MIDTOWN — Winnie-the-Pooh had a little work done.
The original dolls that inspired A.A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh books, including Winnie, Kanga, Tigger, Piglet and Eeyore, returned to the main branch of the New York Public Library on Wednesday after a yearlong sabbatical to undergo some cosmetic surgery, including "bottom fluffing."
“The work included neck alignments, clavicle repairs, nose jobs, pretty much every other spa treatment you can get,” Christopher Platt, vice president of library services.
Work on Winnie included a gentle steaming of plush on his bottom, protective netting on his snout and front paw pads, and stitching down of several areas of embroidery that had begun to lift.
Piglet required his snout to be humidified, and a small patch in his torso was patched with a fine silk imitating his original velveteen.
True to form Eeyore, the dolorous donkey, was most in need of sprucing up. A total of 52 patches of his exterior were replaced, and he was ultimately enveloped in a fine netting to protect his delicate plush coating.
"The dolls were well loved over the course of nearly 100 years," said Michael Inman, the library's curator of rare books. "They received the wear and tear you would expect of a toy."
Pooh Bear was originally given to Milne’s son Christopher Robin — the inspiration for the books’ human boy — as a first birthday gift on August 21, 1921, according to a library spokeswoman.
As part of the welcoming party, children gathered on Wednesday to make birthday cards for Winnie — who will be celebrating his 95th anniversary — and young fans will be able to drop off cards in his mailbox at the Children’s Center until his birthday rolls around.
Pooh and his friends have been in the library’s care since Milne’s publisher donated them in the 1980s, and have been on display almost continually since then, for many years at the former Donnell Library on 53rd Street and most recently at the main branch on Fifth Avenue.
Winnie-the-Pooh and his pals are on display at the NYPL Children’s Center, room 84 in the Stephen A. Schwartzman Building at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street. The Center is open Monday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 7:45 p.m., and Wednesday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
