Morris Michtom | |
|---|---|
 Michtom in New York | |
| Born | September 12, 1869 |
| Died | July 21, 1938 (aged 68) |
| Occupation(s) | Inventor, businessman |
| Spouse | Rose |
| Children | Emily (1897-1986) and Joseph (1890-1951) |
Morris Michtom (September 12, 1869 – July 21, 1938)[1][2] was a Russian-born businessman and inventor who, with his wife Rose, also a Russian Jewish immigrant who lived in Brooklyn, came up with the idea for the teddy bear in 1902[3] around the same time as Richard Steiff in Germany. They founded the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company which, after Michtom's death, became the largest doll-making company in the United States.
Michtom was born into a Jewish family[4][3] on September 12, 1869, and immigrated to New York in 1887, when he also married his wife, Rose Katz (1867-1937), who was born in Romania. He sold candy in his shop at 404 Tompkins Avenue[5] in Bedford-Stuyvesant Brooklyn by day and made stuffed animals with his wife Rose at night.
The teddy bear was inspired by a cartoon by Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Clifford K. Berryman depicting American president Theodore Roosevelt—commonly called "Teddy"—having compassion for a bear at the end of an unsuccessful hunting trip in Mississippi in 1902. Michtom saw the drawing and created a tiny plush bear cub which he sent to Roosevelt. Michtom put a plush bear in the shop window with a sign "Teddy's bear." After the creation of the bear in 1902, the sale of the bears was so brisk that in 1907 Michtom created the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company.[6]
Michtom died in Brooklyn, New York on the July 21, 1938, at the age of 68.