Boys Will Be Boys When It Comes To Steiff's Max and Moritz Hand Puppets!

In the mood for a little merry mischief? Or perhaps some double trouble? Then this playful pair of puppets is just what the doctor ordered... as you can "take two and call me me in the morning!" Check out these brothers in arms from Steiff and see what makes them so fun, and interesting, from the historical and product development perspectives.

Boys will be boys when it comes to these fictional friends named Max and Moritz. Both are in the form of glove puppets with hollow bodies and softly stuffed heads. They are 30 cm tall and made from trevira velvet, a popular and durable fabric that was popular in the Steiff line in the c. 1970s-1990s timeframe. Their clothing is integral to their bodies. Max is wearing a brown shirt, tan pants, and a red jacket. His short, spiky black hair is made from plush. His round face comes to life with black button eyes, a rounded flat nose, pink highlighted cheeks, and a painted mouth, nostrils, and eyebrows.

Moritz is wearing a blue shirt and light tan pants. His long blonde hair, with a great cowlick in the front, is made from plush. His long, lean face comes to life with black button eyes, a distinctively pointed nose, pink highlighted cheeks, and a painted mouth, nostrils, and eyebrows. Both Max and Moritz retain all of their IDs, including their named chest tags, buttons, yellow tags, and hang tags. These character puppets appeared in the line in this size only from 1979-1982.

These perky puppets are based on the beloved German folk characters Max and Moritz, the "stars" of a book called Max and Moritz (A Story of 7 Boyish Pranks). It was written by author Wilhelm Busch (German, 1832-1908). This work was first published in 1865. This darkly comedic tale is written in verse and consists of seven “chapters.” The brothers are the ultimate troublemakers and they cast their shenanigans throughout their town. The book, still a favorite since its debut 155 years ago, has become an integral part of the German culture and psyche. Author Rudolph Dirks credits Max and Moritz as the inspiration behind his early and important comic strip The Katzenjammer Kids which debuted in 1897. And even today, some German parents are known to have named their twin sons after this devilish duo!

It’s no joke to say that Steiff “maxed out” in its production of Max and Moritz characters over time. The company produced both as full bodied dolls in 30 and 35 cm versions from 1910 through 1926. You can see these handsome dudes here on the left; the photo is from the Cieslik's Button In Ear The History of the Teddy Bear and His Friends. All were made from felt, fully jointed, and closely mirrored Busch’s original renditions, including the character’s distinctive faces, hairstyles, and body types. These dolls were featured prominently in the company's playful advertising photos of their era. Max and Moritz were also produced as 25 cm “record” or pull toy dolls on wooden wheels from 1916 through 1926 overall. Fast forward, Steiff produced Max and Moritz as tiny 10 cm rubber dolls from 1962 through 1967. These puppets under discussion today are the final appearance of Max and Moritz in the Steiff line as far as Steiffgal can tell.

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on Steiff's Max and Moritz hand puppets has added some comic relief to your day!

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

Hat's Off To Steiff's Ever Cheerful Clown Puppets and Dolls!

Steiff continues to bring joy and engagement to collectors all over the world during this ongoing period of social distancing and bad news. Our button-in-ear friends just seem to have a magical way of lifting spirits in a most universal way. In order to keep up this positive energy, Steiffgal wanted to share another happy Steiff treasure with you - the company's delightful Clownie clown as a hand puppet. This cute commedian has been joking around with collectors since his introduction over a half century ago. Take a look at him and just try not to smile!

First a little background on Steiff's playful pranksters, to give you some context for today's "clown chat." Steiff has incorporated clown themes in just about every doll and novelty you can imagine... including ball-dolls (figures with a goofy ball shaped bodies and "normal" limbs), musical figures, pom-pom characters, skittles (perched on wooden pins for a bowling style game), and roly-polys (on half-spheres that wobble about.) From what Steiffgal can tell, the first clown to appear in the Steiff range might have been a 28 cm version with a felt body and colorful felt clothing in 1894. Perhaps the most famous - or perhaps most coveted - antique Steiff clowns are the ones designed by Albert Schlopsnies in the 19-teens as part of his Schlopsnies Circus window displays. 

