This 1960s-Era Steiff Polar Bear Is Footloose And Fancy Free!

Is it possible to be naughty and nice at the same time? And no... this isn't a trick question or have anything to do with Santa Claus! It is in reference to a little known, but very interesting, 1960s era Steiff polar bear. Take a look at this cold weather cutie and see what makes him so cool from the design perspective.

This polar pal's name is Cosy Nauty. He is standing, unjointed, and measures about 15 cm tall and 27 cm wide. He is made from longer white dralon plush, while his inset muzzle is made from shorter white dralon. His paw pads are made from peach colored felt. His face comes to life with black button eyes, a black hand embroidered nose and mouth, and a touch of airbrushed highlights. His feet are detailed with tiny white felt claws in the shapes of triangles. Nifty Nauty appeared in the line in this size only from 1963-1966.

This polar bear pattern has two really interesting details associated with it. The first is its unusual claw detailing. Steiff most often indicates claws by stitching or paint. In this case, Nauty's claws are three dimensional and made from white felt. You can see a close up of that detailing here on the left. Steiff may have been experimenting with this treatment in the mid-1960s. It is curious that their beloved Zooby Circus bear - produced in 1964 and 1966 - also had white felt triangular claws, while its 28 cm white Cosy Bear from 1964 only featured brown felt triangular claws. These three bears with this similar design element were all the line for only a handful of years. This suggests that this feature was not terribly attractive to buyers, and/or was too costly from the manufacturing perspective.

The second noteworthy thing about Nauty is that he was also produced as an even lesser known novelty item. In 1964, Steiff produced a series of smaller scaled pajama bags. These included a Zipper Cockie (a cocker spaniel) Zipper Zotty (a Zotty bear) and Zipper Nauty (a polar bear). All were 30 cm. Cockie and Zotty were made from mohair while Nauty was produced in white dralon - similar to the full bodied version. And like his namesake, this polar bear PJ bag also featured felt claws. You can see Zipper Nauty and Zipper Zotty pictured here on the left. These Zipper animals appeared in the line through 1966 overall.

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on Steiff's little known Nauty polar bear has helped you to chill out just a bit today!

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Cataloging Steiff's Display Rarities From The Mid 1960's

A great way to learn more about vintage button-in-ear rarities is to go to the source - literally! Steiff has always been consistent in producing sales materials, catalogs, and literature about their product line over time, and these original documents are like miniature time capsules of information for collectors. Steiffgal recently purchased a specialty catalog from 1967 which features the company's vast range of lifesized animals produced 50 years ago. The cover, which has a family of display orangutans, is shown here on the left. These include a 130 cm or 52 inch papa, a 120 cm or 48 inch mama, and a 40 cm or 16 inch baby. Let's take a peek inside this great reference and see what it has to say!

The catalog cover itself measures about 23 cm wide and 17 cm tall and is designed like a binder, with metal rings holding the hole-punched sheets in place. The introduction page - which is written in German, French, and English - reads: "Besides the famous toy animals we also manufacture animals in natural until twice natural size. They are most popular for shop windows and stores to draw the attention of the buyers of our mark. Those animals are made of the same good mohair, plush, or nylon  and have a metal frame. If a person wants to sit on them, it would be better to add a metal ring which unites the four legs. This ring must be paid extra.

The catalog is beautifully illustrated with full color photography throughout. The pages are printed single sided, with blank backs. The catalog contains mostly "beauty shots" of the company's display line, but also has a few pages in the front which offer sales and shelving items, including price tags, lighting, signage, and merchandisers. Perhaps the most interesting page is shown here on the left. Check out the range of display pieces for smaller items, including what looks like green metal "cots" for the company's sleeping style cosy items. Steiffgal has never seen these in real life, have you?

Now let's make a big deal over some display animal highlights. The catalog has over 80 individual pages featuring these lifesized lovelies, so its difficult to pick out just a few. Several species, like elephants and the big jungle cats, were well represented with several models of each on offer. Here are some examples that really caught Steiffgal's eye - for their rarity, beauty, or just plain goofiness. (You can click on all the photos to make them bigger and read the catalog page details.)

It's never too early to start putting together your Christmas wish list! And Steiffgal bets just about every vintage Steiff collector would love to find this almost lifesized Santa Claus doll under their holiday tree! Santa stands 150 cm or 60 inches tall and is based on the company's beloved standard line postwar rubber faced Santa doll, who was produced in 13, 18, and 31 cm from 1953 to 1963 overall. Steiffgal has only seen one example of this display sized man in red firsthand - he's as rare as his namesake!

There's not a hare out of place when it comes to this next display highlight. This great mohair pattern looks to be for the most part a prehistoric proportioned Manni rabbit, given his begging position and coloring - with a little bit of Niki rabbit's facial detailing in the mix for good measure. And given that Steiff traditionally does not include ear length when measuring rabbits, this honey bunny is even larger than his 80 cm or 31-1/2 inch "official" size. Just for comparison, check out the teeny tiny Perri squirrel in the photo - he's probably only 12 or 17 cm! 

Now let's cool things down a bit with this jolly sitting polar bear. His body position is quite distinctive - he seems to be squatting on his bent legs. He must be carefully balanced, given the size and scale of his portly midriff. Another picture of him that Steiffgal has seen shows a metal rod base stand mounted strategically on his "bare bottom," probably to help keep him upright. This 180 cm or 72 inch perky polar bear has really prominent rubber claws, faux suede pads, and a million dollar smile. 

