Customer Reviews

The Teddy Bear Men 2nd Edition: Theodore Roosevelt & Clifford Berryman

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Here it is. Everything you wanted to know about the cartoon that started the teddy bear craze 100 years ago and more. Linda's research is incredible and her writing style is very warm and personal, sort of like teddy bears. The book is also packed with illustrations in both color and black and white. I especially liked reading the history of Berryman, and how the cartoon of Roosevelt saving the bear came to be, about the two cartoons depicting the famous event 100 years ago, and about how Roosevelt did not actually spare the life of the bear tied to a tree, just refused to allow it to be shot. Any arctophile worth his or her salt should have this book in their collection! Bravo on a fine volume, Linda!

As an adult collector of teddy bears, I have read many summaries regarding the 1902 Presidential bear hunting trip and the Clifford Berryman cartoon that began America's love with the newly created "teddy bear". Almost every book for adult collectors has some version of this story in its introduction. I found Linda Mullins' The Teddy Bear Men to be a superior and detailed account of the real story. Mullins wisely included the highlights from the November 1902 accounts from The Washington Post, which clearly recounted how and why a bear ended up being tied and presented to President Theodore Roosevelt for him to shoot. Washington Post cartoonist, Clifford Berryman, then portrayed this incident in a cartoon, which may be familiar to many collectors. The cartoon bear that evolved from this initial cartoon became Berryman's artist symbol ("dingbat") and linked the teddy bear (both the Berryman cartoon and the toy versions) to President Roosevelt's political career. This book is a well researched documentation of Clifford Berryman, Theodore Roosevelt, and of the significant contribution they made to the rise of the first teddy bears. It is presented in a reader friendly manner, with a well written text, short chapters, and many photos and drawings on each page. I found this book to be both intelligent and enjoyable.

It is unbelievable that this book is out-of-print. As the grandson of Clifford Berryman, I can attest to the facts in this book, which is the most accurate history ever written about the origin of the Teddy Bear. Linda Mullins researched it amazingly well.