Hello, fellow arctophiles!  Welcome to our new Blog!  My name is Humphrey B. Bear.  Who am I and what is my claim to fame you ask?   I am honored to be the official mascot and logo bear for The Teddy Patch!   My owners have given me literary license with their new Blog and I intend to take advantage of it!
  
To begin with, if you are even reading this Blog, I'm sure you know the meaning of arctophile.  You are a bear lover and collector!  Since I AM a bear, that makes me an arctophile too!  I especially love bears and I have many friends!  Since genealogy is such a big thing these days (especially where I come from), I thought it would be fun to explore the genealogy of the Teddy Bear! 

I'm going to begin with the very early beginning of my genealogy and work forward from there.  So 'bear' with me as I get my typing paws warmed up.

Back in the 19th century, Germany - already the world's leader in the toy industry, produced a stuffed toy bear on all fours (a homely little guy) which is considered to be the predecessor of the teddy bear (my distant, twice removed, cousin you might say).  This bear was covered with a mohair plush, a new fabric designed to resemble real fur.

In 1901, Theodore Roosevelt (nicknamed "Teddy") was elected President of the United States.  In November of 1902, he embarked on a hunting expedition in Mississippi during which he refused to shoot a bear that had been cornered for him to kill.  Clifford K. Berryman was prompted by the report of this incident to make a cartoon which appeared in the Washington Post on November 16, 1902.  The title of the cartoon was "Drawing the Line at Mississippi," which also referred to a boundary dispute which President Roosevelt had set out to resolve. 

Following Berryman's cartoon, a Russian emigrant by the name of Morris Michtom, displayed a plush bear made by his wife, Rose, labeled "Teddy's Bear," in his New York store.  It was an instant success.  Butler Brothers wholesalers bought Michtom's entire stock and established the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company - said to be the first U.S. teddy bear manufacturer.  Thus began the journey of the teddy bear - from political mascot to treasured toy and work of art.

During this same period, as interest in teddy bears was beginning in the U.S., a German toy factory founded by Margarete Steiff was making plush toys and developing a jointed bear-doll.  Hermann Berg of the New York wholesales George Borgfeldt & Co., purchased 3,000 of the Steiff bear-dolls at the March 1903 Leipzig Toy Fair.  Over the next several years, the Steiff toy business expanded dramatically.

Whew!  That's enough for this week!  Stay tuned, teddy bear history and genealogy buffs:  We'll explore the evolution of my ancestry and the teddy bear industry in my next blog issue. 

Warm furry hugs to you my friends - take care until next time!!