In 1902, a man went hunting in Mississippi. The man loved hunting a great deal – had created a 1000 creature “Museum of Nature” in his room at 12 years old (mostly insects), and adored the outdoors so much that he became one of the first people ever to be known as a “conservationist”. He had hunted his whole life, all over the place. He just loved it.

This particular trip wasn’t very fulfilling, as he hadn’t found anything really huntible in the woods after several hours. But his hosts wanted him to have a good time, so they found a bear and tied it to a tree for him as a surprise.

Here, the story actually branches into two different versions: in one, the bear was very old and somewhat feeble; while in the other, the hosts actually found a bear cub. Both of these options are more likely to be simpler to handle, as tying a healthy fully grown bear to a tree can prove a considerable challenge.

But when the man got to the tree and found the bear, he ordered its release. In just a couple of years this same man would embark on an international nine-month-safari, so you don’t have to feel sorry for him or anything… besides, this incident actually changed the world forever, in its own small way.

Talk of this seemingly unimportant vacation fail spread like wildfire, partially because it was a tale of great compassion, but mostly because the man was Theodore Roosevelt, who at the time held the position of President of the United States.

A political illustrator, Clifford Berryman, created a cartoon panel depicting this great restraint. He drew Mr. Roosevelt with his back turned away from the animal, arm up in a “talk to the hand ‘cause the face ain’t listening” position. The bear was depicted as a little bit confused about the entire affair, rope around its neck with a largish fellow pulling him back into hunting range. The cartoon was captioned “Drawing The Line in Mississippi”.

A Brooklyn shopkeeper saw this, and was so touched that he sewed a 3D approximation of the little cub, which he stuffed with fluff, and gave to his son. When many of his neighbors requested that he make more for their children, he wrote to the White House to ask permission to use the name he had chosen for the toy, “Teddy Roosevelt”. That permission was formally granted, and the toys became known as “Teddy’s Bears”.

This cuddly invention quickly became a cottage industry, and the shopkeeper decided to start a new business which he called “Ideal Toys”. Within five years the teddy bear was so popular that they began to outpace the sales of baby dolls (which some community and faith leaders publicly considered a direct threat to the maternal development of young girls).

In 1907, a popular tune was written titled “The Teddy Bears Two-Step”, and 25 years later lyrics were officially added to that tune:

* If you go down in the woods today,You're sure of a big surprise.If you go down in the woods today,You'd better go in disguise.For every bear that ever there wasWill gather there for certain becauseToday's the day the teddy bears have their picnic...

An enduring, beloved childhood icon, born from an act of empathy and compassion. Beautiful story, with a great deal of luck all around, as the hunted object could have been a crocodile or another less cuddly prey.

In a spirit of acknowledgement to all sides of an event, one might observe that while this specific incident proved incredibly sporting, it holds a minuscule ratio against Mr. Roosevelt’s full lifetime of hunting expeditions - the aforementioned nine-month-safari trip alone resulted in over eleven thousand individual specimens, of all kinds.

But this is not a life story, just a retelling of one single moment, unburdened by context, where a man’s specific empathy for one single creature resulted in millions of children clinging to a soft rendering of that empathy as an icon of love and security. In the last hundred years, billions have held to their chests a miniature version of a wild and dangerous animal that somehow, without detailed explanation, universally signals comfort.

But the song… confuses me.

Clearly, we are not invited to the teddy bear picnic - in fact, we are meant to avoid it at all costs:

* If you go down in the woods today,You'd better not go alone.It's lovely down in the woods today,But safer to stay at home.For every bear that ever there wasWill gather there for certain becauseToday's the day the teddy bears have their picnic…

It is fun for the teddy bears, as they will have “marvelous things to eat and wonderful games to play” until “their mommies and daddies…take them home to bed” at 6PM.

Mommies and daddies? No wonder they don’t want us around; in the world of this song we have torn them from their families, homes and traditions - no matter how outwardly pleasant they may present themselves, it seems mathematically inconceivable that they do not hold deep resentment and might eat us on the spot.

I don’t think this song was written by a person who had a teddy bear. Or children. While hummable, it is a mean song, full of mocking spite and prickling envy, penned by a man obviously denied the cozy care represented by its subject. But while the song isn’t accurate for beloved toys, it does seem super instructional for gatherings of ACTUAL BEARS, although it presupposes their diet and traditional bedtimes.

To be perfectly honest, I find it all a bit confusing . Comfort from hunting? Dire warnings about soft toys? It seems incredibly random that one thing can come from the other. Crazy, right? I mean, it makes you think, “Wow! Where does an immersion blender come from? The Renaissance?” Cause and effect don’t seem anywhere near one another.

But that is the reason I find this story encouraging. I spend a lot of time trying to see “where things are going”; where causes are complex and their effects overwhelming, yet here is Theodore Roosevelt, whose most lasting legacy is not all the choices made at his incredibly significant day job, but the enduring echo of a single moment of mercy.

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