Ho-Ho-Kus tailor Frank Celik offers first aid to wounded stuffed toys

HO-HO-KUS — Gunky Monkey was suffering from a wardrobe malfunction.

The treasured stuffed toy, already repaired once, had started to come apart near the neck, and his head was in danger of coming off.

But luckily, borough resident Leslie Lind knew just who to turn to: tailor Frank Celik.

Celik, a Paramus native who moved his business to the Mayer Building on North Maple Avenue six years ago, is known among his customers for undertaking their unusual mending challenges. Amid his everyday duties — mending a tear, hemming a skirt — he occasionally offers first aid to wounded stuffed toys.

“I’m passionate about my work,” says Celik. "People come in and say ‘put a patch on it,’ but that would look terrible.”

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On a recent weekday, Celik tended to Gunky Monkey, the favorite stuffed animal of Lind's 2-year-old grandson Mayer Stokes.

This was actually Gunky’s second fixer-upper, Lind said.

“This little green monkey has sustained some serious head injuries from being carried everywhere,” Lind said. “We tried buying a duplicate monkey, but my grandson rejected this impostor outright. So we came to Frank with the hope that he could fix him.”

For that repair, Celik transferred some features and stuffing from the new monkey, and reconstructed the original monkey’s head. Mayer promptly dubbed the second toy Baby Monkey, and both became treasured travel companions.

But now Gunky Monkey’s sweater had unraveled near the neck, threatening the loss of his head a second time.

Celik pulled out a needle and thread, heading off a second beheading by tacking the monkey’s sweater back onto its neck. Meanwhile, Mayer's 5-year-old sister, Gemma, showed off where Celik had previously stitched the hole around the pull-string on her music box rabbit Bahree.

“He fixed it,” said Gemma.

While they waited, the children were entertained by Celik’s cage of singing canaries, which he occasionally breeds for friends.

Once Celik was done, Mayer retrieved his repaired toy with a quiet thanks. And, with his beloved Gunky Money once again restored, he headed for the door.

Email: stoltz@northjersey.com