THE TEDDY BEAR.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 4, 30 September 1907, Page 3

THE TEDDY BEAR.

' How people in' New Zealand •know "/Hat the strange creature called a Teddy bear is? ..Probably not more than; half ,a; dozen, and. yet if , . we credit the New York ''Herald, ! ' he is.'known- through -'the United States from . coast' to ' coast. There he is the dearest, possession i of American 'girlhood, the greatest . confectionery distributor on record. : Once upon a time, not very long ago, a famous leader , of society of Nowport,' 'so ; the story goes, • purchased _ a be autifiil toy. bear for her littlo'bo'y, whoiwas:so. charmed with itvthat lie ■ refusal to' let, the shopman wrap' it up, but'!'carried it homo with him in' triurripl?,; ■ sitting iiiV;';itsj', native bearisHness on 'the.-, qeatv'of the car-' ; riage /.'besido\'him..:;."Next' ". shops wero : ransacked, orders were sent far and wide,' and that .afternoon evory lovely lady' who went driving;' had a toy bear sitting by ■' her side. , .' The idea caught the bear was promptly christened Teddy, and lie ■ became the most popular: exponent of ,®Rooseveltism in all tho States'. That a bear shoujd carry 1 'sweets' was an ..: easy inference, and now Teddy with '■' an army knapsack fastened"- to his back, filled, with-sweets' is the favourite bori voyage gift to tho young American girl when she . leaves her native shores for, the conquest of the East,, .and her popularityamong those- sho leaves: behind may '• be guagfed by tho .number of. Teddy .''bears that arerangedalong lior 'berth,'- and' crowded into every available nook in'her cabin. ■It is supposed' that the truly- patriotic. Am- . erican girl lyill carry this, tho newest emblem' of her country, - with her wherever *,she' goes,.''whether it,be np the .steep paths' of Swiss mountains,, or through tho cool gloom of Italian churches," and as tho picture ';.. ofthe Teddy bears shows him to -bo . the size of a foiir months'. old baby, ■ it, would : appear: . that; neither the patriotism, nor the: physical strength of the young American girl is to ba . lightly- esteemed. . ,