The Teddy Bear Introduced by Morris and Rose Michtom leads to the Ideal Toy Company
So we all know that the Teddy Bear was inspired by Teddy Roosevelt but did you know, that on February 15, 1903 Morris and Rose Michtom, Russian immigrants, introduced the first teddy bear in America. I didn’t!. I also didn’t now that……
The Teddy Bear was inspired by a cartoon by Clifford K. Berryman depicting Teddy Roosevelt having compassion for a bear at the end of an unsuccessful hunting trip in Mississippi in 1902. Michtom saw the drawing and created a tiny plush bear cub which he sent to Roosevelt. After receiving permission to use Roosevelt’s name,[5] Michtom put a
plush bear in the shop window with a sign “Teddy’s bear.” Read More at Wikipedia
Additionally, I didn’t know that because the sale of the Teddy Bear was so successful, Michtom went on to found the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company, which after his death became the largest doll-making company in the United States. But when I went to read about the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company, I saw and immediately recognized this logo….
I think that I had many a toy, when I was growing up that had that logo on it!!
Some of the company’s most successful dolls included: the Shirley Temple doll which debuted in 1934 and was their best-selling doll, licensed Disney dolls and a Judy Garland doll. But ….
….One of Ideal’s most lasting products was Betsy Wetsy, introduced in 1934 and in production for more than 50 years. Ideal, via the Betsy Wetsy doll, was also one of the first doll manufacturers to produce an African American version of a popular doll.[11] In 2003, the Toy Industry Association named Betsy Wetsy to its Century of Toys List, a compilation commemorating the 100 most memorable and most creative toys of the 20th century Read More
Ideal also had a game’s division that produced games including: Mouse Trap and Hands Down. Ideal even brought the Magic Cube from Hungary in 1980 and renamed it Rubik’s Cube and like they say the rest is history!!
So which Ideal toys did you have growing up????
To think it all started on February 15, 1903 with the introduction of that first “teddy bear”!!
