The story of Teddy Bear
In 1902 President Theodore Roosevelt was in Mississippi to help settle a boundary dispute between the states of Mississippi and Louisiana. As the President was an accomplished hunter and never missed an opportunity to go hunting, his friends organised a bear hunt in his honour. After some days he hadn’t shot any bears, so his friends decided to capture a small bear cub and tie it to a tree for the President to shoot and claim as his trophy. But he refused to shoot the bear deeming it unsportsmanlike and ordered to set it free.
Clifford Berryman, a political cartoonist, recorded the episode in The Washington Post, with a sketch entitled Drawing the Line in Mississippi. The sketch was so popular that Berryman included the little bear character in all his subsequent sketches in which he portrayed the President.
Morris Mitchom, a shopkeeper from Brooklyn, had the idea of creating a soft toy resembling Berryman’s character and put it in his shop window along with a sign that read "Teddy's Bear." The bear sold so quickly that he couldn't produce bears fast enough to meet demand. He asked President Roosevelt for permission to name his bear Teddy. The President granted his permission in a hand-written note.
On the success of his Teddy Bear design, Morris launched Ideal Novelty and Toy Compagny. The American Teddy Bear was born!