One of the classes I took in college was a media history class with one of the wackiest professors on campus. Everyday he would give us some random fact and, ironically, these are the things that I remember best from that class. Although everyone else in the class already knew this, I learned how the stuffed bear got its current name.
The term teddy bear comes from President Theodore Rooselvelt, commonly referred to as Teddy. While on a hunting trip in Mississippi, Roosevelt refused to shoot a bear that his hunting mates had staged for him. After a flurry of publicity and a detailed political cartoon, shop owners started branding their stuff bears with the President’s nickname.
Tags: history of teddy bear, Teddy Bears