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| Hamlyn's
Bear, London, 1991 |
Many bear lovers regard Teddy Bears as
the quintessential British childhood accompaniment, forever
immortalized by Sebastian in the television adaptation of Evelyn
Waugh's Brideshead Revisited.
In the United States, the connection is with President Theodore
Roosevelt (also nicknamed "Teddy"). While bear hunting
in Mississippi in 1902, Roosevelt decided to spare the life
of a bear cub which had been orphaned during the hunt. The
event was the subject of a cartoon by Clifford Berryman of
the Washington Post whose cartoon was captioned "Drawing
the Line in Mississippi", a copy of which is included
for your viewing.
 The
cartoon was seen by husband and wife shop owners, Morris
and Rose Michtom. They owned a toy and novelty store in Brooklyn,
New York and, inspired by the cartoon, Mrs Michtom made a
toy bear and displayed it in the shop window. The bear proved
enormously popular with the public.
Mr Michtom wrote to Roosevelt requesting permission to name
the bear "Teddy" after the President. Thus was born
one of the largest toy companies of the United States: the
Ideal Novelty Toy Company, which changed its name in 1938
to become the Ideal Toy Company.
Wherever their origin, the Teddy Bear has been embraced world
wide as a childhood companion, which some "children"
continue to hold dear well into their latter years. It is
this special relationship between people of all ages and their
bears.
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quintessential:典型的
husband and wife shop:夫妻店
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