Saturday morning, Raymond and I struck out to cover a long list of errands.  First we cast our ballots in this year’s election before we headed to the pharmacy for flu shots.  (One of these activities was much less painful than the other.)  With the serious and grown-up portion of the days’ plans behind us, we celebrated with lunch at one of our favorite local eateries and toasted our morning with glasses of beer appropriately named “Reasonably Corrupt”.

After lunch, we decided to do some early Christmas shopping and browse the shops in our local antique district.  As we were strolling in and out of our favorite places, I spied Winnie the Pooh.  All by himself, surrounded by unrelated items, Pooh sat calmly contemplating a jar of hunny with a big sticker across his nose.  The sticker provided quite of bit of info:  Pooh is a cookie jar with a small, repaired chip on the back of the lid, and is available for the reasonable price of $17.50.  Of course I stepped closer for a better look and to inspect aforementioned damage – which was barely detectable.  Raymond paused in his explorations long enough to take in the situation and declare, “I don’t think we can go home without him.”  Unexpected discoveries are the BEST, no?

Winnie the Pooh in tow, Raymond settled up with Susie, the proprietor, and we made our way back down the street to our car and headed home.  Now this precious new addition to our Disney collection is brightening up our kitchen, just in time for Christmas cookie baking!

A little online research shows this cookie jar as having been manufactured by Treasure Craft in the mid-1990’s.  The bottom of our jar clearly shows Treasure Craft, Disney, and Mexico which leads me to believe our Winnie the Pooh is indeed an authentic Disney licensed version.  Further digging revealed a suggested current value of $25-$40.  I also found Pooh for sale online in several places, going for anywhere from $49.99-$89.99.  As I have no intention of keeping him solely for his future earnings potential, I’m finding him a place of honor where he can be adored for years to come (and consider our new friend to have been excellent bargain!).

Have you come across an unexpected, irresistible Disney treasure? What was it?