Our Nation needs its Teddy...

 Did you have one?  Not sure I've ever met anyone who didn't have one, even if not a bear, a stuffed animal that was a part of you as a small child.

It is National Teddy Bear Day, each September 9th is set aside for this legendary piece of our history.

Arguably the most iconic toy in the history of civilized man, even if it only officially came about in the early 1900's and named after President Theodore Roosevelt, who got the nickname, Teddy (which he hated) after a hunting trip in Mississippi around 1902.  "Invented" in the US and Germany at pretty much the same time.  In the US Morris Michtom and Richard Steiff in Germany under his mother, Margarete Steiff's company.

The image of the Teddy Bear has been represented in stories, songs and films.  The toy is still seen by many children as the ultimate security blanket, many times, over the blanket.

There are Teddy Bear runs that have leather clad bikers running bears to toy drive destinations during the holidays.  Community events to raise the toys for local children, our local Zoo does one every year.

I remember my bear clearly but unfortunately did not keep it from my childhood, wish I would have, sentiment means a lot to some. 

Just look at all the ways that the bear has been promoted and used to promote projects and stories.  Winnie the Pooh, Fozzie Bear, the Hair Bear Bunch, Yogi Bear, Smokey the Bear,  Baloo, the Care Bears, and Corduroy.