| Legend has it that the term “Teddy” bear resulted from a famously unsuccessful hunt of a Louisiana black bear by then U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. On a visit to Sharkey County, Mississippi, in 1902, he was given the opportunity to shoot a bear. To make it easier, his hosts had captured a Louisiana black bear and tied it to a tree. Roosevelt refused to shoot a tied bear and ordered the bear released. To commemorate the occasion, local merchants began selling toy “Teddy” bears. |