Last year we held the Wild Tea Cosy competition to raise funds for Breast Cancer Network Australia, this year we thought the Teddy Bear would be a wonderful replacement. Look here for the details. The Teddy Bear has a long and interesting history.The name Teddy Bear came from former USA President Theodore Roosevelt whose nickname was 'Teddy'. During an incident on a bear hunting trip in late 1902 Roosevelt was asked to shoot a bear that had been tied to a tree, he refused and demanded the bear be dispatched immeditately to put it out of its misery. A cartoon subsequently appeared in the media with Roosevelt and the bear and this inspired Morris Michtom to create a new toy which he called 'Teddy's bear'. President Roosevelt received a copy of the little bear and gave permission for his name to be used.
At the same time in Germany the Steiff firm, unaware of Michtom's bear, produced a stuffed bear from their own design, they exhibited the toy at the Leipzig Toy Fair in March 1903 and exported 3,000 to the USA.
Seymour Eaton wrote 'The Roosevelt Bears' as a children's education book, composer John Bratton wrote 'The Teddy Bear Two Step' which became 'The Teddy Bear's Picnic'. Some popular mass market bears are Rupert, Sooty, Paddington and of course Winnie-the-Pooh. In the USA and Australia the teddy bear is now used by police, fire and emergency workers for children in emergency situations.
So, the humble teddy bear isn't so humble after all. We think this toy is a good choice for our fund raising competition. We hope you agree.
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