Teddy Bears
Question:
What did Andy Pandy, Christopher Robin, Zippy, Kermit, Bill Badger and Noddy all have in common?
Answer: They all had a bear in their lives! (To find out which bears you have to read to the end of the article…)
While these bears take many forms, I am going to focus on the beloved Teddy Bear for this article. How this delightful stuffed toy got its name is quite a long story. It began with Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States . His nickname was Teddy and he hated it! In 1902 he went on a bear hunting expedition. While other hunters had already been successful, he had not and so his attendants cornered, clubbed and tied an American black bear to a tree, inviting Roosevelt to kill it. Deeming this to be unsportsmanlike (I should think so!) he refused but instructed his attendants to put the poor creature out of its misery.