When I was five years old, my older brother won a stuffed brown dog at the annual fair in our small town, the fireman's bazaar. He gave me the dog, which I named Brownie. My older sister also won a dog that year, an identical dog actually, and gave it to me. I named this one Brown. Over 50 years later, Brown and Brownie still live with me, threadbare and worn as they are.
Stuffed animals are the best toys in the world. They stimulate the imagination, provide comfort, and encourage caring. Who knows how many children line their beds with their stuffed teddy bears, dogs, cats, and bunnies. And what parent has not encountered a child deep in conversation with a favorite stuffed friend?
For centuries, craftspeople and family members created homemade stuffed animals filled with cotton batting, rags, beans, or straw. The manufacture of stuffed animals started in Europe during the Industrial Revolution, over 150 years ago, and continues to this day. Today hundreds, perhaps thousands, of companies manufacture stuffed animals for sale around the world, with the teddy bear and the sock monkey remaining the most popular stuffed animals. A website or store that sells quality stuffed animals might carry 50 or more different stuffed bears!
While the traditional stuffed toys remain popular, new critters are a big hit among lovers of plush stuffed animals. Consider the GIANT microbes, each fashioned after a real biological being, complete with Latin names. There's Black Ant (Lasius niger), Brain Cell (neuron), and E. Coli (Escherichia coli). Children can safely catch the Common Cold with a seven-inch plush rhinovirus. And instead of swatting the House Fly (Musca domestica), children can take him to bed.
The San Diego Zoo has its own set of animals, manufactured for the zoo by Gund. There's Audrey the Flamingo, Chips the Tortoise, and Kuball the Cheetah. Perhaps the most famous is Zhen Zhen the Panda bear cub, modeled after an actual Giant Panda born at the San Diego Zoo. Each member of the zoo collection carries a tag with a story about the real animal.
If you're looking for a stuffed animal with a musical bent, look no further than the Cozy Cuzzles Bear by Russ that plays "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." If animal sounds are more appealing to your ear, check out the safari plush animals that make realistic jungle sounds or the meowing kittens.
Stuffed animals can also help children with career planning. Police Officer, Lifeguard, Nurse, Handyman, Firefighter, Doctor, Gardener, and Businessman Bears are dressed up in the clothes of their trades. Golfer and Biker Bears remind us that every bear needs to have fun.
Jellycat makes a line of adorable farm animals that oink, quack, moo, and baa on command. Luxuriously soft bunnies have extra long ears.
Even extinct species come alive through stuffed animals. Maybe a stegosaurus really did have multi-colored bumps on its back. And who's to argue with the authenticity of the length of the tusks on a plush wooly mammoth?
As you have probably guessed by now, stuffed toys are not just for kids. Whatever your age or inclination, you can find just the right stuffed animal to delight or comfort you for years on end.
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About
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Chris Robertson is a published author of Majon
International. All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2009 (Mon Aug 31 2009)
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