Teddy Bears Anniversary

　　Americans give and receive many gifts during the holiday season. One gift for children has remained popular for many years. It is the teddy bear. The American-made teddy bear celebrated its one-hundredth anniversary last month. In November, nineteen-oh-two, President Theodore Roosevelt made news when he refused to shoot a young bear while on a hunting trip. A cartoon of the incident appeared in newspapers.

　　Morris and Rose Michtom of New York City saw the report and made a small bear from a piece of cloth. They called it Teddy's Bear and put it in the window of their store. Soon, the huge public demand for the bears helped their store expand into the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company. At the same time, the Steiff toy company in Germany was making toy bears for sale. The company also called them Teddy's bears.

　　An American toy company official saw the bears in Leipzig in nineteen-oh-three and ordered several thousand to sell in the United States. Soon, the popularity of these bears spread around the world, and the toys became known as teddy bears. And they have been popular ever since. Some experts say the teddy bear is the most popular toy ever produced.

　　Mental health experts say teddy bears represent good things about people. Children love to play with them and even talk to them. These experts say that teddy bears can help children who have been hurt or scared. Some American police departments keep teddy bears in their police cars. Officers give them to children who have suffered in accidents or fires.

　　One American group sends teddy bears to needy children around the world. Operation Teddy Care was started in nineteen-ninety-five by Barbara Moran and her husband Bob Baker. They asked people in their city, San Francisco, California, to give bears to send to the children in Kobe, Japan after the huge earthquake there.

　　A local newspaper and radio station did stories about their appeal. Operation Teddy Care sent ten-thousand bears to Japan. The group has also sent teddy bears to children in areas of conflict in Europe.

　　Teddy bears are not only popular with children. Adults love them too. Some people collect them and will pay a lot of money for them. What is the most money ever spent on a teddy bear? In nineteen-ninety-four, someone paid one-hundred-eighty-thousand dollars for a historic bear produced by the Steiff company in nineteen-oh-six.