This Old School Steiff Mule Is Nothing But Cool!

Feeling a little stubborn today? Well, that just may come in handy in this particular situation! Take a look at this mysterious Steiff mule. Have you ever seen anything like him before? His rarity alone is worthy of military honors.

What we have here is Steiff's seldom seen, largest sized US Army Mule mascot. He is standing, unjointed, and excelsior stuffed. He measures 34 cm long and 22 cm high. Mule is made from grey mohair that has been highlighted with darker grey airbrushing on his back and neck. His tail and the lining of his ears are made from dark grey felt. His mane and the tip of his tail are made from long black mohair. Mule's facial mask is made from slightly shorter mohair. He has an open, smiling peach colored felt lined mouth. And of course, you cannot help but notice his amazing eyes! They are made from turquoise and black glass and can be tilted to the left and right to create funny and varying facial expressions. Army mule is detailed with a red cord harness and two long, thin orange wool pom-poms - one on either side of his face. He has a squeaker in his belly. 

As far as Steiffgal can tell, this large mohair Army Mule does not appear in any standard Steiff reference books. He retains his raised script button, traces of his yellow ear tag, and a frayed US Zone tag as his IDs. Given this configuration of IDs, and the dating available on other similar Steiff mascots, it is Steiffgal's best guess that he was made around 1952.

One place this fine fellow has made an appearance is in the F.A.O Schwarz catalog of 1952, along with a number of other Steiff mascots. You can see this catalog page here below; you can click on it to make it bigger. The Steiff Army Mule, on the far left, is listed at $7.50. Adjusted for inflation, $7.50 in 1952 is equal to $73.72 in 2021. The copy for this catalog page reads:

"COLLEGE MASCOTS (Exclusive Import) Mascots bring good luck, hence owning one of these can help only the college it represents. Each measures about 10" high, made by an outstanding manufacturer for us exclusively from our own designs. They are soft-bodied covered with the finest mohair plush and have excellent markings with very expressive, moveable eyes. The removable felt blankets are in the correct colors. Ship. wt. 3 lbs. each."

One thing that really stands out in this design is the Mule's eyes, which are even called out in the F.A.O. Schwarz catalog copy. This eye style appears infrequently on Steiff items, but when it does, it is Steiffgal's opinion that it is the company's way of saying, "don't take this piece too seriously - or literally!" This playful, cartoonish eye style debuted in the 1920's on some of Steiff's Cheerio dogs and Petsy the Baby Bears. Postwar, they appeared on Steiff's 1950's era Lulac rabbit models, as well as these larger mohair 1952 mascots. 

The 1950's and very early 1960's were Steiff's heyday years of producing mascots for the US market. During this timeframe, Steiff made mascots for institutions including the US Army (mules) and Navy (goats), Columbia University of NY (lions), Princeton University of Princeton, NJ (tigers), Yale University of New Haven, CT (bulldogs), and Duke University of Durham, NC (doll devils), among others. Most of these mascots were based on existing designs in the Steiff portfolio that were modified via different eyes, proportional changes, and/or were accessorized with a lettered felt blanket. The Duke Devil was a completely new design. He was jointed, with a felt body and a rubber head with horns. He was detailed with a blue felt suit, long blue felt tail, and white felt shoes, and carried a pronged spear. You can see this handsome - ah, devil - here on the left; the photo is from Worthpoint. 

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on Steiff's largest mohair military mule ranks highly with you. 

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

Rolling Along With This Marvelous Miniature Steiff Donkey On Wheels

It's easy to be young at heart, even if you are not technically "young." And Steiff collectors have a knack for being youthful, as these beautiful toys make everyone feel like a kid again! This week we are taking a look at a lovely baby donkey who just happens to be over a century old. Check out this fantastic foal and see what makes her - and her ride - so lovely from the design and historical perspectives.

This happy handful packs alot of detail into a small space. She is about 13 cm tall and 15 cm wide, standing, unjointed, and made from grey mohair. Her mane and the tip of her tail are made from black mohair. Her all-mohair ears are pert and cheerful, and her face comes to life with black button eyes and a touch of airbrushing. She retains her original leather saddle, which is connected to her via two strips of linen ribbon. The saddle is detailed with three buttons, which probably helped to keep additional reins - which have been lost to time - in place. She glides along on four blue wooden wheels that are connected by metal axles.

