Teddy Bear

This toy bear belonged to Jennifer Baker and was her companion when she was evacuated from Canterbury as a child during World War Two.

Toys like ‘Teddy’ would have been hugely important in comforting children whose lives were upturned by the blitz. We think of Teddy Bears as a quintessential childhood toy, however their history is relatively short. Although toy bears can be found further back in history, we owe their modern popularity and their name to former American President Theodore Roosevelt. Around 1903 the president supposedly refused to kill a bear on a hunting trip, a popular political cartoon depicting the event then captured public imagination and created a market for ‘Teddy Bears’.

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