Racing To The Finish Line With This Amazing Steiff Gallop Novelty

There's no horsing around when it comes to this week's blog featured guest. Or guests, in this case! This amazing Steiff rarity came to Steiffgal somewhat out of the blue, and belonged to a collector on the West Coast who really, really loved precious Steiff items. Check out this prancing pair on wheels and see what makes them so delightful from the design and product development timeline perspectives.

It's off to the races with this Steiff Gallop novelty. It consists of two standing, unjointed 8 cm mohair pets on a metal cart with red wooden wheels. The first animal is little Molly dog. She is made from tan and brown tipped mohair and is solidly stuffed with excelsior. Her face comes to life with brown and black glass pupil eyes and a black hand embroidered nose and mouth. Her ears are seamed on their outside edges, and are folded over in typical Molly style. Her IDs have been lost to time. Her companion is a distinctive cat made from silver tipped mohair. She has a trimmed muzzle, a pink hand embroidered nose and mouth, green and black slit style glass pupil eyes, and a few remaining clear monofilament whiskers. She retains her long trailing "f" button. This Molly and cat Gallop novelty appeared in the line in this size and configuration from 1926-1929.

Now let's check out the lucky passengers on this very special ride! Standing Molly appeared in the line in 8, 12, 14, 17, 22, 28, and 35 cm from 1925-1936 overall. She was not produced standing postwar. This Gallop Molly is most likely an example of the 8 cm standard line Molly. The cat, on the other hand, did not appear in Steiff's catalog, as far as Steiffgal can tell, except on this exact novelty. This prewar black mohair cat design is just one of a tiny handful of kittens - other than the company's famous arched back Tom Cat - produced in this color and fabric before WWII.

This Gallop toy was one of three novelty pull toy designs Steiff produced from the mid-1920s through the mid-1930s. These included Roly-Drolys, Wiwags, and Gallop toys. Each of these three patterns used pairs of small, standard line items on wooden carts. All were created in response to product development need identified by Richard Steiff. He was living in America at the time and insisted that these sorts of "mobile" items were necessary in the line to keep up with the demands of the marketplace, consumer preferences, and growing worldwide competition.

And just how did these pull toys rock and roll? Roly-Droys appeared in the line from 1924–1934. The animals rotated in circles as their cart was pulled along. "Roly-Droly" comes from the German words "rollen" (to roll) and "drollig" (funny or droll). Wiwags appeared in the line from 1924–1927; its passengers see-sawed up and down as their cart was propelled forward. And Gallop toys, like the one under review here, were made from 1926–1929. The riders glided back and forth as their cart's wheels turned round and round. Each of these metal and wooden toys came with a pull string that was tipped with a wooden knob decorated with a Steiff button. You can see Steiff's range of Gallop toys as pictured in the company's 1929 catalog. The image is from Carsten Esser's Steiff Katalog 1920-1929. 

According to Steiff's advertising, Gallop toys consisted of..."Two different animals of fine plush on car of special construction. When pulled along, the galloping moment is produced." Gallop toys were produced in a number of configurations. These included one with a brown and white standing bear; one with a standing lion and elephant; one with a standing fox and hare; one with a Barney Google doll and a standing bear; one with a Barney Google doll and a standing Spark Plug horse; one with a Spark Plug horse and an ostrich; one with two standing goats; and one with a Molly and black cat. The advertisement on the left is from the mid-1920s and features the Molly and black cat version under discussion here today. The image is from Carsten Esser's Steiff Katalog 1920-1929. 

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on Steiff's Gallop novelties has put a fun spring in your step today. 

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

Bringing History To Life With These Amazing Gifts From Richard Steiff Himself!

Are you ready for something SUPER STEIFF exciting? Of course you are! Check out this email from Merleen, who writes from Michigan about two precious family treasures with amazing ties to one of Steiffgal's heroes, Richard Steiff. She shares...

