Home / Funny

Woodworker Discovers 115 Vintage Stuffed Animals Packed in Old Farmhouse Walls for Insulation

By Emma Taggart on November 25, 2024

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by @spectacleacres

Renovating an old building often comes with surprises, but Vancouver Island woodworker Connor Nijsse never imagined he’d uncover 115 stuffed animals hidden within the walls of his farmhouse.

Nijsse believes the stuffed animals were used as an unconventional form of insulation by the previous owners, but he has no idea where they all came from, or when exactly they were put there. Although they’d likely been hidden behind the wall for years, all 115 stuffed animals remained in surprisingly good condition, protected by a plastic wrap barrier inside the wall.

The perplexed woodworker shared his strange discovery on social media, and people quickly began reaching out to buy particular plushies from the collection. A pink elephant was recently sent off to Las Vegas to a person who collects them, and a brown bear filled with beans was sent to a buyer in Indiana who recognized it from her childhood. Another person from the UK requested two yellow chicks from the pile of plushies, and another woman in South Carolina asked for a plaid bear with blue eyes. She wrote in her message, “That was my bear since birth and a moving company lost him a few years back.”

Though initially overwhelmed by the unusual discovery, Nijsse has embraced it, using the opportunity to bring joy to people around the world and give these likely pre-loved toys a second chance. In another recent video, Nijsse shared that he now has just 75 stuffed animals left, out of the original 115. There are countless more messages in the comments from people eagerly requesting the vintage toys—some dating back to the ‘80s.

Follow Nijsse on Instagram and TikTok for more updates on the toys, as well as his renovation progress—who knows, there might be more odd discoveries along the way!