Teddy Bears and all the ‘Bear Facts’

Bonnie Sitts highlighted the History of Teddy Bears with displays at the 2026 Tri-County Fair. (Chris Abbott Photo)

Chris Abbott, Grant Haven Media

Bonnie Sitts might be considered a local expert on Teddy Bears.

Her display at the Tri-County Fair, which she first came up with to decorate a room at Annandale National Historic Site last Christmas, focused on the ‘Bear Facts.’

Sitts highlighted the history of the Teddy Bear which goes back to 1902 when US President Teddy Roosevelt refused to shoot a black bear.

“A gentleman made a cartoon of it in the newspaper,” Sitts noted.

A US businessman/inventor (Morris Michtom), inspired by the cartoon, came up with the idea of creating ‘Teddy’s Bear.’

“Prior to that, the bear was only a stuffed toy,” said Sitts.

Around the same time, the Steiff company began making plush bear toys in Germany.

“I didn’t know there were so many bears,” Sitts laughed, noting its popularity in art, literature, toys and even educational campaigns.

“I didn’t realize there were that many ‘Bear Facts’ when I decided to do Teddy Bears on the third floor in the Tower Room (Annandale National Historic Site). “We’ve got Smokey the Bear, we’ve got Goldilocks and the Three Bears… Winnie the Pooh (from Winnipeg)… Paddington Bear, Berenstain Bears, the Coca-Cola Bear… so many.

“I’ve got a whole book that has all the Bear Facts – all the stories – and it’s really fantastic. I was going to write up a lot more things (for the displays) but I ran out of time.”

Her Christmas display, which she revived at the Tillsonburg Tri-County Fair in the homecraft building, proved to be popular, and this year at ANHS Sitts will be focusing on snowmen and the history of snowmen, as well as a couple other room ideas.

“It’s amazing how… once you start something, it grows. I’ve been working on this for six months,” she added with a laugh. “Everything I do is a project.”

Tangram Puzzles

Sitts also decorated a room at Annandale House with puzzles, which she displayed at the 2026 fair.

“It’s a puzzle – this is what you can do with that little three-inch square. You can do all of those,” said Sitts, flipping through a book of tangram puzzles and solutions.

“You’ve got parallelograms, triangles, and you’ve got a square. So it’s a math thing for the kids.”

Known as a dissection puzzle, it originated in China in the late 18th century, then came to Europe and North America in the late 1800s and early 1900s, used for ‘amusement, art, and education.’