September 1, 2019
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Stinky the Wonder Skunk
Behold Stinky the wonder skunk! Way back when, my mother and I and maybe Grandma LaVerne were wandering around in a toy department of a downtown Schenectady department store. I don't remember if it was Barney's or the Carl Co. There were three of these Rushton skunks lined up on the glass topped counter. Perhaps the sales lady had lined them up for a customer making a selection. Each of the skunks held a bouquet, one blue, one yellow and one pink. When I went over to have a look, the lady snatched them all away and whisked them to a shelf behind the counter out of my height impaired view. This upset me greatly, and I started to blubber in the store. Later my mom did make sure that I had a skunk of my own. Now I am not sure to this day if I really wanted the skunk or if the abrupt manner of the person working the toy counter upset me. I was a rather sensitive soul. Stinky became a treasure. Stinky had an embedded music box that played "Rock-a-Bye Baby" and there was a rod that extended into the arm that caused it to move in a circle so Stinky could smell the flowers. Eventually the music box stopped working.
I parted ways with Stinky when we were moving from Izumo to Tokyo. We were moving into a smaller place with growing kids, and I just could not keep everything. Old toys had to fall by the wayside, and now that we have moved to a place with sufficient room for personal antiquities, I have replaced a couple of the items, a troll house and now, Stinky. I found a good deal on eBay for the exact model that I used to have and it will be coming in the mail. The music box does not work, but neither did the music box in Original Stinky, so it's all right. It will be nice to see an old friend again. Just hope that it arrives on a day when retired hubby is out to lunch with his buddies.
