Teddy Bears symbolize one thing - unconditional love

We’re all familiar with the children’s action rhyme:

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, turn around

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, touch the ground,

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, show your shoe,

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, that will do,

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear go upstairs,

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, say your prayers,

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, turn out the light,

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, say good-night.

Teddy bears are one of the most loved traditional toys children own. So many toys are expected to “do something”. They have to talk, or move, or have buttons to press, but a teddy bear is simply for hugging and loving.

It’s low-tech and cuddly. Firefighters and paramedics keep bears on hand to comfort children in distress or in emergency situations.

The Teddy Bear name originates from Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt. On a hunting trip in Mississippi, some of Roosevelt’s hunting buddies chased a baby bear and encouraged the President to shoot it. He refused to shoot it himself, but instructed the bear to be killed, to be put out of his misery.

This became a political cartoon in 1902 and was seen by Brooklyn store owner

Morris Michtom, who created a stuffed bear, to represent “Teddy’s bear”. It

became an immediate success. Soon, manufacturers were producing bears in all

shapes, sizes, textures and colours.

Winnie the Pooh books followed in the 1920s, based on a stuffed bear that A.A. Milne’s son, Christopher Robin Milne, received for his first birthday from his mother. Milne began writing and producing books about the adventures of his son and his bear, along with a slew of other lovable stuffed animals.

In Germany, Margarete Steiff and her nephew Richard came up with the idea of stuffed toy bears as an option for little boys, since girls had their dolls.

Richard was inspired by bears he observed at the Stuttgart Zoo and the design came from sketches he made of the bears he watched. An American toy buyer saw the prototype and immediately ordered 3,000 bears, made in the Steiff factory in Germany.

Soon there were musical bears, mechanical bears, talking bears and synthetic bears. Now bears are loved by children of all ages, but also bought by collectors who are willing to pay high prices for specialty bears, antique bears and handmade bears. The record price for a teddy bear sold at an auction house in 1994 was $176,000!

I had an old coat of my grandmother’s sewn into teddy bears for family members as a keepsake. They’re beautiful, meaningful and represent a special part of our family history.

At Nursery School, we just celebrated Teddy Bear Week. Everyone brought in their favourite bears to share. We made bear crafts, had a teddy bear picnic, learned about polar bears, grizzly bears, panda bears, black bears and koala bears. We all love bears!

Today we enjoy Paddington Bear, Pooh Bear, Little Bear, Yogi Bear, Boo Boo Bear, Fozzie Bear, Corduroy Bear, Berenstein Bears, Care Bears and numerous other beloved versions. There are even bear workshops in malls today where children can create their own bears then buy all the accessories to personalize their bears.

Why do kids love bears so much? Besides being cuddly and cute, they offer unconditional love, reassurance, security and companionship. Many adults still have fond memories of their own teddy bears they loved as children.

Even in our high-tech world of gadgets and gizmos, our love affair with the simple teddy bear continues and grows, and many children will be wishing for a bear to love over the holiday season. Maybe we can make that wish come true.

Lila Hope-Simpson is the Director of the Home and Heart Nursery School in Wolfville