First Teddy Bear in 1903

 

The teddy bear was inspired by a cartoon by Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Clifford K. Berryman depicting American president Theodore Roosevelt—commonly called "Teddy"—having compassion for a bear at the end of an unsuccessful hunting trip in Mississippi in 1902. Morris Michtom saw the drawing and created a tiny plush bear cub which he sent to Roosevelt. After receiving permission to use Roosevelt's name, Michtom put a plush bear in the shop window on 15 February 1903 with a sign "Teddy's bear." After the creation of the bear the sale of the bears was so brisk that in 1907 Michtom created the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company.