#antique stuffed animal

[doctorbeth]

An elderly patient part 2: Bearie

Last week I told you about Poochie the dog, who was in his sixties and came in to be stabilized so his original person could continue to hug him. Today, I'm going to share Bearie's story. Bearie is a 70 year old panda bear, and he was getting ready to go live with his original person's daughter.

Here are Bearie's original diagnosis photos:

Like Poochie's family, Bearie's family wanted to keep some of his original self visible, but since he was eventually going to be loved by a new person, he needed more stabilization, and a bath and new stuffing as well!

There aren't photos of Bearie in the bath... spas for black and white patients of his age are major surgery, because their colors need to be separated for safe cleaning. But I did clean him, and restuff him. Then, he was recovered in new fur on his head, torso, and limbs. This left his original ears and pawpads visible. He kept his original eye, and hand a new nose and mouth embroidered. Rather than replacing his missing eye, he got a removable eye patch. Here he is before we added his new mouth:

And here he is just before he headed home:

[thrifted-friends]

frog friend

[antiquestuffedtoy]

from ebay

[shewhoworshipscarlin]

Steiff turtle, 1965-67.

[hiddenjane]

Trip to the antique store

[beaniebabyadventures]

haha jkjk, unless? 👉👈

[autismdogg]

him

[motelpearl]

[selenophobic-werewolf]

how do you remove stains from white plushies?

Pictured: antique white bunny doll wearing a purple, black, and green dress with lace and ruffles, with bows tied around her ears

[realgirllife]

@regressed-state-of-mind

[merrilark]

Went to an antique shop today and there was a suitcase full of a mix of old photography that looked like it probably ranged from around the 1920s to mmmaybe the 1970s at most, and it just sort of struck me how sad it was. Photos in the hundreds of people of all ages, some posing, many candid, taken by people who knew their names and loved them, now sitting in a box inside some little corner antique shop. Priceless memories, sold for a dollar.

I picked up a black and white photo of little girl, a toddler, I would guess probably taken sometime in the '60s at latest, and flipped it over to see if there was a date. In carefully penned cursive, someone had written:

"August— This is the first time we got her to sit still long enough for a photograph."

That scooped something out of me. Who was this little girl? What was her name? How much someone must have loved her not just to take a photo, but to write a note about a tiny, mundane first on the back.

I almost bought it for that alone, because I wish these photos had someone to love them again, but I'd already bought an item from the shop and couldn't really justify spending more money there on photos of strangers.

But I do hope that someone will see them and think they're beautiful and worth something, too.

[doctorbeth]

A pair of elderly patients: Part 1 Poochie

Poochie the dog is owned by a family among you dear people. He is over 60 years old, about 7 or 8" tall, and very well loved. He's had repairs before to his shoulders, and he'd been wearing a red dress for years to try to protect his skin from further wear.

His person (his original person) wanted to keep him as close to original as possible, but also wanted to stabilize and reinforce him. Here are his original diagnosis photos, sent by another family member:

I'm showing larger versions in the hopes that you can see not only his holes, but the runs where his fabric is see through.

Poochie came to the hospital last month for wound repair and supplemental stuffing... just a touch to protect him on the inside. He wasn't getting a spa, he needed to stay as original as possible. And we were keeping old repairs where possible too. Rather, the treatment for Poochie was to stitch wounds, adding fabric under his runs to take the pressure of stitches, and patches where he had holes. Just enough to stabilize him. He wasn't going on adventures with toddlers anymore, but he wanted to feel safe watching over his family. Here's Poochie all better:

He's sort of like a kintsugi vase with its visible seams, or an older person, whose wrinkles and gray hairs tell their story. Poochie earned every scar and new seam, but he's huggable and lovable specifically for those patches and seams, which are reminders of all the adventures he's had. And now, he can be hugged again and share his memories (and make new ones) with his family in Washington.

[thrifted-friends]

handmade dog 🪡 🧵

[toyshrine]

Aurora Palm Pals Luna Bat

her descriptions says "Luna is so mysterious you can't figure her out, but you love her nonetheless."

[shewhoworshipscarlin]

Steiff weasel, 1960.

[t4inted4ngel]

my babies, mocha and vanilla ᡣ𐭩