Friendly Rooster: Ode to old animal friends...

(As told through the eyes of our head Buyer...)

I was just thinking (which is always dangerous)...I absolutely LOVE stuffed animals. This may not seem like such a revelation to others, but to me it is both a surprise and it makes perfect sense at the same time.

As a kid, I was a stuffed animal collector. When I got allowance or birthday money, I bought stuffed animals. When I was in girl scouts, I would always be sure to sell enough cookies to get the free stuffed animal. And when family asked what I wanted for my birthday or Christmas, a stuffed animal was always included in the list. I could not get enough of them.

What would I do with them? I mean, really...they would just kind of sit there and look cute...so what's the point? To me, as an only child, they were my friends (we hung out and drank tea together), my patients (I was frequently a vet during playtime), and my audience. Audience? Yes...I would line them up on my parents' couch and dance for them. Or I would do magic tricks. Or I would tell jokes. And they would always sit there with smiles on their faces and look on approvingly :).

So the reason this struck me as "ah-ha!" is because I plan on buying them as part of the assortment in the spring (as noted in previous blog posts). I wondered how this venture into "shoes and fun stuff" brought me to stuffed animals. Well now I know....it's been there all along.

In tribute to my friends from the 70's and 80's, I downloaded some pictures from the internet of some of the more memorable stuffed animals I had (mind you, these were not my favorites...but I am sure they were best sellers at the time...enjoy).