There is a sorry story around this one;
many, many moons ago, most of a lifetime ago to be accurate, my brother and I
were given real-fur toys of a koala and a kiwi - mementos of someone's trip to
that part of the world , the koala survives - albeit a bit moth-eaten -
somewhere, but the kiwi got burnt.
We had a little friend round (we were five
or six?) for a visit and while the parents were in the next room it was decided
(I have no memory of the level of democracy employed, nor the logical processes
ruling the debate) that 'Kiwi' should go on the fire, and he duly did. At which
point my brother, feeling more empathy than the other chap or myself (and being
youngest) burst into tears - death does that to little people.
The upshot was that that the grown-ups
decided it must be my fault, and a favorite bear followed the kiwi to Valhalla
(that's the story now, anyway - I don't recall a bear going missing at that
time, and parents aren't that cruel, are they?).
Now I remember the thing being twice the
size of this one and having a longer beak, but I was less than half the size I
am now, so I suspect A) it was smaller than I remember, and B) that this
(charity-shop 50p's-worth) is the same toy.
It's ridged, like a taxidermists' sample
rather than a soft-toy (as the koala is) and the beak and feet seem to be
composition (probably on a wire former), I have no idea what fur is used
(rabbit I hope, otherwise it'll be some other local species probably now as
endangered as kiwis!), and I think the black stripe down the back is a
dye/stained addition.
I also have a PVC-type all-plastic one in
the style of Zowies (still in the
queue!), but branded to Stewarts-SSS
of China.
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On the subject of Kiwis, I'm deliberately
posting (Kiwis that flew) late tomorrow (this coming-Monday), as I'm posting in
two places - linked - the updated post would ruin the surprise of the scheduled
post, were I to do them now, so I'll do them late on Monday and leave them up
for a day or two as I'm off to the London Toy Fair on Tuesday.
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