Please Meet Barley, Steiff's PB Baerle Teddy Bear!

Please meet Barley, Steiff's PB Baerle Teddy Bear.   He's very proud of himself, as he is a replica of a 1904 Teddy bear.   He was made only for one year, in 1991.   His nose is wax, and he has a very large hump on his back.   He doesn't have a box or certificate, but he doesn't really need one.   What you see is what you get, he told me.

I purchased Barley on eBay in 2010.   The pictures that the seller took of him were pretty awful.   I haven't told Barley that.   He was lying down on a pillow and his head was twisted in a weird way.   That was the only picture.   I knew who he was, of course.   He's very recognizable. 

Barley has extra long arms, which is a family trait.   When he would look at old photographs, he could always recognize his relatives.   Such long arms came in handy when he was grocery shopping.  It was so easy to reach the top shelves.   More that once a fellow ted would approach him, shyly requesting his assistance.   He gained a lot of friends that way.   When it came time to pick a career, he considered a job stocking inventory at a grocery store or maybe taking a job as a waiter at a busy restaurant.    He thought about trying out for the local basketball team, too, but his athletic skills were minimal.  Teddy bears have limited choices when it comes to employment.

Then one day, Barley was thumbing through the newspaper, when he noticed an ad for free massages at a spa for the first one hundred callers.   He booked an appointment right away.   You could imagine the masseuse's surprise when his 9:15 client was a Teddy bear.  Barley spent the day trying all the different therapies offered,  relaxation massage, trigger point massage, and body wraps.   He was such a hit with the staff, they invited him to come back the next day for another treatment, and so he returned for another day of adventure.   He was at the facilities daily.   He discovered he has fantastic people skills and was encouraged to become a licensed massage therapist, a first for a Teddy bear.   He graduated the top of his class.   If you happen to see him, make sure you ask about his new career.   Maybe he'll even give you a free massage.