| From the 1900s to this day, the inquiry about who | | | | are holding their own teddy bears; others dress in |
| actually fashioned the first teddy bear is still debated. | | | | bear jewelry and carry bear handbags. An enchanting |
| In any case, the teddy bear remains a national | | | | experience for children of any age, this distinctive |
| obsession. In 1903, Steiff created 12,000 bears. | | | | museum showcases bears in all shapes and sizes |
| Teddy manufacturers sprang up everywhere. | | | | including one-of-a-kind teddy bears, limited editions, |
| Textbook author Seymour Eaton, under the | | | | antique bears, and unique moving displays. |
| pseudonym Paul Piper, wrote a humorous poem | | | | In 1997, the Huis Ten Bosch resort in Nagasaki, |
| called "The Roosevelt Bears" that | | | | Japan, unveiled the Teddy Bear Kingdom--a |
| appeared each week in newspapers around the | | | | 1,300-square-foot reproduction of a medieval |
| country and followed the frolics of "Teddy-B | | | | stronghold with fifteen hundred classic and new |
| and Teddy-G. | | | | bears. On April 24, 2001, J.S. International chairman |
| Eaton also published a series of books about the | | | | Jesse Kim, who remunerated $193,477 for a |
| bears. "Teddy bears are all the rage," | | | | one-of-a-kind existing Steiff bear at a charity auction, |
| read an ad in the 1908 Sears, Roebuck catalog. Bears | | | | opened the JeJu Teddy Bear Museum in Korea. The |
| of all kinds--plaid bears, fuzzy bears, Viking | | | | Jeju Teddy Bear Museum opened specially for the |
| bears--perch on every available surface. How about a | | | | European collectors and is more exhilarating than ever |
| bear with a hood with curlers on it and fuzzy slippers | | | | with special "Teddy Bear" entertainment. |
| and a robe? It's there too. | | | | Since the late 1970s, a generation of "bear |
| And today Vermont Teddy Bears Most of Vermont | | | | artists" has taken tired old teddy to a new |
| Teddy's customers are men sending Bear-Grams. | | | | level. Art bears are nearly always hand-sewn, |
| Customized Bear-Grams can cost up to $300 apiece. | | | | one-of-a-kind or limited-edition pieces. They're as |
| Although the company specializes in | | | | diverse and creative as the artists |
| lightheartedness--it ships each bear in a container | | | | themselves--huggable, droopy-limbed bears, minutely |
| complete with airholes and a delicious candy treat, in | | | | detailed mohair miniatures no bigger than thimbles, |
| case the bear gets hungry on the trip--it's a full-size | | | | bears dressed as hobos, angel bears, clown bears, |
| business. | | | | biblical bears, inquiring bears, shy bears, and bears of |
| Real bears have to contend with hunters and habitat | | | | every personality, shape and expression. |
| loss, but there's no sign teddy bears will ever be | | | | How has a single toy eluded the restrictions of age, |
| endangered. If you look through popular magazines, | | | | gender, nationality, culture and faith for over a |
| there's always an ad for some limited edition, and | | | | hundred years? What makes people cling to their |
| you go into a gift shop and there are teddy bear | | | | teddy bears, loved to within a millimeter of their fur, |
| aprons and teddy bear mugs and teddy bear this and | | | | for lifetimes? The teddy bear started as a child's toy, |
| teddy bear that. | | | | something to comfort and please the young. That |
| The Teddy Bear Museum in Naples, Florida--one of | | | | bear became a confidante, our best friend, the |
| the first such museums in America--displays about | | | | companion who kept us safe and sound during the |
| five thousand teddies from all over the world. Some | | | | trials of childhood. |