How one of the most beloved toys by children of all ages, the Teddy bear came into our world is the story of coincidences. At the beginning of the last century the German Richard Steiff designed a new toy, a stuffed bear. The bear was produced shortly after by the Steiff Firm. In 1902 Richard Berryman [USA] draw a political cartoon illustrating an incident happen on a hunting trip involving US President Theodore Roosevelt and an American Black Bear. President Roosevelt s name was Teddy. The cartoon was published on November 16 in The Washington Post. This cartoon inspired Morris Michtom, USA to create a new toy, a stuffed bear cub. He sent a bear to Roosevelt and got permission to use the president s name. Michtom put the little bear in his shop window with a sign beside which read Teddy s Bear [please imagine the possession marks]. Change of locations: The German bear was shown in 1903 at a toy fair in Leipzig, Germany. Herman Berg, from Borgfeldt and Co saw that bear and ordered 3000 to be send to the United States of America; the rest is Teddy-Bear History.

Little Woman is a widely known novel by the American author Louisa May Alcott; published first in two volumes in 1868 and 1869 and as the first single volume in 1880. The novel is loosely based on the author s childhood and follows the lives of four sisters. It is said that the first version of the American Girl was created by the novel.
The bear in the photo was given to me as a gift and is of certain age; but I doubt that he nearly reaches the age of the book which was printed in 1947. The book jacked was unfortunately covered with self glue plastic foil before I bought it at a yard sale many years ago. The plastic foil has slightly yellowed. I could have repaired [cloned] the damage on the book jacked; but I prefer to show its current condition.

Sony DSC-HX200V, f/2.8, 1/30 sec, ISO 200, focal 5 mm, aperture 3, available daylight, no flash, photographed in a shaded area outdoors, converted to sepia