My Teddy Bear

by Anne Monier

ISBN: 9782383140276

Published: 2025-01-13

* Three essays tracing the history of the teddy bear since its creation in 1902 * Two scientific essays by a curator and a historian, specialists in prehistory and bears * Rich iconography featuring a number of full-page teddy bears The immense popularity of the teddy bear, now in every child's bedroom, hides a paradox: how did this ferocious, wild animal came to symbolize childhood? The teddy bear was born at the same time in two different places. In 1902, the toy was invented in the United States in reference to Theodore Roosevelt - hence its Anglo-Saxon name, Teddy's bear, which became teddy-bear. In Germany the same year, Margarete Steiff marketed her first teddy bear created from needle cushions. It was a resounding success in Europe and America. The first examples in mohair and wood straw were heavy and rigid. However, the teddy bear has softened and mellowed. It has incorporated bright or pastel colors, in order to become a cuddly toy, the transitional object studied and...