teddy [E20th] Theodore ‘Teddy’ Roosevelt, US president from 1901 to 1909, was a keen bear-hunter, a fact celebrated in a comic poem published in the New York Times of 7 January 1906, concerning the adventures of two bears called ‘Teddy B’ and ‘Teddy G’. These names were then given to two bears presented to the Bronx Zoo later in the year, and toy manufacturers saw an opening. Toy ‘teddy bears’ or ‘Roosevelt bears’ were imported from Germany, and became an instant success in America. Teddy boys or Teds owe their name to Teddy as a pet form of Edward. In the mid 1950s some youths began to favour a style featuring drainpipe trousers, long velvet-collared jackets, bootlace ties, and hair slicked up in a quiff. The style was based on the fashions current in the early years of the 20th century in Britain during the reign of Edward VII.