"Greetings! My mother Elizabeth Newhouse Jones, who is 92 years old, received 2 Steiff animals when she was a child from one of the Steiff brothers. My mother said the name of the gentleman who gave the toys to her was Richard Steiff and he was the nephew of the woman who founded the company. My mom's father was a pharmacist and Mr. Steiff came into his drug store in Jackson, Michigan back in the 1930s and gave my mother a cow and a fox hand puppet. The name of the pharmacy was the Flat Iron Drug Store." 

Here on the left you can see a photo of Liz holding these incredible treasures today.

Talk about bringing history to life! Richard Steiff lived in Jackson, Michigan at 610 Harwood Avenue from at least the mid-1920s until he passed away in 1939. Awhile back, Steiffgal visited this home. According to Merleen, her grandfather's drug store was a short walking distance from Harwood Avenue. So it makes perfect sense that Richard may have frequented the pharmacy for medication and other home health needs during this timeframe. 

Now let's take a look at the two items that Richard gifted Merleen's mom. The first is actually an ox, not a cow, at least according to Pfeiffer's 1892-1943 Sortiment reference book. The ox is standing, unjointed, and made from lovely white and copper colored mohair with patched construction. His head and face are detailed with black button eyes and velvet horns. This design was produced in 17, 22, and 28 cm from 1929-1943 overall. From the photos, it appears that Merleen's ox has a red ear tag, suggesting it was produced in the c. 1929-1934 time frame - aligning perfectly time wise with her mom's recollections. 

The second item is a field and forest favorite. It is Steiff's beloved "Punch Fox" or fox hand puppet. He is 17 cm tall and made from copper and white mohair. He is unjointed and his head, and the tips of his paws, are solidly stuffed with excelsior. When he was new, he would have had a cardboard finger tube in his head. His ears are lined in black mohair, and his face comes to life with black and brown glass pupil eyes and a black hand embroidered nose and mouth. He would have had black hand embroidered claws, but it's hard to tell from the photos if those have been lost to time or not. This mohair puppet was produced from 1913-1927 overall. He is based on the company's legacy full bodied, fully jointed fox who appeared in the line from 1909-1933 overall in 14, 17, 22, 35, and 43 cm.

It is so exciting to learn of these treasures and their direct connection to Richard Steiff. What is also quite interesting is the nature of these items, particularly the puppet. Richard was a real advocate of hands on, kinetic, interactive play - which is one of the reasons he invented the jointed Teddy bear as we know him today. He also really loved puppets and the role they could play in creativity and storytelling - given how they could be used so interactively and with movement. It is possible he wanted to personally and directly share that belief with Merleen's mom with this puppet gift. In a hand written letter dated December 22, 1926, Richard writes from Jackson to a toy industry colleague here in America about the company's chimp puppet, or Hand Monkey:

“I demonstrated the Hand Monkey for a few days in Jury Rowe’s store. It was very interesting and convinced me that we have a good business to come.... Only one out of a couple hundred persons has ever seen a Hand Monkey! I would not believe this to anyone but I experienced it. Already in Atlantic City I gave Mr. Schaufelberger the idea how to build a simple demonstrating machine for Hand Monkeys.” 

Steiffgal hopes you enjoyed learning about this Steiff ox and fox puppet duo with profound and perfect provenance!

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

Pick Up The Pace And Check Out This Amazing Steiff Galop Novelty!

And we're off to the races with this next remarkable Steiff find! Steiffgal recently had the opportunity to see this rolling rarity firsthand, thanks to a friend. Its clever and period design, as well as place in Steiff's product development history timeline, are quite unique. Care to learn more? Then take a look at this gorgeous "Galop"... it's truly the wheel-deal!

