Historic Teddy Bear Parade

At Norwalk Public Library

NORWALK — The Norwalk Public Library is celebrating the season with an exhibition of historic teddy bears of all sizes and ages and teddy bear related items from the collection of the Gil Rodriquez family of Darien.

The exhibit in the library lobby will be on view through December 31, and includes original artwork of the Care Bears, Margo Austin’s book Tumble Bear and Don Freeman’s Corduroy. It also has many teddy bear related books, as well as a book about Teddy Roosevelt with his autograph.

The name Teddy bear comes from President Theodore Roosevelt, whose nickname was Teddy. The name originated from an incident on a bear-hunting trip in Mississippi in November 1902, when he refused to shoot an injured bear. This became the topic of a political cartoon by Clifford Berryman in The Washington Post.

Morris Michtom saw the drawing of Roosevelt and the bear cub and was inspired to create a new toy — a little stuffed bear cub. After sending a bear to Roosevelt to get his permission to use his name, Michtom put it in his shop window with a sign that read “Teddy’s bear.” The toy was an immediate success and Michtom founded the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company.

Teddy bears are usually stuffed with soft white cotton and have smooth soft fur — the form is an iconic toy worldwide.

Some of the bears on display include Paddington Bear who appeared in 1958 in several books written by Michael Bond. The polite immigrant bear is from “Deepest, Darkest Peru,” with his old hat, duffle coat and spectacles; the 70 Paddington Bear books have been translated into 30 languages.

Pooh Bear was created by A.A. Milne in his book, Winnie-the-Pooh in 1926. He lives with his friends in the “hundred acre woods,” and in almost every household as a stuffed bear or the books and movies about him and his adventures.

Smokey Bear is a mascot of the United States Forest Service created in 1944 to educate the public about the dangers of forest fires. Don Freeman created the story of Corduroy, a teddy bear who lives in a department store and yearns to have a home of his own. Steiff is a German-based plush toy company established in 1880 by Margarete Steiff. In 1902, it began the production of the Steiff teddy bear, identified by the “button in the ear.”

The Norwalk Public Library is at 1 Belden Avenue. For information, call 203-899-2780 or visit NorwalkPublicLibrary.org.