Beanie Baby

has produced many other stuffed animals, some of which are variations of Beanie Babies:. The Bookcase Information Site. Ty Inc. See also Sympson the Joiner and the early glazed bookcases made for Samuel Pepys. Like the Internet stocks of the period, this was a recent example of an economic bubble. The Book on the Bookshelf by Henry Petroski also discusses the shelving of books in some detail. Estimates of the number of each Beanie Baby that would survive years into the future were much lower than the reality, however, and much like the Cabbage Patch Kid phenomenon, so many people had similar plans that very few people profited from the craze. Gladstone in the Nineteenth Century for March 1890.

Ty fed the frenzy by systematically "retiring" various designs of Beanie Babies and ceasing their production. E. In a buying frenzy reminiscent of the Cabbage Patch Kid mania of the early 1980s, several speculators purchased these collectibles en masse in hopes of making a fortune years later from being able to sell rare specimens. The whole question of the construction and arrangement of bookcases was learnedly discussed in the light of experience by W. Starting in late 1996, a faddish craze of collecting Beanie Babies began. The library of the City of London at the Guildhall is a peculiarly effective example of the bay arrangement. The bear model was frequently used for commemorative purposes, and special bears such as a Fourth of July model and even a Diana, Princess of Wales commemorative were created. The stack system is suitable only for public libraries where economy of space is essential; the bay system is not only handsome but utilizes the space to great advantage.

One popular "series" within the Beanie Baby menagerie was the use of teddy bear-shaped Beanies, the basic pattern of which was repeatedly re-used, but with different colors and names. There are three systems of arranging bookcases: Flat against the wall; in stacks or ranges parallel to each other with merely enough space between to allow of the passage of a librarian; or in bays or alcoves where cases jut out into the room at right angles to the wall-cases. As the years went on hundreds of different Beanie Babies were created, often resorting to more obscure animals such as aardvarks or chameleons in the process. Because of the danger of tripping on the floor mounted rails or being squashed between bookcases these systems are normally reserved for closed stacks where users cannot enter. Beanie Babies are a kitsch cubicle decoration, especially for women. Because of the heavy weight of the books most of the systems are electrically powered or have some form of gearing and large wheels to move the bookcases about and create the necessary aisle at the right place. Intended as upscale children's toys, they became a popular adult gift item. It is possible then to visit only two bookcase sides at a time, all the others being pressed close together.

The condition of the hang tag is one of the main factors in determining a Beanie Baby's value, and hard plastic covers molded in a heart shape are available for its protection. In such systems 12 or more bookcases are mounted on wheels which are integrated in floor level guide rails, in a space normally reserved for 4 or 6 bookcases. This information was all contained on a red, heart-shaped hang tag usually affixed to the animal's ear. For libraries where space is extremely tight there is yet another system usually called mobile shelving or high density storage. For example, the poem of Bongo the monkey went:. In the great public libraries of the 20th century the bookcases are often of iron, as in the British Museum where the shelves are covered with cowhide, or steel, as in the Library of Congress at Washington, D.C., or of slate, as in the Fitzwilliam Library at Cambridge. Each Baby came with his or her own name, a birthday date, and a simple poem describing their personality. Dwarf bookcases were frequently finished with a slab of choice marble at the top.

The official Beanie Babies were mostly in the shape of animals, such as dogs, cats, pigs, hippos, and others and were all brightly colored and stylized. Mahogany, rosewood satinwood and even choicer exotic timbers were used; they were often inlaid with marquetry and mounted with chased and gilded bronze. Ty claimed rightful ownership of the name and of all of the designs of their various "beanies." There have been imitations by other companies that jumped onto the idea of creating beanbag-like stuffed animals, however, including one imitator who even produced a tie-dyed bear (reminiscent of Ty's "Garcia"), as well as parodies such as the "Meanie Babies". The French cabinetmakers of the same period were also highly successful with small ornamental cases. The original Beanie Babies were made by Ty Warner through his company Ty Inc. The alluring grace of some of Sheraton's satinwood bookcases has very rarely indeed been equalled. A Beanie Baby is thus a form of bean bag. Both Chippendale and Sheraton made or designed great numbers of bookcases, mostly glazed with little lozenges encased in fretwork frames often of great charm and elegance.

A Beanie Baby is a stuffed animal filled with plastic pellets, or "beans," rather than stuffing (see PVC). Long ranges of book-shelves are necessarily somewhat severe in appearance, and many attempts have been made by means of carved cornices and pilasters to give them a more riant appearance--attempts which were never so successful as in the hands of the great English cabinetmakers of the second half of the 18th century. They are smaller versions of holiday-themed Beanie Babies, similar to the Teenie Beanies but of better quality. The oldest bookcases in England are those in the Bodleian Library at Oxford University, which were placed in position in the last year or two of the 16th century; in that library are the earliest extant examples of shelved galleries over the flat wall-cases. Jingle Beanies / Basket Beanies / Halloweenie Beanies: a seasonal product, sold during Christmas, Easter, and Halloween. Early bookcases were usually of oak, which is still deemed to be the most appropriate wood for a stately library. Teenie Beanies: smaller versions of Beanie Babies that were used as free giveaways in McDonald's Happy Meals on three different occasions. It was not until the invention of printing had greatly cheapened books that it became the practice to write the title on the back and place the edges inwards.

Punkies: extremely fuzzy animals. The band of leather, vellum or parchment which closed the book was often used for the inscription of the title, which was thus on the fore-edge instead of on the back. Pluffies: stuffing-filled animals, with a terrycloth-like fur. They were either placed in piles upon their sides, or if upright, were ranged with their backs to the wall and their edges outwards. Pinkys: pink stuffed animals. Even then, however, the volumes were not arranged in the modern fashion. (These are not a type of Beanie Baby, although due to the word "Classic," some people may incorrectly believe that the name refers to the "original 9" Beanie Babies). At a somewhat later date the doors were discarded, and the evolution of the bookcase made one step forward.

Classic: stuffing-filled animals. As manuscript volumes accumulated in the religious houses or in regal palaces, they were stored upon shelves or in cupboards, and it is from these cupboards that the bookcase of to-day directly descends. Beanie Buddies: larger versions of Beanie Babies, filled with stuffing. When books were written by hand and were excessively scarce, they were kept in small coffers which the wealthy carried about with them on their journeys. Baby Ty: various baby animals and humans in cute-little baby clothes. . A bookcase is an article of furniture, forming a shelved receptacle, usually perpendicular or horizontal, for the storage of books.

This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, a publication in the public domain..