Billy Possum is a type of stuffed toy depicting an opossum. Designed to be the replacement for the Teddy bear after Theodore Roosevelt vacated the office of President of the United States in 1909, the toy's popularity waned quickly, with the trend having lost all momentum by Christmas of that year.
Created by Morris Michtom, the Teddy bear is a stuffed animal toy that was inspired by a 1902 political cartoon depicting Theodore Roosevelt refusing to shoot a bear on a hunting trip. The toy was largely successful, becoming an iconic toy. Roosevelt did not seek a third term as president, and was replaced by William Howard Taft in 1909. [1]
Following his victory in the presidential race, Taft traveled to the state of Georgia for a vacation. He visited the city of Atlanta on January 15, where he was served persimmon beer, sweet potatoes, and an eighteen-pound roasted opossum. The dish, known as "possum-n-'taters", was popular in the Southern United States at the time, although it's unclear who suggested the dish. Some newspapers at the time reported that Taft requested the dish himself, while others suggested that it was decided by the hosts. A trade magazine for toys and games suggested that it was Asa Griggs Candler, the founder of The Coca-Cola Company, who at the time was president of the Chamber of Commerce in Atlanta. [1] The meal was prepared and served by black servants for white attendees, as was common in wealthy southern homes at the time. The feast provided unspoken racial commentary, reassuring white attendees that Taft would not appoint black people to positions of power in the South. [2]
Outside of this event, Taft was known to eat opossums regularly, with The New York Times once writing that they "earnestly beg Mr. Taft to stop with the 'possum". [3] When Taft began traveling the country, people would often gift him live opossums in cages, and live opossums were mailed to the White House on multiple occasions. [4]
Toymakers feared that with Roosevelt no longer in office, Teddy bears would cease to be popular. [5] Cartoonist Lewis C. Gregg saw Taft's opossum feast as an opportunity to create a new presidential animal-themed toy, and presented Taft with a toy opossum called Billy Possum after he had finished his meal. The crowd present laughed at the toy for several minutes. [6] Taft gave Gregg his blessing to use his name for the toy, and Gregg's company, the Georgia Billy Possum Company, began to produce the toys. Originally, the company intended to create toys from literal stuffed opossum skins, but the result was described as "fleshy-looking and repulsive—like a pale, limp rat", leading to the creation of the plush version instead. [7] The company's slogan was "Good-bye, Teddy Bear. Hello, Billy Possum". [5] [8] In addition to plush toys, the character of Billy Possum was featured on post cards, buttons, figurines, china, puzzles, and other merchandise. [1] Despite this, the toy failed, with the company losing popularity before the Christmas season of 1909. [5] [8]
The failure of Billy Possum has been attributed to the fact that the toy was the result of a manufactured trend, [1] as well as the fact that the story behind Taft eating an opossum was less compelling than the story of Roosevelt sparing a bear. [8]
President Calvin Coolidge had a cage built on the grounds of the White House for his pet raccoon, Rebecca. After Coolidge left office and Herbert Hoover took his place, a wild opossum began to live in Rebecca's former cage. Hoover named the opossum Billy Possum in reference to Taft. Hoover's Billy Possum temporarily became the mascot of a baseball team in Hyattsville, Maryland after the team lost their own opossum. [9]
William Howard Taft was the 27th president of the United States, serving from 1909 to 1913, and the tenth chief justice of the United States, serving from 1921 to 1930, the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected president in 1908, the chosen successor of Theodore Roosevelt, but was defeated for reelection in 1912 by Woodrow Wilson after Roosevelt split the Republican vote by running as a third-party candidate. In 1921, President Warren G. Harding appointed Taft to be chief justice, a position he held until a month before his death.
The Virginia opossum, also known as the North American opossum, is the only opossum living north of Mexico, its range extending south into Central America. It is the northernmost marsupial in the world. In the United States and Canada, it is typically called a possum. It is a solitary nocturnal animal about the size of a domestic cat, and a successful opportunist.
A teddy bear is a stuffed toy in the form of a bear. Developed apparently simultaneously by toymakers Morris Michtom in the U.S. and Richard Steiff under his aunt Margarete Steiff's company in Germany in the early 20th century, the teddy bear, named after President Theodore Roosevelt, became a popular children's toy and has been celebrated in story, song, and film.
