Being from Mississippi, it seems like we hardly ever receive the credit for anything positive.
But many great people and great things have come from the Hospitality State…
Foods like Mississippi Pot Roast and Mississippi Mud Pie.
People like Norman Freeman and Oprah Winfrey…
But there is one thing that hardly anyone associates with Mississippi.
Yet this one thing has become one of the most popular gifts ever for children…a cherished symbol of affection, congratulations or even sympathy…a source of inspiration for film, story and song…and often a collector’s item worthy of being adored and appreciated for generations.
The teddy bear.
So what does the teddy bear have to do with Mississippi?
In 1902, Andrew H. Longino, the 35th governor of Mississippi, , invited Roosevelt and some of his staff members to go bear hunting in Mississippi.
Interesting, because who really even dares to hunt bears? Seems dangerous to me.
Even more interesting, because I have lived in Mississippi for over 50 years and have never seen a bear other than in the zoo…
Although Ole Miss did supposedly change its mascot from the Rebel to the Mississippi Brown Bear a few years back in an attempt to be politically correct…(Lord, help us all)…
Anyway…
Most of the hunting party were able to scare and snare a bear…
Except for Roosevelt.
So, some of the members of the group set their hunting dogs on a long and exhausting chase to find a poor American black bear…without telling Roosevelt, of course.
The hunters cornered and clubbed a bear. Then they tied it to a willow tree, summoned Roosevelt to the site and suggested that he should shoot the bear.
However, Roosevelt refused to shoot the tethered bear…saying that this was unsportsmanlike.
Sounds like a pleasant hunting trip…but not necessarily a historic even that would impact society even 100 years later.
Also sounds like another American President perhaps as honest as Abraham Lincoln.
But remember, this decade was the heyday of political cartoons.
On November 16, 1902, a cartoon depicting this incident was published in The Washington Post.
The cartoon, published by Clifford Berryman, showed an adult black bear being lassoed two people – one an unidentified man, the other a disgusted American President.
This cartoon inspired Morris Michtom, a New York candy shop owner, to create a small soft bear cub toy.
He set this toy in his store window, along with a sign reading “Teddy’s bear.”
Surprisingly to him, “Teddy’s bear” went viral.
So viral in fact, that Michtom eventually was able to found the Ideal Novelty and Toy Co…(more on this later)
And also popular enough to spark social controversy.
In 1907, Michael G. Esper began a campaign against the teddy bear.
Esper, a Catholic priest in Michigan, declared teddy bears to be “horrible monstrosities.”
He claimed that replacing the “good old dolls” with teddy bears would be a big mistake. Girls would lose the urge to nurture babies. This would result in declining birth rates among the white population and racial suicide.
This movement attracted widespread but short-lived attention.
Thank goodness that they were unable to stop production of the teddy bear.
I still proudly hold on to my Teddy Ruxpin…daring anyone to touch it.
