Gummi Bears: Who Doesn't Love The Gummi Bear?

Oh I'm a gummy bear
Yes I'm a gummy bear
Oh I'm a yummy, tummy, funny, lucky gummy bear
I'm a jelly bear
Cus I'm a gummy bear
Oh I'm a moving, grooving, jamming, singing gummy bear.
Oh Yeah

gummy gummy gummy gummy gummy bear

Oh I'm a gummy bear
Yes I'm a gummy bear
Oh I'm a yummy, tummy, funny, lucky gummy bear
I'm a jelly bear
Cus I'm a gummy bear
Oh I'm a moving, grooving, jamming, singing gummy bear.
Oh Yeah

Ba ba be do be do be yum yum
Three times you can bite me

Ba ba be do be do be yum yum
Three times you can bite me

Repeat!

The name 'Gummi Bear' comes from the German Gummibär (Gummibaer) which means 'rubber bear', or a bear which has a rubbery texture. Hans Riegel of Bonn, Germany invented these tasty bear-shaped sweets in 1922 and started the Haribo company.

Why Bears?
In the 1920s when Haribo began, bears were very popular and so the original Gummi Bears were called 'Dancing Bears'. There were probably two reasons for the popularity of bears in those days.

In the early 1900s there was a craze for Teddy Bears. The craze was spawned by a story about US President Theodore Roosevelt refusing to shoot an injured bear. The story was widely discussed and a toy manufacturer created a stuffed plush toy they called "Teddy's Bear" which became a huge commercial success. Roosevelt even used a Teddy Bear as a mascot in his bid for re-election. Ladies carried them everywhere, children were photographed with them. The craze for Teddy Bears was international and children around the globe wanted them and Teddy Bears became a childhood must have as they are today. See more of the Gummi Bear history below...

On a more serious note, Frankster the 'Bear Meister' has developed a Save Our Bears group which is helping to change the plight all bear species through awareness and fund raising.

Gummi Bears, the 9th Species of bears are not endangered. It is quite acceptable to hunt Gummi Bears relentlessly. But for more information about the other eight species of bears check out the Save Our Bears Group, of which this lens is a proud new member!

In addition to Teddy Bears, children of the day were entertained by dancing bears. Dancing Bears were trained bears that children saw at circuses aand theaters everywhere. Although the dancing bears had miserable lives people of the day enjoyed the tricks and dances that the bears performed. Fortunately dancing bears are not so popular today.

Recognizing the popularity of the bear to children and their parents, Haribo started with a bear shaped sweet which slowly evolved to be the Gold Bear. Haribo then introduced licorice flavored products and this flavor became known as the Black Bear. A fruit-gum flavored bear was later introduced and this bear dramatically increased the popularity of Haribo. So, the success of Gummi Bears was a combination of the popularity of bears amongst children of the day and the large variety of popular flavors that the Haribo company introduced.