For this blog post, I decided to write about the “happy item” I brought in on the first day of class: my infamous Pillow Pet.
That’s him, the one and only. The Pillow Pet was invented around 2003 and was marketed toward little kids. I remember growing up seeing the commercials on Nickelodeon as a kid. It has two primary and obvious functions: to be a stuffed animal that a child can play with and be comforted by, and it’s also a pillow. Both the filling and the outside cover are made of 100% polyester. According to the tag, this particular Pillow Pet must have been made in the year 2010. He apparently was born (manufactured) in Jiangsu, China, and eventually was imported by Ontel Products Corp. to Fairfield, New Jersey. He eventually made his way to Queens, New York, where my mother purchased him as a Christmas gift for me. This little guy has probably done more traveling in 7 years than I have in my entire life.
I received my Pillow Pet either in 2014 or 2015. I have absolutely no reason or desire to use my Pillow Pet as a stuffed animal, so he mostly hangs out as a little pillow and for decoration. He mostly used to hang out on my bed, until I studied abroad in Germany and actually needed to sleep on him as a real pillow (okay, I didn’t need to use him as a pillow, I just preferred him over the pillow I was given). Although he’s a smaller pillow designed for a child’s head, that didn’t hinder me much from using him as a pillow. So far, I am the only person to ever own this particular Pillow Pet, so its function hasn’t really changed and there isn’t any “chain of ownership.” In a way, you could say he went from a display object to one that was actually functional; however, the function I chose to use weren’t different from the function he was made for.
What I think is cool about my Pillow Pet is that, although Pillow Pets were originally intended to be for a significantly younger age group (the tag says “3+”) and the idea was clearly a mass-marketed capitalist scheme (who doesn’t know the Pillow Pet song?!), this Pillow Pet in particular has become a part of my story and my life. I can never tell the story of what it was like studying abroad without including my Pillow Pet. He is the only stuffed animal I bring to college out of the 10 I currently have at home. When I’m feeling down and alone, I hold him because he reminds me of my mom. I just realized I’ve been referring to my Pet as “he” versus “it” throughout this blog post. Although there are definitely millions of Pillow Pets exactly like this one, none of them have the same meaning to me as him. The idea of objects having a pulse, as Edmund de Waal describes in The Hare with Amber Eyes, holds true for this object in a way that it doesn’t with most of my other objects. One day I will probably have to part with him, and I know already that it will be a challenge. Until then, there will be room for him in my suitcase the next time I travel, just in case.
The Materials of History, Thought, and Art 
I love how you say your pillow pet serves the same function as it was created for yet it clearly means more to you than a cute looking stuffed animal. The fact that it reminds you of home or comforts you when you’re feeling down says a lot about what it has come to mean to especially since it is one among ten other pillow pets. (One can even argue that what is important to you is not the pillow pet itself but your mother.) I also find it amazing that pillow pets are so new to the marketplace because they seem to be so prevalent in the lives of many of the Americans I have encountered.
Also, bringing up the capitalistic aspect of the manufacturing and production of your pillow pet adds a fascinating dimension to its function and ultimate use. On one hand, here is an object that is mass produced and probably present in many American homes. On the other, this same object/product can individually hold great significance to people that own them.
Finding the origin and being able to trace this is so great! The marketing was absolutely the cheesiest, and I applaud anyone who could sell that many. The point of the stuffed animal being a pillow not only made it a product of function, but one could say, an ageless product. If anyone has ever tried sleeping on any trip, it’s essential. The fact that you’ve attained a sentimental and rewarding journey with such an object takes away all of the corporatized and commercial value. I’ve been holding onto a hallmark rabbit (that still smells like Jellybeans) for 28 years for the same purpose and reasoning.
Hi Jessica,
I really enjoyed reading your post for this week. With the advent of mass produced products, especially ones like your Pillow Pet, I think it’s interesting how we are responding to these products that are so widely used and owned. Even though you’re aware that so many other people in the world own a Pillow Pet just like yours, you still manage to grow your own personal bond and relationship with it, regardless of its numerous duplicates. I can relate to this sentiment as I have a similar realization in my own post for this week and the week before, realizing the mass-produced element of my object.