Reference Question of the Week ¦ 3/16/14
March 22nd, 2014
This question came in awhile ago, through the library's website reference question form. It's sort of odd, and it seems like there's a good chance that other libraries have gotten the same thing.
Subject: Help finding stuffed duck
I am looking for a specific stuffed animal duck. It's an old duck. The one I have was purchased from a Roses department store in Albany, Georgia in April of 1988. I wore the tag off years ago, so I have no idea what brand it is. I spoke with someone who worked for Roses, and he said that during that time the two biggest companies they bought stuffed animals from were Chosun & Dan Dee, so it may be one of those.
I found a couple of websites that have forums where you post looking for certain stuffed animals (Ghost of the Doll and Lost my Lovey), but I have had no luck. I spend hours scouring eBay and the like, but still no luck.
I guess my question at this point is - where do I go from here? It is unsurprisingly but frustratingly difficult to find a 25 year old stuffed animal with nothing to go on except the location of the purchase and a possible (though not necessarily probable) brand name.
Here is a picture of what the duck looked like new:
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a140/kornflakes11/Duck_zps7e4cc36f.jpgAt this point I would be willing to pay nearly any sum of money to get my
hands on another duck like this. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Since there was an image of the duck online, the first thing I did was a reverse image search. Everything that came up were forums and other places that this same patron had already posted this question online - some as far back as 2008.
Huh. So next I searched our patron database for the name, email, etc, and sure enough, she wasn't there. I'm guessing this person submits this question everywhere she can find - maybe other libraries too - in the hopes of getting lucky.
I read some of the advice posted in response to her various questions, and I couldn't come up with anything better. It seems like either she'll get lucky and find one for sale on eBay or Craigslist, or else she could have one custom-made. But finding the manufacturer's name seems like an incredible long-shot, not to mention that company still being in business or having more of these ducks.
However, there's always hope - reference librarians are nothing if not perpetual optimists.
