Why design and make teddy bears and other stuffed animals?

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I have been asked many times "why" did you decide to design and make teddy bears? It started with the story of how the bear came to being. It started when then President Theodore Roosevelt refused to shot a tiny baby bear cub that the leader of the hunt I expedition had caught and tied to a tree. Of course it made the news papers in the form of a comic. Soon it became a soft cuddly toy for children to snuggle with. As the years went by the value of some of the bears were reaching hundreds of dollars. I felt it was obscene and I started making them with only one thing in mind, and that was to keep the pricing down where working people could afford them. I've been pretty successful in doing that, plus I've enjoyed the smiles that I have been able to bring to a joy of people's lives and smiles to their faces. I may never make a lot of money making teddy bears, but I make a lot better income than money...it's the smiles on people's faces, the hugs that I receive, and the joy that a simple fuzzy object brings to someone having a bad day- money can NEVER buy those great feelings. That's WHY I started making teddy bears! I did some research this morning and it stated that President Roosevelt refused to shoot an old bear that had been tied to a tree. There are several different stories about the hunting trip. I posted one site a little further down the discussion.