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"I have been collecting Steiff wool birds for about 10 years. I have one odd item in my collection which I hope you might be able to shed some light on. This bird was purchased online a few years ago from the original owner. Around the late 1950s, she and her siblings received Steiff wool miniatures each year at Easter, purchased at F.A.O. Schwarz. This bird was one of those she received. I have not seen any others like it. .... Do you know if this bird was a standard item, or maybe a special for F.A.O. Schwarz? Any other information you can provide would be most appreciated."
Bird's the word with this thoughtful inquiry! It is Steffgal's suspicion that this bird was not made by Steiff, but was made by another company to somewhat resemble the company's woolen miniature "exotic songbird" pattern. These pretty Steiff pets are 9 cm tall, standing, head jointed, and made from colorful woolen yarns. They come to life with a small felt beak, felt tail feathers, pert, tiny black button eyes, and plastic feet and legs. These were produced in a number of colors including yellow and white, blue and white, green and white, and red and white from 1953-1958 overall. They were also packaged as a "bird tree" on a wooden display as a standard line item from 1953-1956. You can see the bird tree and the range of exotic birds here on the left. The photos are from Pfeiffer's Sortiment book; you can click on the image to make it larger.
Birds of a feather flock together, so it is no surprise that the differences between the inquirer's bird and the standard Steiff exotic bird are pretty subtle. The Steiff exotic songbird version has three longer, narrower top feathers while the inquirer's has four rounded ones that look more like a comb. The Steiff version has seven tail feathers that are more integral to the bird; the inquirer's version also has and seven tail feathers, but they fan out more like the letter V. The Steiff version has black eyes and a small black felt beak. The inquirer's bird has red eyes and a larger scaled, dark red felt beak. The legs on both versions are similar; this is entirely possible as it is Steiffgal's understanding that Steiff did not manufacture the plastic legs but purchased them from a specialty company. As such, the plastic manufacturer could provide the same legs to multiple customers. Steiffgal suspects that the company that made this bird changed up the details and coloration a bit from Steiff's to insure that they were not infringing on Steiff's designs.
Now let's catalog a little of this bird's retail origins. Even though this bird does not appear to be made by Steiff, it is entirely possible that it was purchased at F.A.O. Schwarz. Steiffgal has a woolen miniature bird in her collection that was not made by Steiff, but also purchased at F.A.O. Schwarz. F.A.O. Schwarz had multiple suppliers providing items across categories. The inquirer also asks about the possibility of this bird being an exclusive item for F.A.O Schwarz. Even if it were made by Steiff (and it almost certainly was not), this bird is too "small" with not enough "value" to make it worth either company's time in creating an exclusive product - which took alot of effort and resources on all ends. Having worked on Steiff and F.A.O. Schwarz exclusives firsthand in the past, Steiffgal can attest to this with certainty.
Steiffgal hopes this discussion on exotic midcentury birds has been a rare treat for you.
