
Other images on the site may be Creative Commons Images, which are credited appropriately.
