A Steiff Mystery of Olympic Proportions

Now this latest Steiff find may just test your mettle - your Olympic medal, that is!  Steiffgal recently acquired a most unusual Steiff purse, one that she had only read - and dreamed - about.  The item itself is sort of interesting, but its possible history and origins just might be world class!

Hold everything and check out this sports-themed handbag.  This round purse has a diameter of 18 cm.  It is basically made from two circles of white plush which are sewn together on a blue and white canvas fabric edging. On one side of the bag is the five ringed Olympic logo in black. The other side is detailed with the words "1980," and "Lake Placid" and that game's mascot logo, Rocky the Raccoon. Rocky is grey, white, and black, with white and black pupil eyes. All decorations on the bag (except the inserted eyes) appear to be stenciled. The bag strap is a long blue cord which matches the color of the fabric edging. The bag closes with a simple silver metal zipper.  In terms of Steiff ID, the purse has a generic, unnumbered late 1970's style yellow ear tag, but no chest tag or button.

Here's where the mystery kicks in. According to Pfeiffer's 1947-2003 Steiff Sortiment, this item - called a "disco bag" - was in the line in 1979 and came in two color themes. These include the blue one as described above, and a similar one with red and white canvas edging and a red cord bag strap. The red version did not include the date "1980" on the Rocky logo side of the bag. The purse's article number is noted as 6354/18. For the most part, items that appear in Pfeiffer's Steiff books have been produced and distributed on a commercial scale.

However, according to beloved Steiff authority Dee Hockenberry's reference book, Steiff Bears and Other Playthings Past and Present, this item, and a plush Rocky raccoon logo toy never went into production. Specifically, for the purses, she says...

"Olympic Pocketbook Prototypes: 7 inches in diameter. Plush with zipper closure. Never in production. The only examples ever made."  

The photo on the left of the purses is from the Hockenberry book. 

And for the Rocky logo toy, she notes... 

"Prototype Raccoon: 11 inches. In 1978 and 1979, Steiff, through their US representative, made presentations to the American Olympic Committee in order to obtain a licence to make 1980 Olympic souvenirs. Three prototype were made incorporating the Lake Placid mascot and Olympic logo. Although the samples were attractive, an official licence was never granted.  These are the only examples ever made."  

The photo on the left of the Rocky logo toy is from the Hockenberry book. 

Just how rare are Steiff 1980 Olympic souvenir handbags? The Pfeiffer and Hockenberry references seem to suggest opposite sides of the story. What Steiffgal does know for sure is that in 40+ years of collecting Steiff, she has never seen or even heard of another example of a Rocky Lake Placid Olympic item. And this item's generic yellow Steiff tag without numbering does suggest that this particular example may be a very early example or prototype. However, Rocky's face painting on Steiffgal's version does not exactly match up to the painting on the one pictured in Dee Hockenberry's book. As such, the ones pictured in the Hockenberry book are NOT the only examples ever made. It seems that the mystery behind this unusual "disco bag" - like many Olympic achievements - is one for the record books.  

Steiffgal hopes you've taken this discussion on Steiff's Rocky handbag quite purse-sonally.

Have a question about one of your Steiff treasures? Let's talk! Click here to learn more.

Going For The Gold With A "Could Have Been" Steiff Olympic Mascot

Like many people all over the world, Steiffgal's got the Sochi Olympics on her mind! After all, what's not to enjoy about watching world-class sport competition, the pageantry of it all, and hearing the life stories behind some of the athletes? It's also very interesting to take a look at the Olympic mascots that have been the face of goodwill behind the games over the years. The 2014 Sochi games are represented by the happy trio of a polar bear, snow leopard, and a big white bunny - and are the first mascots decided by popular vote. But you know that the idea of a "logo" to represent the summer and winter games is a relatively new concept, starting only in 1968?

Despite its tradition for creating special edition pieces for important events and occasions, Steiff has made surprisingly few licenced Olympic related souvenir items over the years. The best-known one is Olympic Waldi, who was the mascot for the 1972 summer games in Munich. He was made in a plush and wooden version, and both are highly collectible today. These collectibles are pictured here on the left. But there was another Olympic Steiff close call just a few years later, in 1980. Here's that story! 

The world "crossed the pond" for the 1980 Winter Olympics, which were held in Lake Placid, New York. The mascot for these games was Roni the Raccoon. Roni was designed by artist Donald Moss, and inspired by the appearance of the hats and goggles used by many athletes participating in the winter games. Roni was named after the Adirondack mountain range, which were the mountains on which the competitions took place. 
 

Based on their previous success with Olympic Waldi just a few years prior, Steiff did give it their best in an attempt to get a license to create Roni mascots. According to Steiff records and Dee Hockenberry's Steiff Bears and Other Playthings Past and Present...
 
"In 1978 and 1979, Steiff, through their US representative, made presentations to the American Olympic Committee in order to obtain a license to make 1980 Olympic souvenirs. The prototypes were made incorporating the Lake Placid mascot and Olympic logo. Although the samples were attractive, an official license was never granted."

