Teddy bears have been an integral part of childhood for more than one hundred years. It’s hard to imagine life without them. So how did it all begin?

The President…and the Bear

President Theodore Roosevelt was a big game hunter. In 1902, he traveled to Mississippi to hunt Louisiana black bear. To make sure he shot a bear, one was tied to a willow tree. The president found this very unsportsmanlike. When he refused to shoot the bear, his refusal was satirized in a political cartoon.

Rose and Morris Michtom, owners of a Brooklyn candy shop, who, interestingly enough, also made stuffed animals, saw the cartoon. They made a stuffed toy bear and named it Theodore Roosevelt. With the president’s permission, they then made a small bear cub and called it “Teddy’s Bear.”  And, as they say, the rest is history. The teddy bear was born.

• DYK Theodore Roosevelt was the 26th president and, at 42, the youngest president, when he assumed the office after President McKinley’s assassination in September 1901?
• DYK after the death of his mother and his first wife—who died on the same day—Roosevelt lived on his ranch in the Badlands of the Dakota Territory for much of the next two years?  He drove cattle, hunted big game, and even captured an outlaw.
• DYK in 1992 the Louisiana black bear was added to the federal list of threatened species?

The Song

The popularity of the teddy bear toy inspired a song. How many of you have heard, The Teddy Bears’ Picnic? American John W. Bratton wrote the music in 1907. Jimmy Kennedy, a British songwriter, added the lyrics in 1930. The song has been recorded over the years by several well-known artists, including Bing Crosby and Anne Murray. It’s also been included on various children’s albums.

• DYK in 1932 Brit Henry Hall, band leader of the BBC Dance Orchestra, became the first to record The Teddy Bears’ Picnic? The recording featured singer Val Rosing, son of a Russian tenor (father) and English singer (mother), and sold over a million copies.
• DYK in 1938, upon moving to America, singer Val Rosing changed his name to Gilbert Russell? He worked as one of Hollywood’s top vocal coaches in the 1960s. His students included Natalie Wood, June Lockhart, and Tina Louise (Ginger from Gilligan’s Island).
• DYK you can hear that first recording of Val Rosing singing The Teddy Bears’ Picnic? (Click here. Then click the “play” button on the photo of Henry Hall located to the right of the lyrics. Then click “play” at the bottom of the photo.)

The National Day

The popularity of the teddy bear toy and song inspired National Teddy Bear Picnic Day, celebrated every July 10 by people in countries around the world. So, tomorrow grab your family and friends, a picnic hamper full of yummy food, and your teddy bear(s) and stroll into the woods. If the weather doesn’t cooperate, have an indoor picnic. However you choose to celebrate this day, have fun. And remember, it all began with a bear hunt.