Celebration of 'Teddy's Bear' connects youth, adults

There were big ones, blue ones, small ones, red ones, fluffy ones, soft ones and some sporting ball caps or lace gowns. Some had arms or legs that moved, and a couple spoke with a squeeze of their hand. And a few, like the one held by Goose Bay Elementary librarian Abby Kellner-Rode, were nearly bald in spots from years of hugging and cuddling. They were all Teddy bears, and part of the school's celebration of the bear's 100th anniversary.

Inspired by a recent newspaper article, Kellner-Rode enlisted the entire school in a two-week project that focused on the history of the Teddy bear, showed how people of all ages relate to the fuzzy stuffed animals, and created an interest in bears -- and of course, books about bears. Paddington Bear and Winnie the Pooh were among the characters explored through the bear/book project, but the biggest surprise may have been the Teddy's ability to connect the children with adults.

"One of the things the children learned is that you're not too old to love a Teddy bear," Kellner-Rode said Friday after a rambunctious group of elementary students gathered for a photo with their bears.

Kellner-Rode was not the only staff member who showed up with her childhood bear, she said, many teachers and staff also shared their toys -- and their memories -- with the children. The response was unexpected and delightful, she said.

Goose Bay principal Lesley Scharrer said she, too, was pleased by the response. "There is this one boy that I see regularly here in my office, and there he was last week, with his Teddy bear," she said.

History of the Teddy Bear

Although children have been toting stuffed animal toys for hundreds of years, the bear known as "Teddy" was created in 1903.

Reportedly, Theodore Roosevelt, the nation's 26th president, was on a bear hunting expedition in Mississippi in 1902 and having little luck. Finally a pack of hunting dogs chased down a small bear and a guide was able to knock it out with the butt of his rifle and rope it to a tree. Roosevelt reportedly felt sorry for the bear and couldn't shoot it. Instead, someone put it out of its misery with a knife. Newspapers reported the event and cartoonist Clifford Berryman's depiction of the bear became so popular that he continued drawing round, cute, big-eared bear cubs.

The New York City wife of a candy store owner, Rose Michtom, made two stuffed toy bears fashioned after the cartoon bears, and her husband Morris placed them in the window for sale, calling them "Teddy's Bears." They sold, as they say, like hotcakes, and the couple established the Ideal Toy Co. to keep up with the demand for the bears.

At the same time, in Germany, toy manufacturer Margarete Steiff added plush, stuffed bear cubs to her line of stuffed animals, each with button eyes, long arms, movable joints and a distinctive button in an ear. The bears were designed from drawings of bears in the Stuttgart Zoo by Steiff's nephew Richard. The Steiff bears had a longer snout and humped back, with a greater resemblance to a real bear.

As the American craze for Teddy bears grew, Ideal and numerous other competitors manufactured the toy or bought European bears for resale, including the Steiff bears.

Roosevelt used the little bear as a mascot during his 1904 presidential campaign, which he won, but the greatest influence the toy may have had is the undeniable connection between the little bear and childhood memories.