Don't Mean To Hound You, But...

...blink for a second and you’ll miss this rare Steiff “long haired hippie” (oops, I meant yippie!) from the 1960’s! Take a look here as Steiffgal unboxes her latest Steiff treasure…



Dog-gone-it, this shaggy lovely is none other than Corso, the Afghan hound. Corso is 22 cm, in a lying position, and unjointed. His body is made from exceptionally long and lush light brown mohair. His face has a vertically stitched nose and glass pupil eyes and is made from shortly cropped mohair. His ear tips and snout are airbrushed black, and he retains his raised script Steiff button. A really lovely, peaceful collectible.


Afghan hounds are an unusual Steiff species, and from what I can tell, have only appeared in the Steiff catalog twice. Corso debuted in 1966 and was available only through 1968—in 22 and 35 cm. About 20 years later, from 1987 to 1988, Steiff produced another more lifelike looking Afghan hound model called Hassan. Hassan was made from knitted plush and was available standing (45 cm) or sitting (40 cm).


Afghan hounds are amongst the oldest dog breeds in the world. They link very closely to wolves genetically. It is not exactly clear where the breed originated from, but they were mentioned in ancient Egyptian papyruses as well as used to illustrate the insides of caves of northern Afghanistan more than 4,000 years ago.

Now that longevity certainly qualifies for “man’s best friend”- and button in ear - status!

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