Buttoning things up here, donkey retains her long trailing “f” knopf im ohr as her Steiff ID. This mohair donkey on wheels pattern was made in 14, 17, 22, 28, 35, 43, 50, 60, 80, and 150 cm from 1914 through 1943 overall and is one of Steiff's most beloved and endearing prewar patterns. It is Steiffgal's best guess that she is a petite version of the 14 cm edition. Given her configuration and detailing, it is suspected she is from the 1920s.

Wooden it be good to know a little more about her great blue wheels? Steiff's earliest wheeled toys were made with metal wheels. But starting in the 19-teens, the company began producing items on wooden wheels, like this darling donkey. Why is that? Steiffgal can come up with three possible business reasons for this significant and material change.

The first was to enable design flexibility. Wooden wheels, unlike metal wheels, could be painted in fun colors, adding to an items appeal, appearance, and perceived value. They also could be drilled slightly off center, becoming the company's beloved "eccentric" wheels. When an eccentric wheeled toy was pulled along, it waddled or shimmied in motion, just like the real animal would. To grow and stay competitive, Steiff needed to constantly come up with new and interesting products for the marketplace. Early wooden wheeled items lead to other rolling toys, including "Record" style, gallop, roly-poly, and wi-wag novelties.

The second was to create distribution efficiencies. Wood is lighter than metal, and that needs to be taken into consideration in terms of transportation. By the 19-teens, Steiff was indeed sending its toys and playthings all over the world. The lighter they could be made, the cheaper it would be to get them from here to there.

The third was to take advantage of available resources. The Steiff factory is located in an area with many trees and forests. Towards the end of WWI, and through the 1930s, Steiff significantly increased the number of exclusively wooden toys, and toys with wooden features, in their catalogs. It is a little known fact that Steiff produced a small line of painted, wooden furniture for children in the early 1920s. Steiff also figured out a way to create stuffed toys made from wood-plush when traditional woolen fabrics were not readily available around 1919. There is no question that the use of wood simplified the supply chain, created efficiencies, and provided factory jobs at a critical time in the company's history.

Steiffgal hopes this discussion of donkeys and wheels has been a real go-getter for you.

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

Is This Steiff Jungle Gem A Diamond In The Rough?

Let's end 2016 in a wild way! Check out this note from a reader on the east coast who found an Ivy-League tier Steiff treasure and wants to learn more about it. Jacob, in part, writes...

"I was hoping you could tell me a bit more about a Steiff tiger that I found recently. It is similar to one you've written a blog post about already but with some noticeable differences. It is an approximately 40 cm long, 23 cm tall mohair tiger wearing a black felt vest with an orange "Princeton" P. It has a Steiff button in the ear and a tag that says "US Zone Germany." It is standing, rather than sitting and does not have a jointed head as the one you've written about did. However, it does have the "cartoon" eyes."

Wow, Steiffgal is seeing stripes over this cool cat. This indeed is the standing, larger version of Steiff's early 1950's Princeton Tiger. He is unjointed and made from mohair that has been hand airbrushed with black stripes. His face comes to life with a prominent, felt lined open mouth, white wooden teeth, and green and black "squint" style glass eyes. And, of course, what makes him head of the class is his orange and black felt "P" blanket. He was made as an exclusive for the upscale US toy retailer F.A.O. Schwarz in the c. 1951-1952 timeframe.

Now let's take a little trip backwards in time and check out some interesting things about this grrrr-eat example. Here you can see this tiger's original advertising from the 1951 F.A.O. Schwarz catalog. Other Steiff mascots listed with him include the sitting Princeton Tiger, a sitting and standing Yale Bulldog, a sitting and standing Navy Goat, an Army Mule, and a Columbia Lion. They ranged in price at the time from $7.50-10.00. This is the equivalent of $69.62 to $92.83 in 2016 dollars. Steiff is, and always has been, a premium product. Ironically, the mascots pictured just below the Steiff versions that were made in France are more expensive than the Steiff ones upon their introduction. It is Steiffgal's strongest suspicion that they would have mostly sentimental value today.

