Marco, Roger and I visited the Polonsky exhibition at the New York Public Library while we were visiting. Here’s the blurb on the free exhibition:

“For more than 125 years, The New York Public Library has collected, preserved, and made accessible the world’s knowledge. Now, for the first time, the Polonsky Exhibition of The New York Public Library’s Treasures showcases some of the most extraordinary items from the 56 million in our collections, inspiring and empowering visitors to discover, learn, and create new knowledge—today and in the years ahead.

The treasures in this exhibition tell the stories of people, places, and moments spanning 4,000 years—from the emergence of the written word through to the present day. Visitors will encounter manuscripts, artworks, letters, still and moving images, recordings, and more that bring vividly to life voices of the past.”

And you know what the coolest thing was that we saw?

The stuffed animals that were given to Christopher Robin Milne which became the inspiration for Winnie the Pooh and friends. He received the stuffed teddy bear (inspiration for Winnie the Pooh) on his first birthday. The other stuffed animals on display which Christopher received were inspiration for Eeyore, Piglet, Kanga, Tigger and Roo. His father wrote the stories in Christopher’s childhood.

The exhibition link above lets you explore collection highlights digitally if you can’t visit in person. For example, here are some pages:

• Winnie the Pooh and friends
• Lock of Beethoven’s hair
• Thomas Jefferson’s handwritten copy of the Declaration of Independence

While we were in New York City last week we spotted a Netherlands themed Funko pop:

Full of Dutch stereotypes, of course. A milk maid holding a tulip, wearing clogs. It was actually a New York Comic Con exclusive, part of the “It’s a small world” collection. The store we spotted it at was Toy Tokyo on 5th and 2nd avenue.

I find it amusing that it is caught in between Cowboy McNugget and Thanos.