Things are twice as nice with this Steiff "Galop" pull toy. Its passengers are two petite pets, a Molly the puppy and a black mohair cat. Both are standing and unjointed. Molly is 2.5" tall and the cat is about 3" tall. These cuties each retain their long trailing "f" ear buttons as their Steiff IDs. Molly and the cat are mounted upon an elaborate metal wire chassis via metal loops that are inserted into each of their four legs. Their cart glides upon four red wooden wheels. With a Galop toy of this configuration, the riders shuffle back and forth in opposite tandem as the novelty is pulled along; the rotation of the front wheels is responsible for Molly's movement, while the rotation of the back wheels is responsible for the cat's movement. 

Galop style toys appeared in the Steiff product line from c. 1926 – 1929 overall. In addition to this Molly and black cat model, versions included two bear cubs; an elephant and lion; a fox and a rabbit; Barney Google and a bear cub; Barney Google and Sparkplug; and two goats. 

You'd be cat-atonic not to take special notice of the black kitty aboard this particular Galop example. Steiff did make standing, mohair "tabby" style cats as well as black mohair "Tom" style cats in the 1920s. But Steiffgal has never seen a black mohair "tabby cat" style version from this era. So it is quite possible that this black mohair tabby cat was designed and produced exclusively for this Galop. Producing exclusive items for 1920s-era pull toy novelties does have some precedent. Here on the left, you can see a print advertisement for the company's Galop line, featuring the Molly dog and black mohair cat version under discussion here today. The tri-lingual copy notes, "Two different animals of fine plush on car of special construction. When pulled along, the galloping movement is produced."

Galop novelties - and a series of similar pull toys - were developed in the mid-1920s to meet growing international expectations for dynamic, playful, and charming products that reflected the mood and aesthetics of the "roaring 20s." Through a series of letters to his family in Germany, Richard Steiff himself stressed the need for these sorts of products in the Steiff line, in order that the company appeared forward thinking and "modern" in terms of its production and offerings. Other "two passenger" novelties produced in this series included Roly-Drolys, which appeared in the line from 1924 – 1934, and Wiwags, which appeared in the line from 1924 – 1927. Roly-Droly carts moved their passengers around in circles, while Wiwags see-sawed them up and down, as the toys were rolled about. You can see the mid-1920s catalog page advertising Steiff Galops here on the left. 

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on this rare Steiff Galop pull toy got your heart rate up, just a bit!

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

I'll Tumble For You!

Talk about (s)tumbling onto a fantastic Steiff find! Robin was at the right place at the right time when she found this absolutely amazing and extremely rare early Steiff bear novelty. She shares,

"Hi Steiffgal,

Here's the item I told you about. He is pretty cool and definitely something I’ve never seen before. Before I received him, I thought he might be a skittle like the bear ones I already have, and the bear himself is very similar but he’s much bigger and the base is totally different.

The bear himself is 10" tall and about 5" elbow to elbow. The base is 5-1/2" in diameter and 2-1/2" high. The base is wood with some kind of metal weight inset, that allow him to rock and spin without falling over. It is quite heavy."

Wow, it is easy to lose balance over this delightful turn of last century toy. He's actually a wonderful example of Steiff's early Tumbling Bear. He's standing, unjointed, and made from an early plush material. His eyes are black, and his nose and mouth are embroidered in a very early style. He is mounted on a weighted, wooden hemisphere. This allows him to wobble about, like a very early "weeble" but not fall down. He left the factory holding a wooden stick between his paws and a chain connecting his nose to the stick - to resemble a circus bear of the time.  You can see traces of the stitching on his paws that would have held the stick in place. These real-life bears would travel from city to city at the turn of last century as part of roaming circus companies. Robin's tumbling bear was produced in 35 cm from 1899 through 1918 overall. 

Check out this tumbler in action here!

Robin's tumbler has a key role in the history of the development of the jointed Teddy bear as we know him today. In the late 1890's, Steiff produced a number of bear novelties. They were made to give the toys action and movement. The picture on the left shows a few examples of these early bear toys. Left to right, they include bears on platforms with bristles supporting them; a bear on a cart with metal wheels; and three tumblers in different sizes and configurations. The bears on the platforms with bristles would move when someone tapped the table on which they were standing - so they would sort of "shimmy" about.

