Teddy bear

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Teddy bear (disambiguation).

The teddy bear is a stuffed toy bear. It is an enduring, traditional form of stuffed animal, often serving the purpose of comforting upset children. In recent times, some teddy bears have become expensive collector's items. Teddy bear collectors are known as arctophiles from the Greek words 'arcto' (bear) and 'philos' (lover). The world's first Teddy Bear Museum was set up in Petersfield, Hampshire, England, in 1984. In 1990 a similar foundation was set up in Naples, Florida, USA.

Contents 1 Naming 2 Kinds of teddy bears 3 Fictional teddy bears 4 Teddy bears in video games 5 See also 6 External links

[edit] Naming

Theodore Roosevelt, whose nickname was "Teddy", enjoyed big game-hunting. According to one legend, the teddy bear received its birth at Hotel Colorado in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. To cheer Theodore Roosevelt after an unsuccessful day of hunting, Hotel Colorado maids presented him with a stuffed bear pieced together with scraps of fine material. Later, when he did bag a bear, his daughter Alice admired it saying, "I will call it Teddy." The term caught on.

According to another legend (and the one most often cited), the name derives from a bear-hunting trip in Sharkey County, Mississippi in 1902, when Roosevelt's tracker, noted African-American hunter and sportsman Holt Collier, found and caught an old injured bear. Roosevelt refused to kill the lassoed animal, calling it "unsportsmanlike", and instead released it. "Teddy's Bear" was immediately publicized by political cartoonists, taking journalistic licence and changing it to a young cute bear. The first such cartoon appeared the following day, November 16: Clifford Berryman, an editorial cartoonist for the Washington Post, immortalized the incident as part of a front-page cartoon montage. Berryman pictured Roosevelt with his gun beside him with the butt resting on the ground and his back to the bear, gesturing his refusal to take the trophy shot. Written across the lower part of the cartoon were the words "Drawing the Line in Mississippi," which coupled the hunting incident to a political dispute (see picture to the left).

[edit] Kinds of teddy bears

Commercially made, mass produced teddy bears are predominantly made as toys for children. These bears have safety joints for attaching arms legs and heads. They also have securely fastened eyes that do not pose a choking hazard for small children. These "plush" bears must meet a rigid standard of construction in order to be marketed to children in the United States and in European Economic Community.

By contrast, Artist Bears, are not mass produced and definitely not intended for small children. In fact, most carry a tag saying just that. These bears are intended for an adult market of avid collectors. They are individually created by a whole host of artists around the world. Many of these artists design their own bears as well as making them by hand or stitching them up on home sewing machines. These bears are not mass marketed. They are available for purchase through the individual artists, specialty shops, web sites, and at art shows, Teddy Bear shows and craft shows across the globe. These bears are almost always jointed with movable heads, arms and legs. The jointing systems to attach these appendages and heads are most often disk and screw or disk and cotter pin combinations but can be done with buttons, simple string, chain or any other method an enterprising artist may devise.

The "fur" from which these charming creatures are made is as varied and interesting as the bears themselves. Mohair, the fur shorn or combed from a breed of long haired goats, is woven into cloth, dyed and trimmed to produce a fascinating choice for any artist's palette. In addition to mohair, there is a huge selection of "plush" or synthetic fur made for the teddy bear market. Both these types of fur are commercially produced.

Some Teddy Bear Artists specialize in the production of bears made from recycled materials. These artists haunt thrift stores, flea markets, garage sales and trash collection centers as well as their own and their familys' basements and attics in search of forgotten treasures to be turned into a collector's dream. Old quilts, dresses, fur collars, coats and stoles as well as beaded bags and garments are quickly transformed into stunning teddy bears.

[edit] Fictional teddy bears

Main article: List of fictional bears

Notable fictional teddy bears include

• Paddington Bear
• Winnie the Pooh
• Radar O'Reilly's unnamed teddy on M*A*S*H
• Big Bird's teddy bear, Radar, on Sesame Street.
• Bobo, Mr. Burns' childhood teddy on The Simpsons.
• Shmee, the teddy bear that speaks to his owner Squee in Jhonen Vasquez's comics
• Lord Sebastian Flyte's teddy bear, Aloysius, in Brideshead Revisited.
• Amy, Lulu and Morgan, the teddies from Bananas in Pyjamas.
• Teddy Ruxpin
• Mr. Bear, teddy of Stephanie Tanner, on Full House.
• Mr. Bean's Teddy.
• Pooky, the teddy bear belonging to Garfield.
• Rupert, Stewie's teddy bear on Family Guy.

[edit] Teddy bears in video games

In the 1995 RPG Earthbound, teddy bears could be used to absorb damage normally inflicted on the heroes.

In 2001, Teddy Bears starred as villains in a popular Nintendo 64 Game. Conker's Bad Fur Day casted the evil 'Tediz' in a war with the heroic Squirrel High Command. The Tediz were based on Germans, this can be seen by the Red/Black/White flags they wave, along with the weaponry they use (officers wield luger pistols, and foot soldiers carry classic stick-grenades). In 2005, Tediz returned for the 'Reloaded' version of Conker, sporting a new look. Grunts were outfitted with classic German helmets and outfit. Sword-wielding 'sneekers' were dressed as Gestapo members with long, dark trench coats, and monocles. The rest of the soldier classes also had similar German WW2 atire.

In 2006, the Teddy Bear 'Sunshine' was an NPC in the Nintendo Gamecube game Chibi-Robo!. He was one of the toys that came to life when Humans were not around. He had a nectar addiction so strong that when hungry, Sunshine could go into a violent rage. Chibi-Robo helped Sunshine beat his obsession by giving him legendary nectar.

[edit] See also

• Teddy bears' picnic
• Microsoft Bear
• Teddy Bear (song) by Elvis Presley
• Teddy Bear Effect
• Vermont Teddy Bear Company
• Build-A-Bear Workshop

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Teddy bears

[edit] External links

• Teddy Bears History Channel
• Teddy bear article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki.
• The robotic 'Huggable' Teddy Bear project at M.I.T. iCampus
• Teddy Bear Museum Directory