Christmas stocking with a teddy bear and gifts

About this drawing

A stocking with teddy bear peeking out is a classic Christmas morning sight, and the teddy bear has been a favorite gift for more than a century. Its name comes from a true story about an American president.

In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt joined a bear hunt in Mississippi. To make sure he got a trophy, members of the party tied a tired black bear to a tree, but Roosevelt refused to shoot it, saying it would be unsportsmanlike. Newspapers ran a cartoon of the moment, and the story spread across the country.

A shop owner in Brooklyn saw the cartoon and made a stuffed bear he called Teddy's bear, after the president's nickname. It sold so quickly that he began making them in quantity. Around the same time, a family toy company in Germany introduced its own jointed plush bear, which also became a big hit.

Before long, teddy bear became the everyday name for any stuffed bear. Kids carry them everywhere and sleep with them for comfort, and many adults still keep the one they had as a child. Today there are museums devoted to teddy bears, and rare antique bears are treasured by collectors.

• christmas stocking
• teddy bear
• gifts
• toys