Richard Steiff wanted to create far more playful, dynamic, and child-friendly versions of these static/moving bears, and he took this challenge very seriously. He studied the way real bears move at the zoo. Mohair, a fabric perfect for soft, durable toys, became available on a commercial level around 1902. He married those two facts, inserted his great creativity, and came up with the patterns for a series of fully jointed bears, starting with string jointing, then rod jointing, then disk jointing. The company's disk jointing system has not changed much since its introduction over a century ago.

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on Robin's tumbler has left you steady on your feet!

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

There's No Place Like Home - Come Take A Virtual Tour Of Richard Steiff's House In America!

What's on your Steiff bucket list? It's easy to come up with a list of great Steiff toys that qualify as truly dreamy acquisitions. But in Steiffgal's case, her list also included visiting the home of her Steiff superhero - Richard Steiff! And dreams can come true, as they did last weekend when she had the absolute pleasure of visiting the Jackson, Michigan home where Richard lived in the late 1920's and 1930's when he resided in America. Come take a tour of this happy, historic home and see if you too can feel Richard's playful spirit!

Richard lived at 610 Harwood Road in Jackson, MI. Steiffgal has a number of notes he wrote on his personal letterhead; that is how she knew his exact address. She penned a letter to the family that lives there now, and asked if it would be possible to stop by for a quick tour with friends. The family was extremely gracious, and said yes. Then, through a series of emails and Facebook chats, the meeting was set for late April. 

Here on the left you can see the exterior of Richard's house. The neighborhood is really pleasant and family oriented, and apparently everyone knows everyone and is quite friendly.  The house, which was probably built in the 19-teens or early 1920's, has a distinctly arts and crafts look and feel to it. The front stairs are made from concrete, and the home features a marvelous outdoor sitting porch that extends the entire length of the house. The building itself may have been a "prefab" house that was ordered from a catalog like Sears and then built on site; this was somewhat common through the 1920's in America. 

The interior of the house is lovely and modern. Clearly, many changes and updates in both its decor and the layout were made over time by the various owners since 1939. This would have been done for practical as well as aesthetic reasons. For example, the original kitchen, which was tiny, was repurposed as a study. However, there are some exciting details in the house that clearly existed when Richard resided there. Perhaps the most obvious is the fine woodwork and paneling which appear in almost every room. You can see an example of that here on the left. The current owners said that the woodwork had been painted an "unnatural" color and that they stripped it to bring this detailing back to its original condition. Can you imagine Richard going up and down these steps? He certainly did about a zillion times when living here.

Another great feature of the house is a number of built-in storage units that are clearly original to the home. They are well constructed, with a charming, old fashioned look to them - earnest and practical at the same time. This storage unit, located at the top of the stairs, looks to be perhaps a linen closet for towels and sheets. There is also a built in china cabinet located in the dining room; the family suspects at one time it had glass doors. Today it is just open and displays a collection of vintage tableware. 

The attic in this house is open, light, and accessible by a staircase from the second floor. Although there are no physical indications today that Richard did work in this space, the room itself is extremely conducive to creativity given its layout, storage potential, sight lines, and window-configuration.  

The home's period details also include more decorative features like knobs, pulls, light switches, and vents. Here on the left you can see a very pretty floor vent located right near where the original kitchen was located. Of course, Steiffgal brought along the "Terrible Trio" of Bitty Bub, Mini Mopsy, and Petite Penelope on the visit. They, like Steiffgal, are batty over Richard Steiff - and that is why they decided to pose upside down on it. 

Richard's house features two laundry chutes. These allowed people on the upper floors to put their dirty clothes down a pipe leading to the basement where the "washing machine" was located - but more about that in a bit. Here you can see the bottom of the chute, which is basically just a large wooden box with a mesh wire door. The wood is quite worn and may have been "repurposed"; i.e., it started out life as shipping crates for produce or something like that. It was very cool to open and close this door, and realize that Richard had done so as well.

