Sunday, February 11, 2018

New Bear, Old Bear

Technically speaking, both of these stuffed black bears [below] are old bears, sold as souvenir toys at Yellowstone Park gift shop in the 1960s.
These are my favorite kind of stuffed animal I've discovered, and I have four more waiting in the wings. They are plentiful and can be found in number on eBay. (Don't pay more than $10.)
I kind of want a hundred, to fix each one up differently.

The one I restored (no name) is keeping company with the newly arrived one, almost dry after its bath (named by bink Louis-Louis). Those are L-L's ears in front--they're only glued in so they come off in water. The extra fabric comes in handy for patches.

The bears don't like the red plastic collars & leashes they came with, naturally, now they are no longer attached to children. 
Off they come. 
But someone gave this bear a necklace of a red cotton potholder loop--one of those loops for weaving hot pads. That will stay. 

It's nice to have backed off from eBay a bit. 
Instead, besides Bear Repair, I hope to volunteer at the St Vincent de Paul Thrift Store.
In the long run, I didn't fit in at Steeple People (too elitist), nor, in the sort run, at Goodwill (too corporate). 
Maybe this one I will fit just right?

SVDP's an old favorite of mine. 

It's more, um,  small-c catholic* than the others. I mean, it's in a poorer neighborhood, is less picky about what goes out for sale (which means more interesting stuff gets put out), and there's always a grocery cart of free donated bread by the cash register. 
It makes no pretense of being an antique store, and appears to have no profit motive. 
The last time I was there, I was a dollar short, so I gave an item back. The cashier deducted a dollar and then gave me the thing. I would have gotten fired if I'd done that at Goodwill.

I seem to have an enduring interest in this work. I have an interview at SVDP this week. Fingers crossed.
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* "catholic", from Greek, katholikos: 
kata or kath (meaning “through” or “throughout”) + holos (meaning “whole”). This notion of “throughout-the-whole” carries no notion of boundary or lines drawn that demarcate those who are “in” and those who are “out.”
via HuffPo

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