National Teddy Bear Day Date in the current year: September 9, 2024

A teddy bear is a stuffed toy in the form of a bear that originated in the United States and Germany in the early 20th century. It was named after the then-President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt (even though he openly despised the nickname “Teddy”) due to a bear hunting incident that occurred in November 1902.

Roosevelt was invited to a bear hinting trip by Mississippi Governor Andrew H. Longino. While leading a hunt for Roosevelt, noted bear hunter Holt Collier cornered a large male black bear and tied it to a tree. Roosevelt refused to shoot the bear while it was tied up, deeming it as unsportsmanlike, but instructed to have the bear killed to put the beast out of its misery.

After hearing about the incident, Clifford K. Berryman created a political cartoon entitled “Drawing the Line in Mississippi” for The Washington Post. It erroneously depicted Roosevelt showing compassion to a small bear cub rather than an adult black bear. The cartoon inspired American candy shop owner Morris Michtom to make a toy bear and put it in his shop window with a sign saying “Teddy’s bear”. The toy was an immediate success, and Michtom and his wife Rose founded the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company to produce more teddy bears.

That same year, German designer Richard Steiff created a stuffed toy bear for his aunt Margarete’s stuffed toy company Steiff. At the 1903 Leipzig Toy Fair, a buyer from the United States purchased all 100 available teddy bears and ordered another 3,000. A year later, the Steiffs’ teddy bear received the gold medal at the St. Louis World’s Fair in the United States.

Early teddy bears created by Michtom and Steiff looked more like real bears, with beady eyes and extended snouts, and were covered in tawny mohair fur. Modern teddy bears come in various designs, but they tend to have smaller snouts and larger eyes and foreheads that make them looks cuter. Modern teddy bears are also manufactured from a wide variety of fabrics, including synthetic fur, cotton, canvas, denim, satin, and velour.

Over the past century, teddy bears have become a cultural icon. Arguably the most famous teddy bear character in fiction is Winnie-the-Pooh created by English writer Alan Alexander Milne; he is based on a teddy bear owned by Milne’s son Christopher. Likewise, Paddington Bear is based on a teddy bear purchased by the English author Michael Bond as a gift for his wife.

If you love teddy bears (and who doesn’t?), you should celebrate National Teddy Bear Day on September 9. There are many ways to observe this amazing holiday. You can share memories about your childhood teddy bear on social media with the hashtags #NationalTeddyBearDay and #TeddyBearDay, gift someone a teddy bear and/or buy one for yourself, build your own teddy bear from a kit, donate a bunch of teddy bears to a children’s hospital or charity, or host a teddy bear-themed party for your kids or niblings.