In cleaning out our family’s basement, we found an old and beloved stuffed bear that has been passed down in the family since 1944. We’d like to get it cleaned up and have one of its arms restuffed. Where can we go to do this?
–P. McKinney, Chicago
Sounds like your teddy is in need of a loving overhaul, and the kind hands of stuffed-toy doctor Hanna Hach.
“Sometimes it’s a regular zoo in here,” says Hach, who works out of her Hanna Bruce Bears & Teddy Hospital in Garfield Heights, Ohio. “I started this business four years ago doing mainly teddy bears. Now I have koala bears, monkeys, pigs and other stuffed toys.” (Her hospital is named for her great-grandmother from Scotland.)
Stuffed toys that have been worn out by time and use, and stuffed animals that tangled with a dog are admitted to Hach’s hospital.
Hach’s mother once made teddy bears and taught her daughter how to sew and make them too. Hach, 36, still has a bear she got when she was 18.
The oldest bear she has worked on was 101 years old.
For $36.50, stuffed toys can be cleaned and restuffed (that includes return shipping and handling costs). Basic stuffing and cleaning generally takes two to three weeks.
Reconstruction jobs (arm, leg, nose or eye) are about $65 and can take four to six weeks or longer depending on amount of work needed.
To reach Hach, call 877-723-2763 or write: Hanna Bruce Bears & Teddy Hospital, 4982 E. 88th St., Garfield Heights, Ohio, 44125; or visit www.hannabrucebears.com