Today is

By: Ikedi Ani-okoye.

About Teddy bears

It is interesting to note how global the world was as far back as 1921. During the course of the history of the teddy bear, The J.K.Farnell & Co. manufactured bears in England. And, it was one of Farnell's teddy bears that Christopher Robin received as a gift from his mother for his first birthday in 1921. Christopher Robin Milne is A.A. Milne's son and it was Christopher's adventures with his teddy bear [he named him Edward Bear] and other stuffed animals, that inspired A.A. Milne to write stories about a boy, a bear, and otherstuffed toys.

Teddy bears in America

Teddy bears got their start in America because of a widely-reported event involving President Theodore ‘Teddy’ Roosevelt going hunting in that same year, 1902. According to the story, Mississippi officials, keen to please the president, took him bear hunting,

but the hunt was a failure as there were no bears to be found. One of the officials then brought the president a baby bear that he had caught and invited him to make the kill, but the president refused. Two toy-makers in New York quickly made a cute-looking toy baby bear, calling it ‘Teddy’s Bear’ – and it was a runaway hit, with a huge factory built just to fulfil the demand.

Making a teddy bear

Although there are many fabrics and methods you can use to make a teddy, probably the best is knitting with yarn. It is easy to find yarn in a very good teddy-like shade of brown, and teddy knitting patterns are readily available all over the Internet – search for ‘teddy knitting’ to find whole sites devoted to knitting teddies and other soft animal toys.

Teddy bears as collectables

The market for collectible teddy bears has seen significant growth in the last several years. A collectible teddy bear is very different than the typical store bought teddy that you might give a child. The industry defines collectible teddy bears as hard, not floppy, and fully jointed (meaning arms, legs, and head are moveable). The artists however, also determine collectibles. Steiff teddy bears and others have a very high collectible value.

CONCLUSION

We all have toys in our pasts that make us smile just to think of the joy we got from playing with them. For many of us, it was a favorite stuffed animal that we could hold onto for reassurance. When we woke up in the dark or had to have a shot at the doctor's or when we were tired, that Teddy bear or other stuffed animal was a friend who never deserted us.