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DRAWING THE LINE IN MISSISSIPPI
Clifford
Berryman:
April 2,
1869 -- December 11, 1949
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In November 1902, president Theodore
Roosevelt went to
Mississippi to help settle a boundary dispute
with Louisiana. While there he joined other in an unsuccessful bear
hunt. A fellow hunter captured a bear, tied it to a tree and summoned the
President to shoot it. Upon seeing the defenseless bear, Roosevelt did
not have the heart to do so. Clifford Berryman, a cartoonist with the
Washington Post drew a picture depicting Roosevelt’s refusal to shoot the
bear called “Drawing the Line”, which was published in newspapers across
the nation.
Morris and Rose Michtom, a Russian immigrant
couple, had a store in Brooklyn NY and saw the cartoon. Rose made a
small-stuffed bears to sell in their store. Morris wrote to the president
requesting permission to call the hand made bears “Teddy’s Bears”. The
President replied giving his permission, but added that he did not think
that using his name would help sell the bears. The bears proved to be
very popular and soon were mass-produced. The profits from the sale of
these bears started what later became the Ideal Toy Co.
At the same time,
jointed plush bears were being developed in
Germany by a family business headed by Margarete
Steiff. In 1902
Margarete Steiff’s nephew, Richard
Steiff developed the first bears with movable
limbs and shaggy mohair fur. At first the Steiff
bears were unsuccessful, until in March 1903 when exhibiting at the
Leipzig Fair, Hermann Berg a toy buyer for the New York department store
George Borgfeldt and Co. bought 3,000 of the
Steiff teddy bears. By 1907
Steiff were making 975,000 a year, 90% of
which were exported to the USA……………………………………the rest is history!
"We cannot do great deeds unless we are willing to do the small things
that make up the
sum
of greatness."
Theodore
Roosevelt: October
27, 1858 -- January 6, 1919
Smithsonian Bear
In 1962,
on the 60th anniversary of the bear's creation, an early example of the
original
1903 bear was presented to Theodore Roosevelt's grandson Kermit
by
Benjamin Mictom, the son of Ideal Toy Company's founder Morris Mictom.
In 1964,
the bear was
donated to the Smithsonian Institution. It is now part of the
collections at the National Museum of American History.
This
limited-edition reproduction
bear is
based on
the
Smithsonian Teddy Bear.
.
Teddy bear
celebration canceled due to terrorism
By MARY
DEIBEL, Scripps Howard News Service
WASHINGTON (December 15, 2001
11:01 a.m. EST) - The teddy bear was to have had his 100th birthday party
next summer at the Smithsonian Institution, but now the centennial fest
has been canceled thanks to Osama bin Laden.
"Our product development and licensing division
had to have commitments by fall to go ahead with the celebration, but
those commitments weren't forthcoming for the same reason there's been a
tremendous falloff in Washington tourism since Sept. 11," Smithsonian
spokeswoman Mary Combs said Friday.
"That doesn't mean tourism won't pick up again,
but we had to make a decision for planning purposes."
Even though he won't have a birthday party,
"Teddy" is especially hot stuff again, just as he was back in 1902. That's
when President Theodore Roosevelt refused to shoot a bear cub that his
companions caught and tied to a tree on a hunting expedition on
Mississippi's Little Sunflower River.
Press reports at the time convinced political
cartoonist Clifford Berryman to draw a cartoon of the incident, titled,
"Drawing the Line at the Mississippi." The Ideal Toy Company began turning
out teddy bears within the year, and TR had a bully mascot for the rest of
his political life.
The bear also stood for TR's
rise as the first presidential media star who
could shape popular culture, according to biographer Edmund Morris' new
volume, "Theodore Rex."
The stuffed animal has been popular ever since,
with teddy bear clubs and museums across the United States and as far away
as Japan, "Crazy for Bears" author Wendy Mitman
Clarke reports.
Bears also are big business, accounting for $2.7
billion of the $4.5 billion-a-year plush toy market in the United States.
Christie's in London stages two auctions a year
of vintage teddies. At the most recent sale on Dec. 3 a center-seam
Steiff bear from 1904 went for $16,732.
Stateside, Steiff
North America President Paul Johnson advises collectors to check eBay for
"bear necessities" that include almost 3,000 vintage items for sale.
According to Johnson, the toy is still the No. 1
item for Steiff, which sells 100,000 a year
and will issue four limited-edition versions next year for the 100th
birthday. A 12-inch police commissioner teddy is available for Christmas
to commemorate TR's 1895 tenure as New York
City's top cop. This Steiff creation goes for
$275; 1,500 have been made.
Other bear-makers plan commemorations too, and
the U.S. Postal Service will issue four commemorative stamps on Aug. 15,
2002.
It took an act of terror, however, for teddies to
take on new meaning for today's generation of children and adults in need
of comfort.
Within days after the Oklahoma City federal
building was bombed in 1995 - killing 168 people, including 19 children -
Brenda Edgar, wife of then-Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar, brought teddy bears as
gifts for the families of youngsters who died in the attack. Soon, people
around the nation and the world were sending teddy bears to Oklahoma City,
and teddies began to appear on the fence surrounding the rubble. The
Oklahoma City National Memorial was built on that site.
In the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist strikes,
Oklahoma City memorial staffers organized a teddy bear drive. So far, they
have sent more than 100,000 of the toys to survivors of the World Trade
Center and Pentagon attacks.
Some are "Hope Bears" left on the Oklahoma City
fence, said memorial organizer Kara Ferguson.
Those teddies, she said, bear a special tag for
the new owner: "We know this Hope Bear helped us feel better. We want you
to have it now and know that we care."
As for the original teddy TR couldn't bear to
shoot, the public never learned that the cub was killed anyway. Her pelt
is now part of the Smithsonian collection.
BEARY FUN Links
Teddy Roosevelt & Bear e-card –
REALLY AWESOME! MUST SEE!
Build A Bear – what a GREAT store &
concept – SUCH FUN!!
Cherished Teddies e-cards
The Teddy Bear Museum
includes excellent
history of the bear…
The Teddy Bear Search Engine –WOW!!!
History of the Bear
Teddy
Bear Museum – Stratford-Upon-Avon
Vermont Teddy Bear
Company
The Teddy Bear’s Picnic Ground – TONS
of links to other bear sites
Teddy
Bears' Picnic
If you go down to the woods
today
You're sure of a big surprise
If you go down to the woods today
You'd better go in disguise.
For ev'ry bear that ever there was
Will gather there for certain, because
Today's the day the Teddy Bears have their picnic.
Ev'ry Teddy Bear who's been good
is sure of a treat today.
There's lots of marvelous things to eat
And wonderful games to play
Beneath the trees where nobody sees
They'll hide and seek as long as they please
'Cause that's the way the Teddy Bears have their picnic
If you go down to the woods today
You'd better not go alone
It's lovely down in the woods today
But safer to stay at home.
For ev'ry bear that ever there was
Will gather there for certain, because
Today's the day the Teddy Bears have their picnic.
Picnic time for Teddy Bears
The little Teddy Bears are having a lovely time today
Watch them, catch them unawares
And see them picnic on their holiday.
See them gaily gad about
They love to play and shout;
They never have any cares;
At
six o'clock their Mummies
and Daddies,
Will take them home to bed,
Because they're tired little Teddy Bears.
Link to hear the music
(midi pending)
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Happy
100th Birthday Teddy Bear!
