"When Teddy Bear Was Once Seen as a Dangerous Influence" Topic

… on Young Children

"A true history of the teddy bear begins in the American wilderness. In November 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt embarked on a hunting trip in Mississippi with one main goal: to bag a black bear. As the tale goes, after Roosevelt had scoured the brush for several days without so much as spotting one, some of his hunting companions corralled an injured old bear and tied it to a willow tree. Here, they said, was Roosevelt's opportunity to slay one and declare victory. Horrified, the president refused, saying it would be unseemly—unsporting!—for a man of honor to kill this vulnerable creature. He ordered the decrepit bear to be euthanized, and this odd show of mercy quickly became news…"

Smithsonian Magazine

link

Armand

My great uncle Art grew up during the Roosevelt administration. He had health issues; I once asked my mom what they might have been, and my mom said the family always said he was "sickly." The family couldn't have him being useless, nor could they fob him off on the state to take care of, so they did their best to make him a useful citizen. This included providing him with several illustrated children's books from the "Teddy Bears Come to Life" series by Robert Towne, which first came out in 1907. While obviously not as well-known as the Winnie the Pooh books, they were well written and are still available today. As for Art, he grew up to be an independent machinist, earning a decent living making (among other things) replacement parts for the farms and oil fields nearby. Since I've become one of the oldest members of the "family," I've started sending copies of some of Towne's books to the little ones in the family and telling them about their Uncle Art.

Grelber

"When Teddy Bear Was Once Seen as a Dangerous Influence"

Oh you think they were bad back then, but when you put a Black Sabbath tape in a Teddy Ruxpin, it turns absolutely demonic…

;-)

"A few social commentators saw teddy bears as ominous: They feared that some girls' preference for soft animals over humanlike dolls would become all-consuming, replacing the female urge to nurture babies—and eventually lead to childless marriages. In 1907, the Rev. Michael G. Esper of Michigan warned his congregation that "the fad for supplanting the good old dolls of our childhood with the horrible monstrosity known as the teddy bear" would lead to falling birthrates."

Spoiler: that did not happen.

Thanks

Armand

Spoiler: that did not happen.</> Cell phones seem to be making it happen now, though. (Along with a bunch of other reasons, world-wide.)

While Teddy Bears in the wild are rare, their pelts seem to show up on game boards often.

(smile)

Armand

Oh you think they were bad back then, but when you put a Black Sabbath tape in a Teddy Ruxpin, it turns absolutely demonic…

I think you have to play the tape backwards, though.

Didn't happen immediately, Andrew. Have you looked at total fertility rates lately?