Speaking of laundry, it is most likely that the family did its laundry in this big granite sink tub. It is located just a few steps away from the laundry chute. Today it is allocated for storage, but its size, location, and materials perfectly align with 1930's usage. And right above the tub is a series of hooks - a set on one side of the basement and a symmetrical set on the other side of the basement. It is suspected that the family strung rope or lines between these sets of hooks, and used this setup as an indoor clothesline for drying laundry. You can see the tub and half the hooks pictured here on the left. 

Of course, Steiffgal has saved the best for last in this virtual tour. Perhaps the most thrilling part of this visit was to stand in Richard Steiff's workbench area. This is also located in the basement of the house - in the farthermost, back corner. It is a dark space, and the drawers and cabinets are all made from wood, which also may have been "repurposed" like that of the laundry chute receptacle. This area consists of series of drawers, shelves, and a well worn bench top. It is a truly magical space. Steiffgal ran her hands along the bench top, and on the drawers, just to touch something that was also very near and dear to Richard. It is interesting to note that this area has a similar feeling and construction to Richard's workbench area featured in the Steiff museum in Giengen. You can see a collage of Richard's Jackson workbench area pictured above. 

Steiffgal is incredibly thankful to Cheri Valkuchak and her family for opening their doors and hearts to this crazy collector and her traveling companions. Cheri runs a popular day care service for working families out of this house. Steiffgal can't think of a better use of this legacy Steiff space - and can only imagine Richard smiling at the thought of his home filled with happy, laughing children.

Steiffgal hopes you enjoyed this tour of the Steiff action in Jackson!

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

Who Nose Why This Turn Of Last Century Steiff Bear Is So Extraordinary?

This bears repeating - Steiffgal's never seen anything like this terrific Ted before! Steiffgal had the privilege of handing this astonishingly special cub for a friend. Yes, he's got traditionally handsome Steiff good looks, but he also has a little secret to him that places him at a really interesting point in Steiff's product development history. Can you guess what that might be? Let's take a closer look at this Steiff rarity and see what makes him outstanding in so many ways.

It's nothing but Teddy hugs when it comes to this fine fellow.  This bear is 35 cm sitting or 50 cm standing, fully jointed, and made from long, thick, white mohair.  He is solidly stuffed with excelsior. His paw pads are tan felt. He has five brown hand embroidered claws on each of his hands and feet.  Typical to very early Steiff bears, he has long and narrow feet, extra-long arms with prominently curved wrists, and a very pronounced back hump. His sweet and baby-like face comes to life with black shoe button eyes and and a brown hand embroidered nose and mouth.   And just when you think things could not get better with him - they actually could.

His little secret just might test your metal. Believe it or not, this bear is rod jointed... dating him right at the turn of the last century. Steiff only produced white rod bears in 1904 and 1905! Steiff's rod jointed bears are extraordinary in their own right. These early bears are best known for their chunky forms, almost (American) football-shaped torsos, simple and somewhat "puppy like" expressions, and gutta percha noses. A somewhat more "typical" white rod bear is pictured here on the left. This photo is from Christies and this bear, which had its original elephant button, sold in 2010 for 13,125 pounds. But as you can see, the rod bear under discussion today really has the face - and the facial stitching - of a c. 1905 to 1912 Steiff bear!

So who nose what's going on here? There are a few possibilities, but it is clear that this all-original bear is a transitional example that spans the company's c. 1903 to 1905 rod bears with gutta percha noses and their c. 1905 onward disk jointed bears with embroidered facial features. As such, it is Steiffgal's best guess that this very bear was one of the very last rod jointed bears made - and at the same time - one of the very first bears to feature a hand stitched nose. How remarkable is that?