Now let's send in the clowns regarding today's special guest. Clownie puppet is based on a beloved Steiff doll named Clownie that was produced from 1956 through 1975 in 14, 19, and 43 cm. He was also available as a 120 cm display piece by special order in the mid-1960s. Clownie dolls sported blue pants with red and yellow felt patches, a white or calico shirt, white gloved hands, a black rimmed hat, and oversized black shoes. Here on the left, you can see the 1967 catalog page advertising the nearly lifesized (120 cm = c. 4 feet tall) Clownie studio doll. 

Steiff has a long tradition of producing hand puppets based on its most popular patterns. So it’s no surprise that Clownie doll would be produced as a puppet as well. Clownie puppet is 17 cm, with a molded head and felt body. He is detailed with red mohair hair, a black felt hat, white felt gloves, and a blue felt top with red and yellow patches. This puppet was produced from 1967 through 1976; earlier versions had plastic heads while those from 1974 had PVC heads. The Clownie under discussion here today has a PVC head.

Steiff also produced another clown puppet - but this one is far rarer and lesser known than Steiff's standard line Clownie puppet. In 1962, in order to celebrate F.A.O. Schwarz's 100 year anniversary, Steiff produced a 30 cm otherwise undocumented “Clownie” puppet. This one, pictured here on the left, had a distinctly feminine appearance, but shared many of the same design elements and outfit details as Clownie. Her head was oversized and elaborately painted, and she had wild, long, red mohair hair. Her Steiff chest tag simply said "Clownie." Girl Clownie puppet appeared in the centennial F.A.O. Schwarz catalog in a section titled “Presenting For Our 100th Anniversary One Hundred Unusual Toys Available Only From F.A.O. Schwarz.”

Steiffgal hopes you've enjoyed clowning around today, at least for a little bit!

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

This Charming Steiff Doll Is Sugar And Spice And Everything Nice!

It's smooth sailing when it comes to this week's Steiff treasure! Steiffgal was asked by a friend to handle a wonderful vintage doll. When this sweetie arrived at Steiffgal's home, she was even more adorable and interesting than advertised. Come take a look at this early 20th century felt doll and see what secrets she holds!

This charming little girl is sugar and spice and everything nice. She is 28 cm, fully jointed, and made from flesh colored felt. Her precious and youthful face comes to life with a traditional Steiff center seam, blue and black pupil eyes, a 3D nose, set-in mouth, and proportional ears. Her mohair wig, which has faded to a silvery color, was most likely brown, given the color of its cotton backing. She wears a simple white cotton dress, a white cotton sailor's shirt trimmed in dark navy or black, great striped knitted socks, and red felt tie shoes with leather soles. Steiff produced this happy, childlike style of doll from around 1908 through the mid-1920's in standard sizes ranging from 22 to 75 cm.  

It's no clothes call when it comes to this beautiful girl's outfit. Steiffgal is not able to exactly match her dress and top to any listed in the standard Steiff reference books. However, given their materials and design, it is her best guess that they are original to her. One clue is the hook and eye construction on her dress. This closure system is very typical to Steiff doll clothing from the first quarter of the 20th century. It is also Steiffgal's suspicion that at one point she had some sort of underwear or underpants, as her dress length is a bit "revealing," at least for the period in which she was made. Steiff also usually produced their girl dolls with hats, and Steiffgal also thinks that this doll's hat, like her undergarments, must have been lost to time.

This doll is definitely a sole sister. Her red felt shoes appear original, except for a replaced tie. This shoe style was very popular on Steiff dolls from her time frame, but this is the first time Steiffgal has seen a pair in red. However, another Steiff doll wearing identical red shoes is pictured in Pfeiffer's 1892-1943 Steiff Sortiment book. Her socks are also original and really eyecatching; Steiffgal has a doll in her personal collection wearing very similar hosiery.

Now let's talk about this doll's birth year. As noted, this style of doll was produced in the general line for nearly two decades.  But she has a few clues that hone down this time frame a bit.  

First, note that her hands are very simple, almost fist-like. This style of hand was updated to a more distinctive hand with pronounced finger digits starting around 1910 or so. You can see a close up of this doll's early hands here on the photo on the left. 