Steiff also created other smaller scaled school and institutional mascots in the late 1950's and early 1960's. These were all standing and included a 14 cm Yale Bulldog in 1957, a 10 cm Princeton Tiger in 1957-1958, 12 and 14 cm Army Donkeys in 1957, a 15 cm Navy Goat in 1957, and a 25 cm Navy Goat in 1957-60.

Is this jungle gem a diamond in the rough? Well, as always, something is worth what someone will pay for it. These marvelous mascots come on the secondary market quite infrequently, so "comps" are hard to come by. However, in June 2016, a standing Yale Bulldog illustrated along with the standing Princeton Tiger in the 1951 F.A.O. Schwarz catalog sold at auction here in the US. Estimated at $600-1,200, it realized $900.  This "Handsome Dan" is pictured here on the left. 

Steiffgal hopes this discussion of Jacob's great tiger puts you on the prowl for some great Steiff finds in 2017! Happy New Year, dear readers!

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

Color Your World With This Mysterious Vintage Steiff Donkey

It's a rather gray day around these parts, and the almost four feet (that's over 120 cm for friends abroad!) of snow on the ground already is not helping things.  But this little grayish friend is just the opposite of gloomy - so Steiffgal thought it would be the perfect time to introduce you to this happy-go-lucky fellow.  Take a look at this fantastic vintage farm friend who just arrived on the east coast from Germany.  Although not technically "young" anymore - he is certainly young at heart... and will warm yours, too!

Here we have a most adorable and vintage looking donkey.  This farm friend measures 22 cm tall (top of head to foot) and 30 cm long (tip of nose to backside.)  He is standing, unjointed, and made of tan mohair which has been lovingly airbrushed with grayish-purple highlights.  His tail and mane are made from long, soft, black mohair.   His face comes to life with longer tan mohair on his "sideburns" and forehead, a shorter mohair muzzle, pert black eyes, and a black airbrushed nose and mouth.  The coloring on his face truly gives him him a youthful, playful appearance.  He retains his long trailing "F" button and illegible yellow ear tag (pictured below) as his Steiff IDs.  

Like many things Steiff, this donkey has details that make him hard to date and identify with 110% accuracy.  His long trailing "F" button initially suggests that he may have been manufactured in the c. 1933 - 1935 time period.  If that were the case, he most resembles the company's Jung Esel or Young Donkey, which was made in 22 and 28 cm from 1933 through 1943 overall.  Young Donkey is pictured here on the left; the photo is from Pfeiffer's 1892-1943 Sortiment book.  Like the example under discussion today, Steiff's Young Donkey pattern is famous for his grey-purple highlights and innocent looks.  However, it is clear that there are some key differences between the Young Donkey pattern and the donkey under discussion here.  Young Donkey is made from long grey wool plush; this example is made from highlighted mohair.  Young Donkey has grey felt (or perhaps leather) hooves; this example does not.  Young Donkey has a grey tail and mane; this example has black detailing.  And Young Donkey has his ears positioned forward; this example has the ears positioned to the rear.   

So how do his design elements and early IDs all align?  Well, only this donkey knows for sure, but here are two ideas.  

1.  The mid 1930's through the early 1950's were a really rough time for manufacturing at Steiff, and supplies and fabrics were available on an inconsistent basis.  It is possible that this donkey was indeed made to the Jung Esel pattern as best as possible, but with the materials and technology available on hand, in the late 1930's to early 1940's.  It is not unusual to see wool plush and mohair plush interchanged on items from this time frame.  

2.  Steiffgal thinks it's more probable - given his distinctive overall coloring - that this donkey under discussion today is a transitional model between the company's pre- and post- war donkey models.  As such, he may have been produced in the very late 1940's and given a long trailing "F" button... as that's what was on hand at the time.   Steiff launched its post-war donkey in 1950 in 12, 14, 22, and 28 cm; this updated pattern has several design elements of the pre-war Jung Esel, especially in the muzzle area, but no purple-grey highlights at all.   For comparison, a nice example of Steiff's postwar 22 cm mohair donkey is pictured here on the left.

Steiffgal hopes this discussion of this mystery donkey has added a touch of color to your day!

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