I’m a TREEKLED Baxterbear to tell you how the name “Teddy Bear” began. I arrived in the 1920’s ……
Although bears had been represented in toy form since the late 19c, the actual name “Teddy Bear” entered the public consciousness in 1902 after American president Theodore Roosevelt refused to shoot a bear he encountered on a hunting expedition. A cartoon illustrating the incident subsequently appeared in the Washington Post and the ensuing interest led to a New York shopkeeper offering two stuffed bear toys for sale, and with the president’s permission, naming them ‘Teddy’s Bears’. These proved very popular, and the shopkeeper, Morris Michtom subsequently expanded and became the Ideal Novelty and Toy Corporation .