Second, this dolls is made entirely from felt. This is a subtle, but important detail. Starting around 1915, Steiff started changing the fabrics on these dolls as a response to material shortages associated with WWI. Felt was an important fabric and was being used for uniforms and blankets at the time. Steiff's dolls, which were traditionally made from all felt, started to appear with felt faces, but their bodies and/or limbs could be made from linen or even inexpensive muslin fabrics. The body parts made from the substitute materials were mostly hidden under clothes. You can see a little boy doll here on the left with this World War I construction... his head and arms/hands are felt; his legs are linen, and his torso is muslin.

Third, this little girl doll has glass pupil in eyes. Steiff's earliest dolls had black shoe button eyes. Starting around 1909 or 1910, most were detailed with more lifelike, and more endearing, glass eyes.

All of these factors converge her year of origin to roughly 1910. The combination of fist hands and glass eyes is interesting, and indicates that she was made at a transitional time in the design and development of this beloved pattern.

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on this great sailor girl doll has been oceans of fun for you.

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

This Orange Tipped Bully The Bulldog Hand Puppet Is On Fire!

You gotta hand it to Steiff - their early character puppets are simply marvelous! Often based on their most popular patterns of the time, favorite pre-war models include Molly the Puppy, Teddy baby, and Treff the Bloodhound. Recently, Steiffgal got to meet another top dog from this rare category - a Bully the Bulldog puppet! Check out this happy handful and see what makes this puppet so special from the design and collector's perspectives.

This Bully is on fire - really! His body and arms are made from white mohair, his ears are made from vibrant flame-orange tipped mohair, and his muzzle is made from tan velvet. Bully stands 17 cm tall. His head and the tips of his arms are stuffed with excelsior. He has three black hand embroidered claws on each of his padless paws. Bully's pouty face comes to life with oversized black and brown glass pupil eyes, a black hand embroidered nose, freckles, and brown airbrushed highlights. His ears are lined in wire and are posable; this is a great feature also seen on other playful patterns of his era including Petsy the Baby Bear.  Bully puppet wears his original decorative horsehair collar and bell and retains his long trailing "f" button and traces of his white ear tag as his Steiff IDs. This hand puppet was made in 17 or 18 cm in orange and white or brown and white from 1927 to 1935 overall; he was also produced with a hand-activated voice for a few years as well. 

So just how old is this example, in either dog or people years? Given this Bully had/has a white ear tag, which technically appeared through 1926, it is quite possible that he was manufactured at the beginning of his production timeline, in early 1927.  As such, he was most likely branded with a leftover white ear tag on hand instead of the company's newer red version.  These red ear tags were introduced in 1927.  How can you resist this face??

This pattern has a most colorful history. Steiff introduced Bully to the world in 1927 and he was an instant sensation with both children (as a plaything) and adults (as a collectible and an accessory). He was modeled on the French Bulldog—the “it” companion of those in the know all across Europe at the time. These top dogs were produced in a number of color combinations, including black and white, orange and white, and brown and white.  A rare blue-and-white version was also manufactured, and Steiffgal has even seen a photo of a red and white one! This was probably a prototype and never put into production. Full bodied versions are usually seen in sitting or standing positions, in sizes ranging from 10 to 50 centimeters. This original Bully pattern was produced overall through 1939.  

Like many of Steiff's most beloved patterns, Bully the Bulldog was also produced in a number of theme and variation items and novelties.  These included a pincushion, music box, dog-doll, nightdress bag, wheeled and riding versions, and this puppet example, among other product line extensions. Most Bullies came detailed with a horsehair ruff or a button-studded leather collar.  It is extra-special to find a Bully with his horsehair collar intact, as these are quite ephemeral and tend to break or fall off over time. Today, this precious prewar pooch pattern is one of the most universally desirable and sought-after pre-war Steiff designs among collectors. He has been replicated numerous times over the past few decades and even these newer models are coveted by collectors.  The photo on the left is from a 1929 catalog and pictures a number of Steiff's beloved character puppets including an orange and white Bully; this illustration is from Carsten Esser's fabulous new book, Steiff Kataloge 1920-1929. Just click on the image to make it larger.  

