Vigo County Historical Society

Historical Treasure Article

Historic Treasure of the Week - December 22, 1985
By Dorothy Jerse
Vigo County Historical Society

Teddy Bear Time

Timeless stuffed animal takes name from Roosevelt's hunting experience

This teddy bear is one of the treasures in the Historical Museum if the Wabash Valley, 1411 S. Sixth St.

He would be as welcome in a stocking this year as he was when he was received by Ruth M. Erwin in 1906.

The companions and loyal friends of boys and girls since 1903, teddy bears were named after Theodore Roosevelt, U. S. President from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt traveled south for duty and pleasure: to settle a boundary dispute between Mississippi and Louisiana and to enjoy a bear hunt. While on the trip he refused to shoot an exhausted bear tied to a tree.

The story appeared in the Nov. 15, 1902, Washington Post, and the next day the incident was pictured in a cartoon by Clifford Berryman.
Roosevelt's refusal to shoot the bear received national attention.

A teddy bear boom resulted and in a short time all sorts of novelties portraying bears appeared on the market.

Included in the collection in the Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley is a pen wiper made of a bear-shaped layer of leather and two layers of flannel fastened together. The words, "One of the bears Teddy didn't get ," are burned into the leather cover. This item was given to the Vigo County Historical Society by Mrs. Glenn T. Andrew in 1974.

Also included in the collection is a book called "Teddy B and Teddy G Visit Yellow Springs," a gift from Betty Codding in 1981. Written in 1907 by Rosa Lee Stoddard, the book us a souvenir of Yellow Springs. The text, illustrations and photographs combine to promote the Ohio community.

After the enthusiastic response to last year's "Teddy Bear Sunday," the event will by repeated from 1 to 4 this afternoon in the museum. A vast array of privately-owned bears will be featured.