Stuffed toys return after spa treatment

Winnie-the-Pooh and friends Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga and Tigger are celebrating a new lease on their New York City life after enjoying many adventures together. The original toys are looking refreshed after more than a year of much needed repairs by a textile conservator.

Stuffed toys return after spa treatment

They're going back on display Wednesday at the New York Public Library, where they've resided since 1987.

An English boy, Christopher Robin Milne, was their original owner.

He received them in the 1920s from his father, the author A.A. Milne, who based the Winnie-the-Pooh children's stories on the stuffed animals.

The library says the yearlong conservation included neck alignment, clavicle repair and bottom fluffing.

"They have been greatly missed over the last year or so while they've been away as we say having a spa treatment. Everyday we have people come in expressly to see the dolls and we feel very bad that we have to tell them that they are not here, so we anticipate as children come through the doors - in fact here they come - there is going to be a great deal of excitement when they see them," said Michael Inman, curator of Rare Books at the NY Public Library. 

"I don't have a big Winnie-Pooh at home because I have a tiny Winnie-Pooh," said Silvia Ellis, Winnie-The-Pooh fan.

Little Christopher first called the stuffed bear Edward Bear.

He later renamed him, combining two names: Winnie for a real black bear at the London Zoo that had once served as a military mascot in Winnipeg, Canada, and Pooh for a pet 

"Because he likes honey and I like honey too," said Maya Rodney, Winnie-The-Pooh fan.

"They were all favorite toys of Christopher Robin Milne, the son of the author and they served as the basis for the beloved children stories, which the first appeared in the mid 1920s and there were several subsequent novels and almost immediately became classic works of children's literature," said Michael Inman.

Pooh will be 95-years-old on Aug. 21. The dolls were donated to the library by Milne's publisher.