Morris Michtom was a Russian Jewish immigrant, who with his wife Rose invented the Teddy Bear

Teddy bear

The teddy bear is a stuffed toy bear. They are usually stuffed with soft, white cotton and have smooth and soft fur. It is an enduring form of a stuffed animal in many countries, often serving the purpose of entertaining children. In recent times, some teddy bears have become collector's items...

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Mitchtom, who arrived in New York in 1887, was selling candy in his shop at 404 Tompkins Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

 by day and making stuffed animals with his wife Rose at night. The Teddy Bear came about in response to a cartoon by Clifford K. Berryman

Clifford K. Berryman

Clifford K. Berryman was a Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist with the Washington Star newspaper from 1907-1949. He was also a cartoonist for The Washington Post from 1891-1907....

 depicting Teddy Roosevelt having compassion for a bear at the end of an unsuccessful hunting trip in Mississippi in 1902.