🎩 The Bear Who Didn’t Die: How Louisiana Gave Us the Teddy Bear

“I don’t think so.”

That’s essentially what President Theodore Roosevelt said on a hunting trip in the backwoods of Louisiana in 1902, when someone offered him the easy way out: a tied-up Louisiana black bear as a consolation prize for an otherwise fruitless hunt.

Teddy Roosevelt, rough-riding and famously stubborn, wasn’t one to fake a victory. The hunt had dragged on for days through the swamps of Mississippi and Louisiana, and he still hadn’t bagged a bear. His guides, anxious not to send a president home empty-handed, captured a young bear and presented it for the taking.

Roosevelt refused. To him, it wasn’t sportsmanlike. He walked away from the shot.

“The true hunter does not take pride in an easy kill.”

The story could’ve stopped there. But a cartoonist with a quick pen and a candy shop owner with a clever eye turned that one decision into something far greater.

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🐻 From Bayou to Brooklyn

The cartoonist Clifford Berryman illustrated the moment in a widely circulated editorial cartoon. His bear was drawn small and sweet-looking, almost like a child. America fell in love with the idea.

Enter Morris Michtom, a Brooklyn candy shop owner who dabbled in homemade toys. He showed his wife the cartoon, then sewed a stuffed bear cub inspired by it. They placed it in their shop window with a handwritten sign that read:

“Teddy’s Bear.”

Before selling the toy, Michtom wrote the White House asking permission to use the president’s nickname. Roosevelt said yes. The stuffed bear became an instant hit, and the Michtoms went on to found the Ideal Toy Company, launching one of the most iconic toys of all time.

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🌿 Louisiana’s Lost Chapter in the Teddy Bear Tale

But here’s what most people forget:
This all began in Louisiana, under Spanish moss and cypress knees, with a bear from our very own wetlands. That cub was a Louisiana Black Bear, a unique subspecies native to the Mississippi Delta region.

Once hunted to the brink, the Louisiana Black Bear was added to the endangered species list in 1992. After decades of conservation, it was delisted in 2016, a full-circle moment of survival, just like that lucky cub back in 1902.

“From a spared life in the woods to bedtime companions across the world; that little bear left paw-prints everywhere.”

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🧸 The Heart of the Story

The teddy bear isn’t just a toy. It’s a story about choosing compassion over conquest. It’s a bit of political folklore, a symbol of innocence, and yes, a little piece of Louisiana legacy.

So the next time you see a teddy bear perched in a child’s arms or peeking from a store shelf, remember:
It’s not just cute.
It’s historic.

And it all started in the wild, untamed South.

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🎟️ Come hear more wild Louisiana stories on our walking tours through New Orleans. We don’t just share history. We live it.
👉 www.dupontandcompany.com