Scene at the Vermont Teddy Bear Company factory in Shelburne, Vermont. The company, which began in nearby Burlington as a street wagon from which the founder sold handmade bears, now ships thousands and thousands of bears -- dressed in myriad outfits -- around the world. Teddy bears are soft, huggable toys, first produced in Germany and the United States in the early 20th Century. They got their name from one of their aficionados: U.S. President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt. Photo by Carol Highsmith, 2017.