Teddy’s Adventures in the August 1st Marquis Auction Reprinted from an Article by Keith Kaonis which first appeared in Antique Doll Collector Magazine
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nspired by the real life heroism of Theodore Roosevelt, the Albert Schoenhut Company issued the set, “Teddy’s Adventures in Africa,” on Christmas Day in 1909. The former president had not yet returned from his well-publicized safari, but Schoenhut was quick to capitalize on this important media event. It was shortly after William Taft’s election to the presidency (Roosevelt declined to run again) that Teddy, an avid outdoorsman, took his small army of 260 porters, guides, naturalists and taxidermists and set out from Mombasa, in what was then British East Africa, to the Kapiti plains. The trek began on April 21, 1909 and was much heralded in newspapers across the United States. Several toys were made
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that capitalized on the famous hunting trip, but none stimulated a child’s imagination and offered possibilities for creative playtime more than the Schoenhut Safari. On Christmas Day 1909, some very lucky children received a Schoenhut safari, available in four different size sets. The company used some of the animals featured in their enormously successful “Humpty Dumpty Circus” and added several animals seen on the safari – the gazelle, zebra, zebu, giraffe, rhino, hyena and hippo are examples. Artistic license was used as other animals were included that in truth were not seen, such as the gorilla and the deer. Schoenhut modeled the key members of the safari
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