Teddy bears are beloved everywhere . They make up roughly70 percentof the billion dollar mark plush plaything industry . ( And in Britain,35 percentof adults reportedly nestle with a stuffed chemise each Nox . )
But it was n’t say to be that way . The supporters of President William H. Taft want you to cuddle up to an possum instead .
The Birth of Billy Possum
In 1908 , Taft beat out William Jennings Bryan to become the 27thU.S. President . At the time , mess toy manufacture was a burgeoning food market , help largely by the booming popularity of Roosevelt ’s teddy bear . Despite the bear ’s success , industry eggheads consider the teddy craze would die when Roosevelt left bureau . So manufacturers looked to Taft for its heir .
That report get going , unsurprisingly , with Taft at the dinner party table .
In January 1909 , the president - elect was honored at a banquet in Atlanta . At Taft ’s request , the main course was “ possum and taters”—a toasty pile of angelic potatoes topped with an 18 - pound sign whole fix phalanger . ( Taft bolt up the roasted marsupial so quickly that a nearby doctor apprize him to slacken down . ) When Taft ’s belly was shove , local boosters presented the chairperson - to - be with a small plush possum . The toy , they assure Taft , was destined to be the next prominent thing — it was going to supersede the teddy bear .
They dubbed it “ Billy Possum . ”
The talent please Taft — as did the dinner . The next twenty-four hour period , he toldreporters , “ Well , I certainly like opossum … I eat very cordially of it last nighttime , and it did not stir up in the slightest my digestion or my sleep . ” But what Taft saw as food , his jock saw as money . The teddy bear boom had been profitable , and Taft ’s supporters were confident the new toy could become the next fuzzy fad . They envisage America ’s shaver throw out out their slip , flocking to the closest storefront to get their hands on a plushy possum .
Anti-Teddy Bear Rhetoric
The Georgia Billy Possum Company formed , roil out one thousand of the stuffed toy . ( The fellowship ’s slogan was “ Good - bye , Teddy Bear . Hello , Billy Possum . ” ) The year’sStone and Webster Public Service Journalsaid , “ Thousands of small possums are being made , which promise to be as favourably received as was the teddy bear . ”
So start theDown - With - The - Teddy - Bear ! empty talk . TheLos Angeles Times , for example , wrote that “ the teddy bear has been relegated to a seat in the posterior , and for four age , possibly eight , the child of the United States will play with Billy Possum . ”
The market flooded with Billy Possum postcards , PIN , and posters . Marketers introducedJimmie Possum — Billy ’s running match — named after Vice President James Sherman . Supporters could connect a group called the “ Possum Club . ” Composer J. B. Cohen and lyricist G. A. Scofield even wrote a ragtime melody called " Possum : The Latest Craze , " whose last verse goes :
The teddy bear seemed doomed . In the world of print , one pro - Taft postcardshowed an opossum feasting on a cooked teddy . Anotherdeclared the bear ’s end in verse , take , “ No more Teddy Bear / We will fondle with glee / Billy Possum is succeeding / Our mascot shall be . ”
But it was all a massive flop . Billy Possum did n’t even last a twelvemonth — the craze died by Christmastime . The teddy bear survived . But how ?
For one , the history behind Taft ’s toy dog was n’t that compelling . Theteddy bear ’s storyspotlighted a merciful , inspiring Roosevelt . The taradiddle behind Billy Possum just highlighted a hungry , hungry Taft . Taft also had a dreary first twelvemonth as president . According to historian Kathleen Dalton , cartoonists painted him as a “ misplace son searching for his Teddy bear . ” Ouch .
And , of course , it was a toyopossum .
