196. Teddy Bear
When Theodore Roosevelt went to settle a border dispute in Mississippi in 1902, he wanted to squeeze in his favorite pastime: killing large wild animals for fun. A bear hunt! But two days passed and everyone had bagged a bear except the president. How embarrassing. Dogs were dispatched, and an older bear was procured, hit on the head and tied to a tree, half mauled: “Sir, we found you a bear! It’s a little—dinged up—but it’s over here tied to a tree. Shoot it!!”
To his credit, Roosevelt was appalled. The notion of a driven hunt—beaters with dogs driving prey to the waiting shooter, English-style—was anathema to his preferred method of manfully stalking prey in the wild. His refusal to kill the bear made national news.
Enterprising Brooklyn shopkeepers Rose and Morris Michtom sensed an opportunity. They sewed a stuffed bear and put it in the window: “Teddy’s bear.”[1] It sold immediately, as did all the others they made, until soon they opened a factory making nothing but bears. Children loved them, but at least one pastor fretted that girls playing with bears rather than baby dolls would not learn essential mothering skills, leading to childless marriages. (He wasn’t wrong, although it wasn’t the bears that would do it.)
As for Roosevelt, the writing was on the wall—the way of life he loved was disappearing, because the wild was disappearing. So he protected 230 million acres, the seed of our National Parks. Thank you, Teddy.
Links:
The Teddy Bear Was Once Seen as a Dangerous Influence on Young Children – Alice George, Smithsonian Magazine, December 2023
The President Killed No Bear – The Times: Richmond, VA, November 16, 1902 (via Library of Congress)
Dolls are Out, Bears are In – The Sun, November 4, 1906 (via Library of Congress)
This post is part of The American 250, a series featuring 250 objects made by Americans, located in America, in honor of the country's 250th anniversary. 250 words on 250 works, from January 1 to December 31, 2026.
Too many emails? To receive a weekly recap instead, please subscribe on my Substack blog. Instructions for turning on the weekly summary can be found here.
[1] “Roosevelt, who couldn’t abide the nickname “Teddy” (he had once called it an “outrageous impertinence”), nevertheless deployed his lovable namesake as a mascot in his re-election campaign, prominently displaying a Michtom bear at the White House.” https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/history-teddy-bear-once-seen-dangerous-influence-young-children-180983234/