This section of the timeline of United States history concern events from 1900 to 1929.
A stuffed toy is a toy doll with an outer fabric sewn from a textile and stuffed with flexible material. They are known by many names, such as plush toys, plushies, stuffed animals, and stuffies; in Britain and Australia, they may also be called soft toys or cuddly toys. The stuffed toy originated from the Steiff company of Germany in the late 19th century and gained popularity following the creation of the teddy bear in the United States in 1903. At the same time, German toy inventor Richard Steiff designed a similar bear. In 1903, Peter Rabbit was the first fictional character to be made into a patented stuffed toy. In 1921, Christopher Robin's stuffed toy, given to him by his father, A. A. Milne, would inspire the creation of Winnie-the-Pooh. In the 1970s, London-based Hamleys, the world's oldest toy store, bought the rights to Paddington Bear stuffed toys. In the 1990s, Ty Warner created Beanie Babies, a series of animals stuffed with plastic pellets that were popular as collector's items.
Philander Chase Knox was an American lawyer, bank director and politician. A member of the Republican Party, Knox served in the Cabinet of three different presidents and represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate.
Steiff is a German-based plush toy company, founded in 1880, with headquarters in Giengen, Germany. The company claims to have made the world's first factory-made teddy bear.
Backstairs at the White House is a 1979 NBC television miniseries based on the 1961 book My Thirty Years Backstairs at the White House by Lillian Rogers Parks. The series, produced by Ed Friendly Productions, is the story of behind-the-scenes workings of the White House and the relationship between the staff and the First Families.
Morris Michtom was a Russian-born businessman and inventor who, with his wife Rose, also a Russian Jewish immigrant who lived in Brooklyn, came up with the idea for the teddy bear in 1902 around the same time as Richard Steiff in Germany. They founded the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company which, after Michtom's death, became the largest doll-making company in the United States.
Boyds Bears is a line of manufactured collectable resin and stuffed teddy bears produced from the early 1980s until 2014. Boyds was acquired in 2008 by Enesco, who announced in 2014 that the company had "made the difficult strategic decision to place Boyds into hibernation".
Gund Manufacturing Company is a Canadian-owned manufacturer of plush stuffed animals. The company is based in Edison, New Jersey, and distributes throughout the United States and Canada as well as in Europe, Japan, Australia, and South America. Gund is currently run by third generation family owner Bruce Raiffe whose grandfather Jacob Swedlin purchased the company from the original founder in 1925. Their slogan is “Gotta Getta Gund”.
Frank Park was an American politician, educator, lawyer and jurist from the state of Georgia.
The Presidents Race is a promotional event held at every Washington Nationals home game at Nationals Park, and previously at RFK Stadium, in the middle of the fourth inning of every game. If a game goes to a fourth extra inning, a second race is held in the middle of that inning.
Richard Steiff was a German designer, known for creating one of the first teddy bears. In 1897, he joined Steiff, a stuffed toy company founded in his hometown Giengen by his aunt Margarete Steiff, and became integral to its growth as a global toy company.
Margarete Steiff was a German seamstress who in 1880 founded Margarete Steiff GmbH, more widely known as Steiff, a maker of toy stuffed animals.
The presidency of William Howard Taft began on March 4, 1909, when William Howard Taft was inaugurated as 27th president of the United States, and ended on March 4, 1913. Taft was a Republican from Ohio. The protégé and chosen successor of President Theodore Roosevelt, he took office after easily defeating Democrat William Jennings Bryan in the 1908 presidential election. His presidency ended with his defeat in the 1912 election by Democrat Woodrow Wilson.
Electoral history of Herbert Hoover, who served as the 31st president of the United States (1929–1933) and 3rd United States Secretary of Commerce (1921–1928).
The inauguration of William Howard Taft as the 27th president of the United States was held on Thursday, March 4, 1909, at the Senate chamber inside the United States Capitol, Washington, D.C., instead of the regular East Portico due to a blizzard. This was the 31st inauguration and marked the commencement of William Howard Taft's only term as president and James S. Sherman's only term as vice president.
The presidency of Theodore Roosevelt began on September 14, 1901, when Theodore Roosevelt was inaugurated as the 26th president of the United States following the assassination of William McKinley, and it ended on March 4, 1909.
