The Enduring Appeal of Stuffies

The usual style of my columns is snarky sarcasm or social satire. This month’s essay is more whimsical. As with many of my others, it was inspired by items in the news and then acquired a life of its own.

 

Many local libraries are hosting fun events for children in their communities: sleepovers for their cherished stuffed animals. The child brings the stuffy to the library and leaves it overnight. The library takes pictures of all the toys together and when they’re picked up by their owners the next day, they go home with a photo documenting their adventure. No word on whether they have to arrive with pajamas.

 

Most of us assume that sleeping with a favorite teddy bear must end once we become “grown ups.” It turns out science has a different opinion about this. Recent studies suggest that adults would actually benefit by cuddling with a stuffed toy in bed at night. Apparently, this helps you relax. I’d try it, but I already have two cats that sleep with me. I doubt they’d move out of the way to make room for a stuffed animal. My husband has learned to give way to the cats. I think he’d draw the line at a stuffy.

 

This reminds me that I never had a teddy bear as a child. Now I have a collection, and one of my cats steals them when she “hunts” at night. I had a few dolls, just no bears. I also had two large stuffed donkeys when I was in high school. I have no recollection of how they came into my possession. I do remember taking pictures of them to put in the school newspaper to promote a special event. Our faculty played our seniors in donkey basketball. You read that correctly: donkey basketball. I don’t remember who won.

 

Some grade schools have students send stuffed mascots to family and friends, asking them to document the mascot’s travels. The goal is to have it go around the world. My brother Rick’s daughter Jennifer sent me the owl Pueo from her Punahou School in Hawaii. I took pictures of it in front of the Rhode Island State House. My husband had one of his relatives bring it on a visit home to India. I’m quite sure that owl traveled farther than most stuffies. Recently a teddy bear was left on a plane. The pilot took him into the cockpit until his owner was located. I doubt that bear made it beyond Europe.

 

A favorite childhood stuffed toy that I do remember was Zippy the Chimp. He was a live chimpanzee on the Howdy Doody Show in the 1950’s. He even appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show several times. I received him from Santa Claus and I loved him. Zippy eventually found his way to live with my nephew Barry in Vermont. Barry had visited my parents’ home in New Jersey and refused to part with the chimp when it was time to go home. I was in college by that then and was happy to have Zippy start a new life. It turned out to be quite an eventful one in Vermont.

 

Barry dragged Zippy everywhere, to the point where his clothes were in tatters. I remember my sister Barbara telling me that she finally took Zippy to a local department store to buy him new overalls in the toddlers department. She received some strange looks from other shoppers as she held each pair up to the worn out stuffed chimp to see if they would fit him. They were all too long; Zippy had stubby legs. But she just rolled the pants up a few times and pronounced the shopping trip a success. Barry was thrilled, because they were bright red, just like his original pants.

 

Barbara might have been tasked with Zippy’s clothing replacement, but her husband Bob was required to handle his medical work. Bob was an ophthalmologist who often performed eye surgery. Poor Zippy was dragged around so much that one of his plastic hands eventually started to separate from his fabric arm. One day Barry brought him to his father to have surgery to repair him. Bob originally planned to use regular sewing thread but Barry would have none of that. Zippy’s surgery had to be done with medical grade suture thread. And so it was. The things we do for love!

 

Indeed, love is what best explains the enduring appeal of stuffies. I hope this essay has stirred up some memories of your own favorite stuffed toys!

 

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