Teddy Bear Blocks

White blocks with red letters over red ribbon surround brown teddy bear. Black text on light blue background.

After an incident with President Teddy Roosevelt’s refusal to shoot a bear, Clifford Berryman, a famous political cartoonist for the Washington Star, used it as a metaphor in a political cartoon over Roosevelt’s indecision over a Mississippi boundary dispute. The cartoon became famous and inspired Brooklyn candy store owners Rose and Morris Michtom to make the first stuffed bear toy, which they named after Theodore Roosevelt. Morris Michtom called the toy, “Teddy’s Bear,” with Roosevelt’s permission. In 1903, the Ideal Toy Company was born, making the first line of teddy bears. The original teddy bear was given to Kermit Roosevelt, grandson of Theodore Roosevelt, and his family with the understanding it would later be donated to the Smithsonian. Kermit Roosevelt’s children liked the toy so much, they kept it hidden for several years until later donating to the Smithsonian on January 1964, where it remains to this day.