1907 Priest Condemns Teddy Bears

In 1907, Michael G. Esper, a Catholic priest in Michigan, denounced the newly popular teddy bears from his pulpit as "horrible monstrosities." He argued that replacing "good old dolls" with bears would stop girls from learning to care for real babies, weakening their maternal instincts. Esper warned that this shift would drive birthrates down and lead to what he called "race suicide."

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