On 10 July, it’s Teddy Bear Picnic Day and that day causes some puzzles. Why is the day even there and why would you go on a picnic with your teddy bear? In short, riddles on the day when you go on a picnic with teddy bears.
What is Teddy Bear Picnic Day?
To be precise, it is Teddybear Picnic Day because it is an American phenomenon originally. The day takes place annually on 10 July. The day is there for a reason, as it is a reference to a very famous song: “The Teddy Bear’s Picnic” from 1907 by John Walter Bratton (February 21, 1867 – February 7, 1947).
Bron: Wikimedia Commons.
It’s possible to honour Bratton via his date of birth. Then the day to go on a picnic would have to take place in January. This is not a very successful idea. The date is an arbitrarily chosen one. It might as well have been the birth date of James Kennedy (July 20, 1902 – April 6, 1984), as he wrote the lyrics in 1932. Bratton composed the piece of music as a piano practice piece.
Plural
What’s the deal with this day? It’s all about having picnics with teddy bears? That’s plural, although you wouldn’t infer that from the name of the day. The original name of the song refers to multiple bears. The only problem is that that very song warns to do something not above all else. Three guesses what that is…
How does one spend such a day? You can of course decide that yourself. Just realise, the bigger the teddy bear, the harder it is to do anything with it. Take a look at the video below.
July 10
It’s July 10 and it’s Teddy Bear Picnic Day. It’s no problem if you don’t have a bear to have a picnic. It’s a good idea to do some serious bear shopping!
Perhaps the biggest conundrums do not relate to the day but to the song The Teddy Bear’s Picnic Day. For a start, why did Bratton write a song to which the lyrics were not invented until much later?
If you want to know more about this day, check the agenda entry for this day.
