Hyderabad: Couples are busy celebrating love and expressing their feelings to each other during Valentine's Week. After 'Rose Day', 'Propose Day', and 'Chocolate Day', February 10th is celebrated as 'Teddy Day' in Valentine's week. Couples express their love by gifting each other teddy bears.
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The fourth day in 'Valentine's Week is celebrated as 'Teddy Day'. But, what is the relationship between celebrating a week dedicated to love and a soft toy you might ask? Well, it might be the fact that girls have been conditioned to like soft toys for ages, hence boys find it appropriate to gift them. Or it might be just another marketing tool for the soft toy manufacturing companies because of the increase in prices of these toys during this week.
Teddy Bears have a cultural history in the U.S. and their origin is related to Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States. According to a story, on a hunting trip, Theodore Roosevelt, who was assisted by noted hunter and sportsman Holt Collier, came across an injured black bear. Collier caught the bear and tied it to a tree. As he was about to shoot the bear, Roosevelt's heart melted at its sight and he asked Collier not to shoot the bear.
Newspapers publicized Roosevelt's compassion for the animal and a cartoon by Clifford Berryman gained massive popularity. A businessman Morris Michtom saw the picture in the newspaper and thought of making a toy in the shape of a bear cub. He designed it with his wife Rose. The toy was called 'Teddy' as it was President Roosevelt's nickname. Hence, giving rise to the phenomenon of the 'Teddy Bear'.
