In 1909, wealthy Georgia widow Susie Wright Allgood saw a business opportunity. She wanted to create a new stuffed toy that would usurp the popular Teddy Bear. Her new toy was Billy Possum - inspired by President William Howard Taft. For this episode, we are joined by Howard Dorre from the podcast Plodding Through the Presidents.
Sources
"How a Stuffed Animal Named Billy Possum Tried—and Failed—to Replace the Teddy Bear as America’s National Toy" by Howard Dorre - https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-a-stuffed-animal-named-billy-possum-triedand-failedto-replace-the-teddy-bear-as-americas-national-toy-180986072/
Awesome Podcast by Howard and his wife: https://www.ploddingthroughthepresidents.com
Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Billy_Possum_advertisement.jpg
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