National American Teddy Bear Day

What the day is

National American Teddy Bear Day is observed on November 14. The American qualifier is doing real work here: it distinguishes the Brooklyn origin story from the parallel German one.

Origin and background

In November 1902, Theodore Roosevelt was hunting in Mississippi and was offered a bear that had been captured and tied for him to shoot. He refused on grounds of sportsmanship. A political cartoon of the episode ran in the Washington Post and was reprinted widely, and in later versions the bear became progressively smaller and more appealing.

Morris Michtom, who ran a novelty and candy shop in Brooklyn, saw the cartoon and had his wife Rose sew a stuffed bear, which he displayed in the window as Teddy's bear. They sold, he sought and reportedly received permission to use the name, and the business became the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company, which grew into one of the largest American toy manufacturers.

At almost exactly the same moment, the Steiff company in Germany was producing a jointed mohair bear independently. Neither party copied the other, and the two origins converged on the same object within roughly a year, which is one of the odder coincidences in manufacturing history.

American teddy bears became a collecting field in their own right. Early Ideal bears are rare because they were played with rather than preserved, and condition, jointing, eye type and mohair quality determine value. The market peaked in the late twentieth century and has cooled considerably since.

How to take part

• Look at the original 1902 cartoon and notice how much the bear changed across redrawings.
• Check any old bear in the family for maker's marks, which are usually in the ear or on a foot pad.
• Keep antique bears away from infants; early eyes and joints are not safe by modern standards.
• Donate new bears to a shelter, hospital or emergency service that accepts them.
• Repair rather than replace. A restitched bear is still the same bear.