Toys are not always child’s play
Adults can often develop an emotional attachment to their “first friends” and one man has built a career out of fixing them, Wang Qian reports.
For many they are the first friends. They hear secrets, and though they can’t speak, they are the recipients of confidences. Stuffed animals and dolls are among most people’s first experience of sharing and communication during childhood. Sure, many are ditched as children grow up but some remain close. Besides, the memories never really go.
Some people maintain an emotional attachment that lasts well into their adulthood. But with the passage of time, sometimes the soft and cuddly companions get worn and ragged or break.
In Shanghai, Zhu Boming, a 74-yearold retiree, has opened a special “hospital” at home to “nurse” damaged toys back to health. From a thorough cleaning, restitching, to a “major surgery”, Zhu, the hospital’s only “doctor”, has treated hundreds of cuddly companions sent from all over the country and even from abroad.
“Every friend comes with a soul and is irreplaceable to their owners. Behind them, there is always a precious link to the past, no matter whether it is happy or sad,” Zhu says, adding that the repair process is like a journey to reach their owners’ deepest regrets or fondest memories.
To help Zhu better understand their customized needs, many people like to share the stories of their plush pals, some of which represent the happy old days, while others are gifts from people to whom they are very attached, according to Zhu.
Once a toy is received, Zhu will set up its “medical record”, including its name, gender, birthday, treatment plan and ownership story. The oldest one is 55 years old.
Giving new life to these stuffed friends means a lot to their owners. Liu Juan in Beijing is a prime example. Her doll has seen a lot in the 30 years it has been by her side. It was a gift from her father when she was 4. Her father passed away when she was 28 years old.
“Four years ago, the doll was worn out, which worried me, because it symbolized my father’s love for me. I heard about Zhu’s workshop through the media. After one-month’s treatment, my doll came back in the same pristine condition as when I got it for the first time,” Liu says.
Depending on the injuries, the treatment costs range from hundreds to thousands of yuan. For people like Liu, the money is well spent. But not all people are satisfied with the cost or the treatment.
“Some clients take these childhood toys as their best friends, family members, or even lifelines. They try to restore them to match a memory, not something new. It is like a mission impossible, because memories relate to touch, smell or feelings that are quite personal, which cannot be replicated,” Zhu explains.
Inspiration
Finding a talent for needlework when he was a boy, Zhu helped his family of five to sew clothes during the 1950s when rationing coupons were used for buying fabrics.
More than 20 years ago, when working as an engineer, Zhu welcomed his first furry “patient”, a stuffed polar bear from his son. He clearly remembers that he paid 17 yuan ($2.64) for the bear to accompany his son, because he was too busy with work.
“Before my son asked me to repair it, I didn’t know that he had given the bear a name — Mingming, and they had become best friends. They used to share a bed,” Zhu smiles, adding that at the same time, he regrets being absent on so many occasions.
Trying to make up for lost time, Zhu stitched up Mingming’s injuries and replaced the stuffing. But in his son’s eyes, although the bear was brand-new, it was no longer his friend Mingming.
After talking with his son, Zhu understood that his son wanted the bear to be conserved rather than changed.
“He wanted the bear the same as in his memory. As a boy, he liked to touch Mingming’s mouth just before sleeping, which made him relax. But the smile was different after the repair,” Zhu remembers.
Before another “surgery”, they discussed every detail, including the hair color, facial expressions, angle of smile and even personality, to restore the bear.
“It was the first time that I understood why some people are so attached to their bears or dolls. The most important thing about toy restoration is the communication and observation with the owners, which helps to travel back into the owners’ memory and try to get the moment they want to remember,” Zhu says, adding that the toys represent a part of a memory or their childhood, which needs to be mended.
The experience inspired him to open the workshop and offer specialized treatment.
Zhu will carefully record every stage of the treatment and post images and short videos via social-media app WeChat so owners can keep track.
“If I fail to repair a toy, I will return it to the condition as when it was sent,” he says.
Once a man sent a bear, which hadn’t been washed for six years, because the last time he tried to wash it, three hairs fell out.
Under the man’s close watch, Zhu used a soft toothbrush to scrub the bear. The cleaning took about six days but the man was satisfied, according to Zhu.
Besides cleaning, Zhu has spent a lot of time shopping in fabric markets and wool stores to look for materials that match the originals. Sometimes searching for threads of one particular color can take him several days.
Source of comfort
Stuffed animals and dolls provide warmth, comfort and security to adults, Zhu says.
In psychology, they are referred to as transitional objects. The term, coined by Donald Winnicott in 1951, means “a designation for any material to which an infant attributes a special value and by means of which the child is able to make the necessary shift from the earliest oral relationship with mother to genuine object-relationships”.
In fact, not all the people grow out of their attachment to their childhood transitional objects.
They may keep a security blanket, teddy bear, doll, or other soft objects that they had since childhood.
According to the New York University Psychoanalytical Institute, “the transitional object may be conceived of in three ways: as typifying a phase in a child’s development; as a defense against separation anxiety; and, lastly, as a neutral sphere in which experience is not challenged’’.
Zhu agrees that adults also need security objects, which may be stuffed toys, smartphones or family photos, which help people feel connected or comfortable.
A 2018 report by British market research company OnePoll showed that four in 10 adults still have a stuffed animal they interact with. It examined the sentimentality of 2,000 adults and found 43 percent still privately indulge their softer side with a cuddle from their favorite stuffed toy.
However, not all attachment is healthy. According to a scientific report in Nature in 2017, adult patients with borderline personality disorders, frequently have attachments to inanimate transitional objects such as stuffed animals. It highlights the function of transitional objects for coping with anxiety about being abandoned by significant others and for dealing with depressive symptoms.
Zhu admits that some clients take their toys as lifelines and their stories of the toys have been heartbreaking.
“Once a man got his stuffed toy, he burst into tears and kept asking the toy ‘why can’t you talk?’” Zhu remembers.
“It is a physically and psychologically consuming work for an old man like me. Now I can repair only one toy every one or two months,” Zhu says.
The most important thing about toy restoration is the communication and observation with the owners, which helps to travel back into the owners’ memory and try to get the moment they want to remember.”
Zhu Boming, 74-year-old toy repairer in Shanghai