February 15 2022 – Teddy Bears

On this day in 1903, the very first Teddy Bears went on sale! A shop owner and inventor named Morris Michtom came up with the idea for the teddy bear after seeing a cartoon that depicted President Theodore Roosevelt having compassion for a bear at the end of an unsuccessful hunting trip. He and his wife created a plush bear and sent it to Roosevelt, who then gave the pair permission to use his name. On February 15, 1903, he placed the bears in his store window with a sign that said “Teddy’s bear”. The toys were a huge hit, and in 1907, the Michtom’s sold their store and founded the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company. One of their original teddy bears is now in the American Presidency Gallery at the National Museum of American History. Around this same time, a German inventor named Richard Steiff also created a teddy bear. He frequented a local zoo while in college, and often drew pictures of the bears he saw there. His drawings inspired his prototype plush bear, which had moveable arms and legs. They eventually sold 12,000 of their bears at the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904. Today, Steiff bears can be incredibly valuable – the most expensive ever sold at auction went for $171,600 in 1994. Learn more here.