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(history of teddybear)
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The term "Teddy"
bear is named after one of America's late
presidents, Theodore Roosevelt, who held
office from 1901 - 1909. Though one of the
true pioneers was Margarete Steiff, a German
girl, who at a young age was stricken with
Polio. Being tied to a wheelchair all of
her life, she never let that bother her.
She was a great lover of children and loved
having them visit her. One day Margarete
Steiff made a tiny elephant which she would
let her little visitors play with. Since
toys were very rare back then and the children
loved playing with them, Margarete's mother
began giving her orders for copies of the
elephant as well as other toy animals. As
time went by she started to train other
women to help her and eventually set up
a small factory.
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By 1887 Margarete's
toys were being sent all over
the world. Her one nephew, Richard,
spent many hours watching the
bears at the zoo, when in 1902
had created a toy bear with
a moving head and limbs to present
to his aunt. When presented
to Margarete, she was not at
all impressed, this toy was
much bigger and it was made
out of expensive and rare mohair
opposed to the felt that was
currently being used. However
she allowed the toy to be shipped
to the USA But it was laughed
at and rejected.
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The bear was
brought to the Leipzig Fair
the following year, but kept
in the background. While they
were packing up they were approached
by a representative of a New
York import house. He was looking
for something soft and cuddly
and had found the fair disappointing.
At which point the little bear
was presented to him, the New
York rep. was so delighted that
he placed an order for 3,000
pcs. Before long they had received
another 3,000 pc order from
a factory in Giengen.
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Now the bear was
truly launched. Back in the States, Theodore
Roosevelt's daughter was in the midst of
her wedding plans. The caterer, was searching
everywhere to find a unique and appropriate
table decoration. In his journeys he went
to New York and one of the first things
he had seen was this little bear looking
at him through the shop's window. Knowing
how the President was a big game hunter
he bought a handful of them to decorate
the tables with. He had decorated them in
various costumes such as fishermen and hunters.
This had delighted everyone at the wedding
including the President. At the end of the
reception a close friend of the family asked,
"Say "Teddy" what species
do these bears belong?" Not knowing
Roosevelt replied, "you really got
me there so I think they must be a new species
called Teddy Bears". Now the press
being present picked up on this little story
and had released it all over the papers,
thus the little bear became famous and thousands
and thousands were ordered from all over
the world. Credit for parts of this story
go to Margaret Hutchings's "Teddy Bears
and How to Make Them"
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All materials
remain copyright of Teddybearland Reproducing any of the mentioned material
is prohibited without the written consent
of Teddybearland.
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