A Shop Window on the Past

Well yesterday was a real throwback day, as two parcels arrived for me, both of which were expected. The first was a job lot of old toys i'd bought on ebay for a fiver, chiefly due to the presence of a small tin spinning top - of which more later. Besides this the other bits looked unremarkable, but on closer inspection, I was quite pleased. A small Matchbox Model Of Yesteryear train was included, The Duke of Connaught. I'd had one of these from new as a child, so that was a welcome addition. The Lledo bus was standard fare and the plastic bits and pieces were nothing interesting. The red and blue dogs turned out to be the magnetic 'kissing dogs' novelty, whereby putting them into close proximity caused them to jump nose to nose as the pole attracted on the magnetic bases.

 

However the real gem of the lot (aside from the top) was an old Hornby train chassis, with a home made body tacked on the back.  I had an old Meccano key knocking about and when wound, the motor ran steadily, despite some dings and bends to the levers and axles.

The second parcel contained a delivery from my sister, who restores old dolls and bears. Some while back I had rescued my original teddy bear from a mouse ravaged box in the garage. Poor Ted has been my companion since before I can remember and must be one of my first toys. Probably a Chad Valley bear, Ted has been with me well over 50 years and been stuffed in cupboards, boxes, several attics and finally ended up in the garage. Moths, mice and mildew had taken their toll and he was looking in a bad way. My sister suggested a spell in the freezer would kill off any moth larvae in his fur, so in he went, secure in a ziploc bag.

But as usual, life got in the way and a few days turned into almost a month. After he came out of the freezerino, his wet fur had frozen solid, so he was set on a shelf to thaw. Unfortunately, he dropped off the radar once more and a week later, I unwrapped the bag to find that the damp and the warmth of the house had thawed him out, but also made a perfect breeding ground for the mould and mildew which had blackened his fur. The result was that half his head, most of the left arm and a good portion of his body had all but disintegrated and the mildew was happily munching its way through the rest.

At this point I thought Ted was a goner and berated myself for my negligence, letting such an heirloom rot away in a forgotten corner. I had asked my sister to give him an initial clean when I first brought him in, but this seemed unsalvageable. Needless to say, she took him in after I had dried him out and thrown away all the foam rubber stuffing. That was some while ago, but yesterday Ted came home and amazingly looks almost like he did before his near death experience.

Using parts of an old scrap bear, she rebuilt his head, replaced the rotted ear and arm and sewed up his poor battered body, with fresh stuffing.

He's a little cock-eyed now and still stained with the mildew and years of abuse, but is whole again and free of bugs and damaging bacteria. From now on Ted will sit in pride of place in the mancave, where a vintage toy from childhood should be resting.