Germs

[All-American]

Oddly enough, this is an idea for holiday gifts that hasn't really caught on.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newswee...hy-plague.html

Drew Oliver hit upon his big idea after reading a memoir by scientist Richard Feynman. In "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" the author describes his wonderment after examining a microbe inside a water droplet. As the drop evaporated, the germ, apparently sensing impending doom, tried desperately to escape. "Like many people, Feynman had the impression that microbes are little blobs that don't do much," says Oliver, sitting at his desk at the company's Stamford, Conn., headquarters. "And he was incredibly surprised to see all these little organisms behaving like real creatures. It's that sense of wonder about such small things having recognizable characteristics that really impressed me about the story." Presto! Oliver's line of plush, stuffed microbes: Ebola, salmonella, mad cow, pond scum and Black Death.