STUFFINGTON BEAR FACTORY!

Stuffington Bear Factory Stuffing Lorelei's owl!

Stuffing McCrea's Bunny!

Sewing up the animals!

Grooming!

Giving it a Bath!

"Mom, Can I get this bear?"

Playing with all the stuffed animals!

McCrea is scared of the big bear!

We can all fit on this big bear!
Mariyah, Lorelei, McCrea and Brooklyn with their cute stuffed animals!

We went to tour the oldest bear factory in the U.S. We learned the history of the teddy bear and how the teddy bear came to be. The Stuffington Bear Factory has been opened since 1959. We walked through the factory and saw the steps they take to create and make a teddy bear or any stuffed animal.

On November 14, 1902, then-President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt went to Mississippi to settle a border dispute between Mississippi and Louisiana. While there, he went on a hunting trip. The other members of the hunting party tied a black bear cub to a tree for President Roosevelt to shoot, but Roosevelt refused to harm the defenseless bear. The next day, political cartoonist Clifford Berryman, drew a cartoon

showing President Roosevelt refusing to hurt the helpless bear. This cartoon sparked the imagination of the country and of a shopkeeper in Brooklyn, New York. The shopkeeper, Morris Michtom, asked his wife, Rose, to make two plush stuffed bears for display in his shop's window. The popularity of the plush bears stuffed with excelsior and adorned with black shoe buttons for eyes quickly captivated the nation. They charged $3.00 a bear. This is how the name "Teddy Bear," was created. After the tour Lorelei got to pick out an animal to stuff and pamper. She chose an owl and named it, "Flappy." McCrea got a cute little bunny and Lorelei named it for him, "Hoppy." So now we are proud owners of a new stuffed animal from the oldest Bear Factory in the nation. We went with our friends Mariyah and Brooklyn. It was fun and very fascinating to learn all about the "Teddy" Bear.