Winnie-the-Pooh Teddy Bear

What would life be like without the teddy bear that was created simultaneously in two countries, but oceans apart? It happened more than once where the now famous teddy bear had its origins on two continents. The first introduction to teddy bears occurred in the early 1900s, when President Roosevelt refused to shoot a black bear cub that his men had tied to a tree during a hunting trip. From this event, Clifford Berryman created a cartoon that would be the impetus for the creation and manufacturing of the teddy bear in the United States. Simultaneously, across the ocean, Margaret Steiff and her company were also creating a toy teddy bear based on drawings that her nephew had drawn from a real bear in a zoo. Two countries, two live captive bears, one teddy bear. In the 1920s, a young boy named Christopher Robin Milne received a new teddy bear for his first birthday. He named him Edward Bear. Across the ocean in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, a British born soldier/veterinarian left his home town to travel across Canada en route to Europe to help with war. During a stop in Northern Ontario, and being a lover of animals, he bought a small female bear cub from a hunter who had killed the mother. The soldier/veterinarian named her "Winnie", after his adopted home town in Manitoba., and Winnie became the troop's mascot and accompanied them to England. A bronze statue, Winnie's Statue, now stands in Winnipeg, Manitoba in memory of this soldier and his bear. Once in England, Lt. Harry Colebourn was then directed to France. Not able to take Winnie with him, he donated the bear to the London Zoo, where she became loved by all who met her. Including Christopher Robin Milne. Christopher Robin and his father, A.A.Milne, spent many hours visiting Winnie at the London Zoo. A.A. Milne had thought it would be a great idea to write stories about Christopher Robin, his stuffed bear [Edward Bear] and Christopher's other plush toys. Then it happened that Christopher Robin and his family moved to Sussex, England. They had to leave Winnie the bear, the London Zoo and Pooh, the Royal Swan behind them. And because we all know that bears have minds of their own, Edward Bear told Christopher Robin that he wanted "...an exciting name all to himself, [so] Christopher Robin said at once, without stopping to think, that he was Winnie-the-Pooh. And he was..." A.A. Milne's classic stories of Winnie-the-Pooh had their origins in one boy's love for Winnie the bear from Canada and his love for his stuffed plush toys. Through the many adventures that the boy and his stuffed animals had, A.A. Milne generated a dedicated following that form part of classic literature today. Two countries, one bear that traveled between two countries, one Winnie-the-Pooh. Published by Liz Vanderwater on October 23, 2007 08:19 PM