{"product_id":"gum-tree-1950s-60s-australian-souvenir-koala-natural-fur","title":"Gum Tree · 1950s-60s Australian Souvenir Koala, Natural Fur","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNatural fur · hand-assembled · black glass eyes · plastic claws · pink satin bow · Australian souvenir · 1950s–1960s · approx. 18cm tall\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCream-blonde natural fur, arms held up and slightly out in that particular way koalas have, as if they are about to say something. Black glass eyes. Plastic claws, each one distinct. A pink satin bow at the throat, tied with intention.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Australian tourist souvenir koala existed in two registers: the quickly made and the carefully made. This one belongs to the second category. Natural fur cut and assembled by hand, with the kind of attention to proportion that suggests it was made by someone who had looked carefully at a koala, not just at a template of one. From the 1950s to the 1960s, Australian souvenir manufacturers produced toys and novelties for both domestic and export markets; these pieces were bought as gifts by visitors who understood them as a kind of portable Australia, an animal too singular to have an equivalent anywhere else. The fur is still plush, still cream-blonde. The satin bow has not moved.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAustralian manufacture, 1950s to 1960s. Approximately 18cm tall. The sort of thing that ends up on a shelf for sixty years and is still, somehow, company.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"caitiedid","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44109005389958,"sku":null,"price":120.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0657\/5960\/8966\/files\/DSC_2984.jpg?v=1782267108","url":"https:\/\/checkout.caitiedid.shop\/products\/gum-tree-1950s-60s-australian-souvenir-koala-natural-fur","provider":"caitiedid","version":"1.0","type":"link"}