The Teddy Bear

In 1902, on an unsuccessful hunting trip, President Theodore Roosevelt refused to shoot a bear that expedition trackers had caught and tied to a tree. The incident struck a chord with the American sense of fair play. Political cartoonist Clifford Berryman immortalized the incident in “Drawing the Line in Mississippi.” Tugging at American heartstrings, Berryman drew the old, injured female bear as a helpless cub. With Roosevelt’s permission, Morris Mictom, a Russian immigrant and Brooklyn toy-shop owner, sewed a cuddly stuffed toy and dubbed it Teddy’s Bear. With its big head and ears, and eyes as appealing as the future Mickey Mouse, the bear became a hit. German toy manufacturer Margarete Steiff created a stuffed bear, too, and began mass-producing copies in 1903. The stuffed bears became a hit with adults and children. Visitors who flocked to the boardwalks in New Jersey’s seaside resorts took home teddy bears as prizes and souvenirs. Women’s magazines featured ads for bear accessories and offered up-to-date patterns for sewing bear clothes. Books, songs, and even a 1907 feature film marked the rising popularity of teddy bears. This fascination has persisted ever since, making Teddy Bears the most popular plush toy in history.

What popular children's story does the silent film retell? 

How is the ending different from the actual event?

What do you do if a bear attacks?


Still think it's weird for a grown man to play with a Teddy Bear?


Look at these other toys in the National Toy Hall of Fame. Where does the Teddy Bear Rank? What toy is your favorite?  What toys would you add to this list?

Life Motto

-Teddy Roosevelt to Larry the Night Watchman; 'Night at the Museum'

While not an original Teddy Roosevelt quote (credit must be given to Shakespeare) this line accurately portrays the kind of leader Roosevelt was: determined, resourceful, self-reliant.

1) What is your life motto?  Include an explanation of what that motto means to you.

2) Was Roosevelt born great?  Watch the video and list 3 'obstacles' to TR's greatness and how he overcame them.

The Sewer

We Sing this song of the Sewer....

After a yellow fever epidemic swept through Memphis, Tennessee in 1878, the newly created National Board of Health sent engineer and Civil War veteran George A. Waring Jr. to design and implement a better sewage drainage system for the city. His success there made Waring’s national reputation, and in 1895 he was appointed sanitation commissioner of New York City. During his brief tenure, Waring made a huge impact on the city, making much-needed reforms that would become the foundations for modern recycling, street sweeping and garbage collection.

In 1895 street cleaning commissioner Colonel George E. Waring Jr. ordered his entire brigade of sweepers to wear all white uniforms and caps, eaning them the nickname the 'White Wings.'

Why White? He believed the eye-catching regulation whites would keep members of the force at work, and would prevent them from slacking off. Regulation whites remained in effect until the 1930s.

1) Can a picture change History?

2) Why did the 'White Wings' wear white? Who else wears white?

3) What is the history of garbage?

4) What can we learn from looking at old garbage?

5) What will future generations think about us from looking at our garbage?

The All American Hot Dog

What food could be more American than the Hot Dog? What is your favorite? - a chili dog, a cheese dog, or a foot-long dog? A multitude of toppings can enhance the flavor of your hot dog. Common toppings used on hot dogs include ketchup, mustard, onions, relish, chili, cheese, and sauerkraut.

Hot dogs are popular among Americans because they are easy to make, inexpensive, and delicious. Hot dogs can be prepared in a number of great ways--nuke-em, grill-em, sauté-em, roast-em, fry-em or boil-em.

Most recipes for hot dogs combine together a tasty blend of favorite meats (pork, beef, chicken, or turkey), meat fat, a cereal filler which could be either bread crumbs, flour, or oatmeal, a little bit of egg white, and a mouth-watering array of herbs and seasonings including garlic, pepper, ground mustard, nutmeg, salt, and onion.

Once these ingredients are grinded together, the stuffing is squeezed into sausage casings. Many of the hot dogs sold in stores are enclosed in synthetic cellulose casings, but most home-made hot dogs are made out of natural animal intestines.

During the 'Gilded Age' increased production meant that more products were available to the public, but buying them was not always a good idea. Consumers often did not know what was in the products because the government did not regulate product quality.

Meat was one example. In his 1906 novel The Jungle, muckraker Upton Sinclair wrote about unsanitary conditions in meatpacking plants.

Read excerpt from The Jungle by Upton Sinclair and answer these 3 questions.

1) What do you suppose was the reaction of the public when they found out what was in their meat?

2) Why did meat companies allow this to happen?

3) How is our food better regulated today as a result?



Read this excerpt from Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser, watch the trailer for the movie, then answer the next 3 questions.

4) Compare this reading to Upton Sinclair's 100 years ago. Have we learned our lesson?

5) Both Upon Sinclair and Eric Schlosser were "Muckrakers" and used their books to cause change in our society. Perhaps some day you too will write a great American novel; but until that time what greater power do you have? Will you think twice the next time you pull up to the Drive-Thru window?

6) Sinclair himself once stated: “I aimed at the public’s heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.” He intended the book to raise public consciousness about the plight of the working poor; like the Lithuanian family in his story. Who do you think works in the slaughterhouses of today? What hasn't changed?

How are Hot Dogs made today?

I wish I were an Oscar Meier Wiener, that is what I'd really like to be...

Why is Cincinnati known as 'Porkopolis?'

Whats a Pig's favorite Shakespearean Play?

The McRib:  Enjoy your Symptom

Even Homer Simpson likes the Ribwich!

Pigs In Zen

New York: Sunshine and Shadow

Mid-century New York City was a mystery to those who were unfamiliar with its stratified society, contrasting neighborhoods, and diverse populations. City guidebooks and illustrated newspapers offered to decode these urban complexities for readers struggling to understand the rapidly expanding metropolis. To enliven their descriptions of the city, the authors and illustrators added theatrical sensationalism with themes of light and darkness in text and image. These contrasting images, representing the richest and poorest sections of the city, appealed to a middle-class audience fascinated by tales of both the opulence and the depravity in New York. Many of the guidebook names, such as Sunlight and Shadow in New York and Lights and Shadows of New York Life, indicate how central the contrasting images were to these depictions of the city.   Read more...

Answer these discussion questions as you watch the documentary.

Angel Island

1) What is the difference between old immigrants and new immigrants?

2) How were Chinese (new immigrants) welcomed' differently by Americans already living here (old immigrants)? 

3) Why do you think some immigrant groups were treated differently?

4) What still 'pulls' immigrants to come to America today?

5) Compare/ contrast the treatment of immigrants today to those of the past.

New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she

With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

These lines from Emma Lazarus famous poem 'The New Colossus' are engraved within the pedestal upon which 'Lady Liberty' stands; but what do they mean? What was the 'Old Colossus?' Who are these tired masses? Wretched Refuse? Why were they coming to America?  Were all immigrants to the US so welcome?  Is America a true 'Melting Pot?'

Write a new verse for the poem in YOUR VOICE.  If Lady Liberty could talk to us today what would she say?  What would YOU say to HER? Record your verse and share it on our Google Classroom #NewColossus.