Smithsonian Magazine on MSN16d
How a Stuffed Animal Named Billy Possum Tried—and Failed—to Replace the Teddy Bear as America's National Toy
If ‘Teddy Bear,’ why not ‘Billy Possum’?” That was the question posed by a political cartoon in the January 10, 1909, issue of the Atlanta Constitution. Inspired by a highly anticipated “possums and ...
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‘A Bundle of Horridness’: The Great Teddy Bear Panic of 1907
In November 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt was on a bear hunting excursion ... most notably in Germany, where plush toymaker Margarete Steiff peddled bears, elephants, and other animals.
Smithsonian Magazine5mon
Theodore Roosevelt
Allgood marketed a plush marsupial inspired by President ... Clary It was immediately controversial that President Theodore Roosevelt, famous for vigorous military interventions, was the first ...
Smithsonian Magazine17d
How a Stuffed Animal Named Billy Possum Tried—and Failed—to Replace the Teddy Bear as America’s National Toy
named for the story of Theodore Roosevelt’s refusal to shoot a restrained bear, could be replaced by a plush version of the 18-pound opossum served to Taft for dinner on January 15. A 1909 ...