Let's take a breather here and talk about gutta percha. Gutta percha is a natural latex product made from the sap of the Palaquium gutta tree. Gutta percha noses were very labor intensive to produce on bears. Each one required an artisan to place individual drops of this black, sticky, rubbery substance on the tip of the bear's muzzle until enough built up to resemble a nose. The artisan also was required to constantly shape the cooling material into a nose shape, which explains why early and original gutta percha noses often are asymmetrical and have fingerprints and nicks on them. You can see a close up shot of a Steiff gutta percha nose here on the left. Richard Steiff himself thought this process was way too time consuming, and insisted that the company's bear production incorporated stitched noses from around 1905 onward.  

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on this extremely rare transitional rod bear has been a one in a million experience for you!

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

Ready Oar Not, Check Out This Amazing Steiff Rowing Frog!

This week's fantastic Steiff find has Steiffgal jumping for joy! And you probably will be too, after learning about this amazing amphibian. Steiffgal heard about this extremely early and rare Steiff frog through another Steiff enthusiast who just happens to have an amazing eye and great taste. Check out this lean green rowing machine and see what makes him so extraordinarily (but not obviously) interesting from the design and product development perspectives. 

The information available about him online simply notes, "From my personal collection, here is a rare model of the Steiff factory period 1904-1905 with the original elephant button. Stands at about 11 3/4" (30 cm) tall without the feet. I collect the Steiff animals since 30 years and i have found only 4 models with the elephant button, Here is for sale one that i had found 20 years ago in the south west of France. This model was made only between 1903 and 1908. Unfortunately the feet are missing but the button is always present and the velvet is in good condition (just need a little repair at 2 seams), the felt at the hands is used at the extremity of the fingers (see pics). the swimsuit in red felt has some little holes. the outfit is missing. It is always a rare and very interesting item. it is possible to restore the feet if you ask to a Steiff specialist."

Let's leapfrog to the details behind this remarkable rarity. As described by his owner above, he was indeed produced between 1903 and 1908. Because he does not have ears, his treasured and earliest elephant button is located in his red shorts. Today's example is missing three design elements. His elaborate finger digits, which originally appeared like "lollipops," have been lost to time. He also had long, thin feet, which according to a few photos, could have been designed as simple athletic shoes. He also left the factory in Giengen holding an oar, suggesting he was designed to be a rower or a member of a crew team. When he was new, he appeared as the photo on the left, which is from Pfeiffer's 1892-1943 Sortiment.

This hoppy-go-lucky fellow has enormous historical relevance, and could be the topic of a several hour talk all unto himself. However, there are two really, really cool things about him that confirm his gold medal status. 

The first is his "doll like" form. Given his anthropomorphic (i.e., sharing human characteristics) presentation, including his standing body position, red shorts, probable shoes, and oar accessory, it is Steiffgal's best guess that he was made as part of Steiff's earliest and little-known all cloth doll line. In 1903, Richard Steiff designed and produced a series of soft cloth play dolls designed to replace the company's somewhat generic bisque-headed dolls. This new line, as far as Steiffgal has been able to research, was entirely, or almost entirely, consisted of only male dolls, including soccer players, policemen, farmers, military personnel, natives, and early cartoon characters. This appears to be the only "animal doll" produced as part of this series. It is exciting to think that Richard Steiff himself may have made this frog doll! An advertising photo of this early collection is pictured above; this illustration is from the Cieslik's Button in Ear book.

Things also line up with this frog's form relative to other dolls being produced at the time. Here on the left you can see a photo of another early Steiff doll; he is called "Negro" and appeared in the line from 1903-1904. This doll is 35 cm, string jointed, and was made in either velvet or felt. His face comes alive with a prominent center seam, black button eyes framed by embroidery, and a hand embroidered mouth. Steiffgal does not think that it is a coincidence that both the frog doll under discussion and this doll are wearing very similar red shorts with a white tie around the waist, and share many of the same proportions. The photo of the black velvet doll is from the collection of Nancy Smith. 

