where is the name of Teddy come from?

Posted 2020-11-22

The lovable teddy bear can be found all around the world. You can find it not only in toy stores, but also on T-shirts, posters and more. Do you know how the teddy bear got its name?

On November 14, 1902, US President Theodore Roosevelt went to Mississippi to solve a problem. After a day‘s work, Roosevelt went hunting. However, he was unhappy because he couldn‘t find any big game to shoot during the hunt.

Legend has it that his host wanted the hunting trip to be successful, so he went out and found a bear cub and tied it to a tree for Roosevelt to shoot. But Roosevelt refused and asked him to set it free.

After hearing about this, artist Clifford Berryman drew a cartoon of Roosevelt and the bear. He then published the cartoon in The Washington Post.

A few days later, a shopkeeper saw the cartoon and had his wife make many toy bears based on the bear in the cartoon. They named them after Roosevelt’s nickname Teddy. In early 1903, they sold these teddy bears in the shop and many people came to buy them.