Otaki TodayA much-loved family toy, known only as “Monkey”, is awaiting a return to his old tricks after being carefully restored at the Ōtaki Repair Café.
Monkey was brought to the repair café late last year by Rowena Mustard, who lives part-time at an Ōtaki Beach bach. He was in a bad way, having been stored away for several years.
Sewer Erica Wallis-Iles with Monkey at last Sunday’s Ōtaki Repair Café. Photo Ōtaki Today
He had no hands, his shoes were falling off, and his ears were about to come out. It was no surprise, given the toy had been well loved in his 65-plus years with the Mustard family.
Rowena hoped someone at the repair café would be able to help.
Just the person for the job was Erica Wallis-Iles, a woman who has been sewing as long as she can remember – recalling her days using an old treadle sewing machine. She likes nothing more than the challenge of repairing an item like Monkey and was delighted to take on the task.
“He was a bit sad,” Erica says. “But I knew that I could repair him if we could get some new hands.”
That task fell to Fern and Sam Campbell, who are regulars at the repair café helping 3D print parts – including hands for toys like Monkey. They had to track down images of similar toys and get a template that would create the hands Monkey might have had originally.
Then it was up to Erica to paint the hands and reattach them.
Reattaching them was tricky. The original hands had been attached with wires in the arms, and the arms had to be repacked after becoming limp with wear. New attachments had to be made for the hands to hook up to the existing wires in the arms.
Meanwhile, what was probably the original wood-shaving stuffing for Monkey’s body had to be replaced. Erica used some shavings she had saved from teddy bear repairs, plus some more modern packing to bring his bulk back.
Cleaning him was also a challenge.
“He had lots of dirt on him,” Erica says. “You have to be careful to use a mild cleaner, because it’s easy to rub away the original colours.”
She believes Monkey’s face is a type of rubber, given its flexibility – and having been made before plastics became more widespread. She used cotton buds to clean his face, inside his mouth and on his ears.
Then she painted inside the mouth to bring out more of what she could
only guess to be the original colours, which had faded badly.
She repainted the white around the pupils of the eyes, but it looked too bright, so she removed it.
“I think something as old as this and as well loved should show some of its age,” Erica says. “You don’t want to restore it to its original condition – it just wouldn’t be the same toy then. Some wear shows he was loved.”
She thinks a blue jacket was a later addition, and other than some light cleaning, it needed little work.
Rowena Mustard, who is in Australia at present, told Ōtaki Today Monkey was bought as a present for her sister, Deborah.
“I always remember him being part of the family,” Rowena says. “He went everywhere with us – he would sit in the back seat with us, on holidays, everywhere.
“He was much loved by all of us.”
She was at her Ōtaki bach last summer when she heard the Ōtaki Repair Café was having one of its regular Sunday sessions at the Memorial Hall. She had no great expectations that he could be restored, but hoped at least some repairs could be done.
She was delighted when she received a photo from the repair café, showing how he looks now.
“He holds such good memories for us as a family. I can’t wait to hold him again when I come to New Zealand in October.”
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