This busy pair only want to be your beasts of burden. The display catalog features two donkey designs, but Steiffgal thought this dralon, open-mouthed pattern was a bit more interesting than the other, given its seldom seen accessories. Steiff does a great job with farm animals, and their donkeys have broad and universal appeal. Sometimes they are produced "au naturel," while other models feature brindles and/or saddles. The company's early "Democratic" donkey mascot don a blue felt blanket. Whatever your political affiliation, it's very easy to get carried away over these 120 cm or 48 inch and 90 cm or 35 inch Steiff donkeys adorned with functional, hand-woven raffia baskets!

No need to trash-talk over this fantastic, lifesized black and white mohair Steiff Cockie Cocker Spaniel. It is interesting to note that Steiff's mid to late 20th century sitting black and white Cockers are in the form of rare novelties, including a tail turns head model and a musical version. There is no "standard line" postwar black and white sitting Cocker. So this guy must be pretty special! This catalog page illustration has it all - a great and seldom seen 80 cm or 32 inch display rarity, an authentic situation all dog owners can relate to, and little Steiff friends hidden in the mess.  

Anyone care to dance? It's hard to resist these two humongous and utterly charming mohair Zotty bears. Clearly these big bruins are based on the company's legacy mohair Zotty Teddy bear pattern, which appeared in the line from 1951 through 1978 in sizes ranging from 17 to  100 cm. These cavorting cubs seem to be having the time of their lives. Could that have something to do with the large beer keg and two porcelain steins in the background? These display items measure 80 cm or 35 inches and 100 cm or 40 inches, respectively. 

Bird's the word with this final display pick. Here we have two royal looking Crown Crane birds, measuring in at 140 cm or 56 inches each. Both are standing, unjointed, and elaborately detailed in various colors and lengths of mohair materials. They balance elegantly on metal framed legs that are covered in felt and realistically airbrushed. Steiffgal has seen and handled a number of Steiff display birds from this period, including a flamingo and an ostrich, (both also featured in this catalog) but never the company's cranes. It is her strongest suspicion that like the flamingo and the ostrich, these cranes were designed with removable heads and necks for ease of packing, shipping, and storage. 

Steiffgal hopes you found this discussion on Steiff's 1960-era display items larger than life.

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

This Vintage Steiff Polar Bear is One Head Turner Indeed

There's a chill in the air, but in this case, it's not a bad thing at all!  Check out this note from a reader who asks about a recent really cool Steiff find!  Over a series of communications, Diane from Florida (of all places!) shares:

"Steiffgal:

Check out this adorable polar bear!  He is over 14 inches long and about 8.5 inches at the height of his rump.  His head seems to be bent, I am not sure if this is his original pose.  He retains quite a bit of mohair, which I think was white at one time.  

The bear retains his small underscored Steiff button.  I'm thinking mid 1920's.  His paws need to be replaced for sure. Could this be the early polar bear on wheels? It may be my imagination, but I think you can see an indentation on one paw where the wheels may have been. I sure would appreciate any information on this adorable piece.

Do you think he should be restored, or should I keep him as is?

Best,
Diane"

It's white-out conditions over this great bear for sure!  What we have here is Steiff's Polarbaer or Polar bear.  He is standing, six ways jointed (more on that soon!), and made from white mohair.  His detailing includes black claws, a simple hand embroidered black nose and mouth, and little black shoe button eyes.  This is a great design that did appear with and without wheels.   He was produced with wheels in 17, 22, 28, 35, 43, 50, 60, 80, and 100 from 1910 through 1919, and without wheels in 14, 17, 22, 28, 35, and 80 cm from 1908 through 1928.  Diane's bear has the 4mm button, which dates him before 1925.  The photo on the left shows an excellent example of this polar bear design; this particular bear sold for close to $2,200 at the 2010 Steiff auction at Christie's in London.  

So is this item the "wheel deal?"  It's hard to tell from the condition of his paw pads if indeed he originally had wheels.  In general, larger items were mounted on their wheels and carriages, not sewn on.  The frames had a little "thumb" that was inserted into the foot of the animal to secure the item to the carriage.  You can see an example of this here on the left, on a 1920's era lion on wheels. Much smaller and lighter items were stitched to the wheels and carriages, as the stress and pull was not as great.  It is Steiffgal's best guess that items with felt paw pads would in general not be stitched on to carriages as this would not be a strong and durable connection for the long run.  

One really head turning feature of this Steiff polar bear design is his "ball jointed" neck.  This feature enables the head and neck to be twisted and rotated into different lifelike positions.  This proprietary movement was invented by Franz Steiff and registered on May 24, 1908 in the German patent office as a "toy animal with movable head."  According to company records, this was accomplished by... "attaching a swivel jointed mechanism to the head which was then secured to the body by means of a tube running from the neck to the torso."  Steiff used this feature on a few models of their polar bears, begging poodles, pigs, cats, and opossums.  Here on the left you can see the engineering behind this movement feature; this illustration is from the Cieslik's wonderful 1989 reference book, "Button in Ear The History of The Teddy Bear and His Friends."  

Let's sew up this blog posting with a brief discussion on restoration.  Every collector has a different opinion about whether to repair a piece or not.  Here is Steiffgal's thoughts... if an item is very rare, and the chances of ever finding another are slim to none... and/or the piece has amazing sentimental value or a family history... and/or if the treasure is at great risk for falling apart or becoming more damaged if it is not secured... then yes, Steiffgal would probably suggest restoration.  Of course, it is critical, and ethically essential, that if you do have a piece restored and then move it along at some point, that you let the new owner know about the work.  

Steiffgal hopes that this conversation on this delightful jointed polar bear has really warmed your heart.

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