The second important and key element to this frog doll is "the company he keeps." This frog appears in a 1903/04 catalog photograph used to debut the company's new editions at the annual Leipzig Spring Fair, along with the "Negro" doll and other masculine themed string jointed dolls. But what's so special about that? It's the same picture that debuted PB55... the world's first jointed Teddy bear. Talk about being at the right place at the right time, eh? A snapshot of this catalog page is shown here on the left; you can spot the frog with the oar in the very far right of the picture. You can also click on the photo to make it larger. According to the hand written notes on the photo, these frog dolls were 21 Deutchmark per twelve. This picture is from the Cieslik's Button in Ear book.

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on this early and athletic frog doll has got your pulse racing!

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

This Long Brown Tipped Mohair Steiff Chimp Is One Head Turner Indeed!

When it comes to Steiff, it's always fun to monkey around. Primates have been an important part of the Steiff line since the late 1800's and many collectors really go ape over their expressive faces and playful presentations. Some of them even come with secrets - like this one. Check out this chimp-champ and see what makes him so interesting from the historical and product development perspective.

This sweet jungle-jem is unquestionably a mover and a shaker. His name is Chimpanzee, and he is 22 cm tall, sitting, and fully jointed. His long, narrow body, shapely arms, and bent legs are made from extra long brown tipped mohair. His face and hands and feet are made from tan felt. His charming face comes to life with black and brown glass pupil eyes set close together in eye pockets, a dimensional muzzle, a closed mouth, and a white mohair chin. And he has a delightful surprise - he has a tail moves head mechanism, which allows his head to rotate 360 degrees! Like many tail moves head items from this period, the mohair covering on this Chimp's metal tush-twister has been lost to time. He retains his large trailing f button and a trace of his red ear tag as his IDs. This great pattern was produced in nine sizes ranging from 13 to 66 cm from 1931-1934. Steiff also produced a closed mouth, long brown tipped mohair "Chimpanzee" without the tail moves head feature in five sizes ranging from 25 to 100 cm from 1928-1934 overall. 

Do you suspect any monkeyshines between Chimpanzee's design and that of his better known cousin, Jocko? Steiff's Chimpanzees did in part resemble the company's Jockos, but did have a few distinctively different features and treatments. For a comparison, please check out the photo on the left which features this 22 cm tail moves head Chimpanzee and his new best friend, a 23 cm wool plush Jocko; both were made in the early 1930's.

Steiff was really on the move in the 1920's and early 1930's, at least with its line of top-tier toy categories. Richard Steiff, although living in the United States at the time, was very involved with the company's product design and development pipeline. He constantly encouraged his family in Germany to create new and exciting novelties, to capture the hearts, minds, and pocketbooks of the growing global marketplace. He did this by writing passionate and persuasive handwritten letters, in beautiful penmanship, on his personal letterhead. These letters often stressed the importance of quality, innovation, presentation, and advertising as keys to business growth and success. The Steiff design team came up with the idea of "tail moves head" animals as one of many responses to Richard's directives. The company applied for, and received patents for this technology in the early 1930's.

Overall, about 25 different tail turns head models were produced through the late 1930's and very early 1940's. These were advertised as, "The ingenious head-movement makes Steiff animals appear alive." For the most part, these were based on the best selling standard line patterns of the time and included cats, dogs, rabbits, penguins, goats, and lambs, and even Mickey Mouse, among others. However, there were exceptions to this rule, like a most unusual tabby tail moves head bulldog. Even more interesting to note is the fact that there was not a Teddy bear - perhaps the company's most popular product - on the pre-war production roster of tail moves head items. Steiff would go on to make a fully jointed, tail moves head bear in 18 and 25 cm in 1955 only. Today, this rare bear is one of the most sought after postwar bear examples among collectors.

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on this tail moves head Chimpanzee has been more fun than a barrel full of monkeys!

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