Sept. 9--Teddy Bear Day

I don't remember having a teddy bear as a child. I do have a recollection of my Bubba having a Pooh Bear that was toted everywhere until the fateful day that Pooh took a dive out of an open car window and was run over by the back tires. You would think the little man would cry, demand Pooh have a bath in the washing machine, and then go on with his three-year-old life as if no harm had come to the little bear. My memory is that we had to have a funeral for the toy bear, prayers and all. I think we may have buried him too but that part is fuzzy. I'll have to ask Packer if there is an old, beat-up Pooh bear in the Nephews' (Thing1 and Thing2) inherited toy collection.

Nevertheless, today is Teddy Bear Day! In 1902, US President Teddy Roosevelt's refusal to shoot a bear that had been caught and tied to a tree by his shooting party, stating they had been less than sportsman-like in their pursuit, garnered some attention from the media. Morris Michtom of the Ideal Novelty and Toy Co. also paid homage to the President's act of humanity and created a toy bear cub. He called it Teddy's Bear. That's how we come to call our stuffed friends Teddy Bears. Who feels like they learned something? I DO! I DO!

Check out this amigurumi teddy I crocheted for Thing2! I have no pattern because I wasn't using one. I just kept crocheting in the round until I had the trunk of the bear. Then I made two arms and two legs. I stuffed the little guy with a corrugated yarn that I would never have used for anything because that stuff is ridiculously difficult to work with. It's not pretty, but I like it...so did Thing2.