A Very Special Delivery

Ever notice that when you are waiting and waiting for something, time crawls along, but if you are having a grand time, it just flies by? If Steiffgal ran things, it would certainly be the other way around!

Well, after a very long month of checking the mailbox every day, a wonderful package from Germany finally arrived at Steiffgal's house! And, the contents - both of a field and forest nature - are quite unusual and very exciting. Take a look!

The first item just slithered into Steiffgal's heart. He is a strange yet charming puppet called Hand-Snaky Schlange, or Hand-Snaky Snake. This mohair puppet is 20 cm, has an orange felt lined mouth, and green glass pupil eyes. His button and yellow tag are located on his bottom underside. He is a Steiff "One-derful", being produced only from 1965 through 1966. This particular piece is missing his orange felt tongue, but is in good condition otherwise.

The airbrushing detail on this puppet is truly remarkable. Every single inch of the snake, both top and underbelly, is elaborately painted, stenciled, or shaded, giving him a vivid and 3D appearance. Colors on the snake include tan, brown, yellow, green, olive, and mustard. An example of Steiff's handwork at it's finest.

Steiffgal doesn't mean to be sly about it, but the second item is a real head turner. This tall drink of water is Rotfuch, or Red Fox. He is made from plush and is designed as a faux fox winter stole or wrap. He measures 99 cm long and has a very detailed face with mustard pupil eyes, black whiskers, and black ears lined in white plush. He has an elongated, draping body and tail but no arms or legs. Red Fox has a string loop under his chin and a metal clip on his body to secure the stole on the wearer. Another Steiff "One-derful", Red Fox was produced only in 1976 through 1977.

Red Fox is quite unusual for Steiff in that he was designed as a wearable fashion accessory. Although Steiff has made many functional items over the years, including purses; pillows; playful hats and head wear; pincushions; pajama bags; music boxes; egg, coffee, and tea cosies; among others-- Steiffgal cannot find any reference to other wearable fashion focused Steiff items. Readers, are you aware of any other Steiff "runway" accessories?

The old saying "good things come to those who wait" couldn't be any truer than here!

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