Steiff proposed an 11 inch standing plush version of Roni, as well as zipper top handbags featuring the soon to be famous raccoon. You can see these items here on the left; the images are from Dee Hockenberry. Neither were created, and it is assumed that the only a handful of samples of these items are tucked away in the company's archives. 

Steiffgal hopes this discussion of these "could have been..." Steiff Lake Placid Roni Olympic souvenirs has been worthy of a gold medal for you!

Have a question about one of your Steiff treasures? Let's talk! Click here to learn more!    

A Steiff Dog Puzzle Of Olympic Proportions

In the mood for a little Steiff puzzler?  Than take a look at this mysterious wooden Steiff dog!  Steiffgal just had the pleasure of welcoming him into her Steiff hug, but does admit he is really quite different than most things typically produced by the Steiff company these days.  So let's give this a real Olympic effort and learn about his world-class history and background.

It's easy to color your world with this 17 piece standing Steiff puzzle pup.  What we have here is called "Olympic Waldi," and was made by Steiff in 1971 through 1972.  Waldi came in this size only (officially 15 cm) and was packaged in a white cardboard box with a partially "see through" top. Waldi was manufactured in honor of the 1972 Olympics in Munich; this darling dachshund was the official mascot of these games.  

No need to jump through rings for the details of this colorful canine.  Waldi is 5.5" tall and 15" long back to front, including his long curved tail. He is made from solid wood; his body is joined together by one long green plastic straw; his head and ears are attached via this same simple joining technique. A close up of his construction is pictured to the left. He is brightly and happily colored with a teal head and tail; cornflower blue ears and rear; lime green chest; and rings (a loose interpretation of the Olympic rings) of yellow, green, teal and orange around his belly. His face is detailed with plain, simple black dot eyes.  In terms of ID, Waldi somewhat surprisingly does not have a Steiff button, or any Steiff branding at all, in his ear.  On one side of his chest is a white Steiff bear faced logo with the word "Spielzeug" (translates from the German to "toy") and on the other side the official logo of the 1972 Olympic games, a geometric spiral, and the Olympic rings.

Olympic Waldi was one of two "official" items the company produced for the 1972 Olympic games.  Steiff also made a 9" tall and 17" long version of Olympic Waldi in dralon, a synthetic plush material that was very common on Steiff play animals of the time. Dralon Olympic Waldi is pictured here on the left along with Wooden Olympic Waldi for comparison.  As you can see, both dogs are about the same length, from nose to tail.  However, Dralon Waldi is almost twice as tall as Wooden Waldi.

The two dogs have other obvious, and not so obvious, differences as well. The dralon model has simple black button eyes, a hand embroidered nose and mouth, and is hard stuffed with excelsior.  Dralon Olympic Waldi shares somewhat similar coloration as his cousin Wooden Olympic Waldi.  However, unlike Wooden Olympic Wally, Dralon Olympic Waldi does indeed have "traditional" Steiff branding, including a button, yellow ear flag, and chest tag.  Dralon Olympic Waldi also has an additional ID—an official two-sided blue hangtag. The front has the Olympic rings and the overall logo from the 1972 games, while the back has the words “Das offizielle Maskottchen der olympischen Spiele 1972 in Munchen” and the Steiff logo. The German translates roughly to “The official mascot of the 1972 Olympic games in Munich.”  The blue tag from the dralon version is pictured here on the left.

Why wood - er, would - the company make a wooden Olympic mascot when they are best known for their plush and mohair creations?  Steiff actually also has a lesser known, albeit very long and robust history of creating wooden items and toys. The first wooden items appeared around 1910 and were mostly accessories for the Teddy bears, animals, and dolls in the line.  Then in the late 19-teens and early 1920's, Steiff began producing large numbers of wooden items - in part because mohair and other softer materials were in short supply post World War l.  These treasures included block sets; wooden characters on rocking bases and wooden wheels; building sets; trains; pull wagons; and animal-themed wagons - including designs based on popular characters of the time.  (The photo on the left, from Steiff superfans Jenny and Will Frankhouser, shows great examples of early Steiff wooden toys including a go cart, scooter, and pull wagon.) Post war, wooden toys became much less prominent in the line; animal pull toys were manufactured through the 1970's but their designs were far less detailed and interesting than their pre-war cousins. Wooden Olympic Waldi, produced in the early 1970's, was perhaps the last item of note in this long run of wooden toy production.

The first modern Olympics were held in 1896 in Greece. However, it wasn’t until 1968 that the games had “official mascots” such as Waldi. Waldi was designed by Otto Aicher, a German graphic artist, who also designed the overall branding and wayfinding signs for the athletes around Munich’s Olympic village. You can read all about his great Olympic design work here.  Aicher chose the dachshund, which is quite popular across Germany, as he felt the breed represented the attributes required for athletes—resistance, tenacity and agility. It is an interesting coincidence that dachshunds were also a favorite among early members of the Steiff family, including Richard Steiff.

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on Steiff's Olympic Waldi dogs has been worthy of a gold medal for you.

Have a question about one of your Steiff treasures? Let's talk! Click here to learn more!