Teddy Bear
ca. 1910 (manufactured)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
It was in the United States of America that the teddy got its name. The President at the time, Theodore (“Teddy”) Roosevelt, was portrayed in a political cartoon that appeared in the Washington Post in November 1902 refusing to shoot a small bear that had been captured for him to kill. The cartoonist, Clifford Berryman, continued to associate Roosevelt with this endearing bear in his cartoons. Morris Mitchom, a New York shopkeeper and founder of the Ideal company, is credited with making a soft toy bear and calling it “Teddy’s Bear” as a tribute to the President. By 1906, the term teddy bear had become widely accepted in the United States and Europe.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Stitched and stuffed mohair |
| Brief description | Mohair plush teddy bear, by Ideal, US, ca. 1910 |
| Physical description | Short golden mohair bear fully jointed at neck and limbs. It has a pronounced hump and pointed snout. The mouth and lower nose are stitched with wool. The upper portion of the nose area is shaved and stained. The ears are stitched across the face seams. It has small black boot button eyes. There are felt pads at the ends of the arms. The legs are all mohair with the seams at the front and round the bottom of the feet. It is firmly stuffed, probably with wood wool and there is an inoperable voice box loose inside the body. |
| Dimensions |
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| Production type | Mass produced |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | It was in the United States of America that the teddy got its name. The President at the time, Theodore (“Teddy”) Roosevelt, was portrayed in a political cartoon that appeared in the Washington Post in November 1902 refusing to shoot a small bear that had been captured for him to kill. The cartoonist, Clifford Berryman, continued to associate Roosevelt with this endearing bear in his cartoons. Morris Mitchom, a New York shopkeeper and founder of the Ideal company, is credited with making a soft toy bear and calling it “Teddy’s Bear” as a tribute to the President. By 1906, the term teddy bear had become widely accepted in the United States and Europe. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | B.98-2011 |
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| Record created | April 13, 2012 |
| Record URL |
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