By Karen Zautyk
The cartoon that accompanies this week’s column is by Clifford Berryman and first appeared in The Washington Post in November 1902. It depicts then-President Theodore Roosevelt refusing to kill a bear cub during a hunting trip in Mississippi. The incident bolstered Roosevelt’s already massive popularity and led to the creation of what is probably the most iconic toy of all time. But, as is usual in politics, the real story was a bit different.
TR had, indeed, been on a bear-hunting trip. By the end, his companions had all bagged bruins. Not so Roosevelt. According to reports, presidential minions, not wanting him to appear to be less skillful than the others, found an old, non-ferocious black bear (not a cub) in the woods, clubbed it into submission and tied it to a tree.
They then brought TR to the site and suggested he kill it. Yes, he refused. But he had someone else kill it, to put it out of its misery.
Berryman’s original cartoon purportedly showed a large bear, but it was later revised to feature the cute and cuddly cub.
And this led to the creation of the teddy bear.
As described on Wikipedia, a Brooklyn toymaker, Morris Michtom, who saw the cartoon, “created a tiny soft bear cub and put it in the shop window with a sign ‘Teddy’s bear,’ after sending a bear to Roosevelt and receiving permission to use his name. The toys were an immediate success, and Michtom founded the Ideal Novelty and Toy Co.”
To this day, the teddy bear continues to be a treasure of childhood. (And adulthood, too.) Anyone who did not have one as a toddler can legitimately be described as deprived.
I was inspired to share this story, which I mistakenly thought most people knew, after learning that a friend — currently studying the Roosevelt presidency in an American history course at Rutgers — had never heard of it.
Another (definitely little-known) TR fact is that he was virtually blind in one eye. This was not due to any disease, but rather to his celebrated machismo. Roosevelt was a competitive pugilist while a student at Harvard and continued to box for recreation thereafter. Including during his time in the White House. It was during a bout there that a sparring partner, a young soldier, clocked him in the left eye, causing irreversible damage.
Roosevelt, I believe, kept the blindness a secret from the general public.
(Interesting, is it not, that a subsequent President Roosevelt would also keep a debilitating condition secret?)
TR has come to my mind during the continuing spate of ferocious presidential debates. (I never thought I would use the words “ferocious” and “debates” in the same sentence.) I find it amusing to imagine how the tough Hero of San Juan Hill would react to the juvenile mockery and name-calling.
I also wonder what kind of stuffed animals today’s crop of politicians might inspire. What would you create to represent Donald Trump? Hillary Clinton?
Chris Christie? Suggestions gleefully accepted. though I probably will not be able to print them.
Meanwhile, remember: Speak softly and carry a big stick.
