My Teddy BearThe immense popularity of the teddy bear, now in every child's bedroom, hides a paradox: how did this ferocious, wild animal came to symbolize childhood? The teddy bear was born at the same time in two different places. In 1902, the toy was invented in the United States in reference to Theodore Roosevelt hence its Anglo Saxon name, Teddy's bear, which became teddy bear. In Germany the same year, Margarete Steiff marketed her first teddy bear created