Steiffgal hopes that you'll give a thumbs up to this interesting hand puppet discussion!

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

Steiff's Delightful Puppy and Puppet Pooch Pal Pairs

Dog-gonnit!  Who doesn't just love Steiff's delightful canine designs from the 1950's and 1960's?  Their universal appeal makes them top dogs in the eyes of many Steiff collectors.  Many of these popular pups were also made as hand puppets.  For some reason, they are a little less popular than their full doggie inspirations, despite the fact that they are fun to collect and easy to display.  Let's take a look at four really sweet puppet and puppy pooch pairs - and maybe you'll be inspired to add a few of these happy hand puppets to your collection, too! 

Starting off this review is the "dynamic duo" of Steiff's Dally puppet and Dally puppy.  This Dalmatian puppet is 17 cm, unjointed, and made from white mohair.   Of course, his back and head are covered with delightful black dots! His open mouth is lined in pink velvet.  He has three black claws on each of his paws. Hand Dally has black and brown pupil eyes and a black hand stitched nose.  He is one of the rarer Steiff post war puppets, and was only in the line from 1955 through 1956.  The little "spotty dotty" dog on his left is 10 cm and head jointed. And, like his puppet cousin, Dally has an open pink velvet mouth, brown and black pupil eyes, and a black hand embroidered nose.  Dally the dog was produced in 10, 17, and 28 cm from 1953 through 1969. 

Let's now step into the ring with these great Steiff Boxer examples.  The puppet is 17 cm; his body, head, and and hands are made from tan mohair while his muzzle is made from black velvet. Boxer has very nice brown airbrushing on his face and back, and black airbrushing on the top of his muzzle. His ears are lined in peach colored felt. Boxer is detailed with black and brown pupil eyes, a black hand stitched nose, and black stitched claws on his paws. He was produced from 1951 through 1963. His little companion on his right is sitting, 10 cm, and head jointed.  Like many of Steiff's baby-sized items of the period, he has tiny felt ears.  He shares the same mohair, coloring, muzzle, and facial detailing as his puppet buddy, albeit on a much smaller scale.  Steiff manufactured sitting Boxer from 1951 through 1961 in 10 and 14 cm. He was called Sarras from 1951 through 1958 and Boxer from 1959 through 1961.

These next two Steiff dog pairs deserve a little "Pek" on the cheek for sure.   Here we have Peky Pekingese as a puppet and a dog toy.  The puppet version of Peky is 17 cm, unjointed, and made from soft blond mohair with a great golden glow to it.  Her back and head are highlighted with a touch of tan airbrushing. Her ears are made from longer matching color mohair.  Peky's little pouting face comes to life with oversized black and brown pupil eyes, a little black airbrushing, a hand embroidered nose, and a wonderfully detailed, dimensional muzzle made from mohair and velvet.  Like puppet Dally, puppet Peky also was only in the line for one year, in this case from 1963 through 1964. Peky's little counterpart on her right is 8 cm, standing, and head jointed.  As you can see, she is the "mini me" of her puppet pal in terms of her coloring, construction, and just plain appeal! Peky the Pekingese dog was produced in 8, 10, 14, and 22 cm from 1953 though 1977.

Our last great pup and puppet pals are as snug as a bug in a rug! These two buddies are Steiff's Mopsy Pugs.  The puppet version is 17 cm and made from light brown mohair.  She has darker brown highlights on her facial mask, forehead, and the tips of her paws.  Her ears fold over just like a real pugs do!  Her goofy pug face can only be described as "pugly" with its black and white google style eyes, black hand embroidered nose, and playful, sticking-out orange felt tongue.  Puppet Mopsy appeared in the line from 1960 through 1978.  This pug puppet's playful pal is 12 cm, sitting and head jointed.  And the two keep it all in the family with her similar coloring, "wrinkle-y" forehead and muzzle, and quizzical, asymmetric look! Mopsy the pug was produced in 12 and 22 cm from 1960 through 1981. 

Steiffgal hopes that this discussion on Steiff's doggy hand puppets (and their full bodied counterparts) deserves a hearty round of applause!

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