Developing A Plush Crush On This Early Steiff Rod Bear

Steiffgal's just a little out of joint when it comes to today's special guest. And you probably will be too! This turn of last century cub is off the charts rare, totally adorable, and has great provenance. Check out "Plush," an all original Steiff rod jointed bear, and see what makes him so amazing from the historical and product development perspectives. 

This grand old man is Steiff's 28PB. This somewhat technical name refers to 28=measures 28 cm sitting down, P=plush material, and B=jointed. Plush was "born" around 1904, is fully jointed, and is very solidly stuffed with excelsior. His early and signature features include black wooden shoe button eyes, a prominent back hump, an "American" football shaped torso, very curved wrists, felt pads, a simple tan embroidered mouth, a trimmed muzzle, and five black hand embroidered claws on each of his paws. He has very long arms, as he was originally designed to be posed standing on all fours. He also has his original black gutta percha nose. This is pretty special, and also unusual, as this hard rubber facial feature often is lost to time. He would have sported the company's earliest elephant style button when he left the factory c. 120 years ago - but that ID has been lost to time. Without a doubt, Plush is a great example of Steiff's early turn of last century commercial production.  

Steiff's rod bears are typically firm to hard in their texture... not usually "cuddly" as we think of Teddy bears today. They need to be "sturdy," in part, because of their jointing. Their metal rod jointing is heavy and clunky, and would shift around in the bear if it were not tightly packed into his body. The reason rod bears typically have a football shaped torso and slightly unnatural proportions is because these shapes can hold the rods and hardware securely in place when augmented with wood wool stuffing. 

The nose also knows when it comes to rod bears. Each rod bear's nose was applied by hand - with an artisan dropping bits of melted gutta percha directly on the bear's muzzle area until there was enough there to configure this important facial feature. The warm gutta percha was sculpted by hand, so each nose was a little different, and often included the fingerprints of the person making the nose. Legacy has it that Richard Steiff saw this production step and felt it took far too long, and was not consistent enough. So, when he designed the next version of his fully jointed bear - a cardboard disk version that was introduced around 1905/06 - this cub pattern had an embroidered nose (and mouth) to simplify and add efficiencies to the manufacturing process. 

Now let's talk a little bit about Plush's history and background. This bear originally belonged to Katharine Wilson Walker (2/14/1899 - 2/28/1985). Kathe (as she was called) named the bear "Plush" when she was a young child. Kathe passed the bear to her great niece, Barbara Walker Burrows, in the early 1980s. Until most recently, Barbara proudly displayed Plush in her china cabinet, along with other family treasures and period antiques.You can see Plush right at home amongst some lovely blue and white plates in the photo here on the left. 

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on the company's early rod style bears has given you a "Plush Crush" on this remarkable Walker family treasure!

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

The His-Story Behind A Marvelous Turn of Last Century Steiff Cub

Provenance can add such an interesting dimension to a precious Steiff item. Here's the story behind a beloved family heirloom Steiffgal recently handled for a new friend from the western part of the USA. She was looking to find a new forever home for her Grandmother's bear - a gorgeous, 19-teens era cub. Here's his story!

Maggie shares:

"Here is a little history on this bear, which has been in my family for over 100 years. He was given to my Grandmother by her older brother, when he came home from World War I. She said that he had gotten the bear in France. My Grandmother called him Buster, probably after Buster Brown, and my mother and I called him Mr. Bear.

I put the little black ribbon on him when my Grandmother passed away in 1981. He's never been like professionally cleaned or refreshed or anything like that. I can remember my mother once shaking him in a brown paper bag with oatmeal to clean him off, that would be in the late sixties.

I took him once to an open casting call for Antiques Roadshow, but they said that they didn't want to do any stuffed toys that particular season. They valued him at somewhere between $2,000 and $10,000 BUT they misidentified him as being from the early 1920s.

I've had him for a really long time, and he does remind me of my Grandmother, but as I am nearing 60 now, I realize that I have no one to pass him down to. And I know that 99% of what people leave behind ends up at Goodwill. I would just be interested in maybe selling him to someone who collects bears and loves them."

Now here's more about Buster Brown, or Mr. Bear! This handsome dude is 40 cm tall standing, fully jointed, and made from lovely dark blonde mohair. Typical to his era, he has a prominent back hump, long thin felt padded feet, pert proportional brown and black glass pupil eyes, a sort of fuzzy muzzle, and a now faded black hand embroidered mouth, nose, and claws. He is stuffed with excelsior, with a nonworking squeaker in his belly. He has a distinctly sweet and childlike look to him. He retains his long trailing "f" button as his Steiff ID. Given his details and history, this charming cub was born in the c. 1915-1919 time frame. A picture of this bear is here on the left - before he hit the spa. 

As Maggie notes, this bear has never had a proper bath in over a century. So Steiffgal got to work on this. With the understanding that every item is different, and that pre-existing condition issues really matters when it comes to cleaning, this bear totally qualified for a light but comprehensive scrub. His mohair and backing were lush and intact, with no signs whatsoever of dry mohair or rot. Using the technique outlined in this blog and/or in this video, Steiffgal gave him a good cleaning and fluff, and now he looks even more marvelous than ever! The picture here on the left is the bear post cleaning. Look how his fur just glows!

Now Buster Brown, or Mr. Bear, is off to his new home, far far away, where he will be loved and cherished forever per Maggie's wishes. And look how happy he looks about that!

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

Good Things Come In Threes With This Precious Prewar Steiff Pup!

They say good things come in threes, and that perfectly describes this week's blog treasure. Check out this amazing, and amazingly interesting, "pup from Pittsburgh." The more you learn about him, the more intriguing he becomes!

This heavenly creature is Steiff's early Saint Bernard dog. He is standing, unjointed, stuffed with excelsior, and made from tan and cinnamon colored mohair. He measures 15 cm tall and 20 cm wide. His proportional tail is positioned downward. He has three brown claws on each of his paws. He comes to life with floppy mohair ears which are tacked to his head, felt backed brown and black glass pupil eyes, a lightly shaved muzzle, and a  brown hand embroidered nose and mouth. He was produced in 17, 22, and 28 cm from 1914-1927. He is described in Pfeiffer's Sortiment as, "mohair plush, white, brown spotted, standing, young, soft stuffed."

So just what makes this guy such a top dog? First, let's start with the obvious. Steiff's prewar pups are always in demand, and those designed and produced in the 'teens and before are highly desirable. That is because they have - for the most part - a distinctively earnest, "literal", and basic look to them. They are also so well constructed and seldom come up for sale on the secondary market. Starting in the mid-1920s, Steiff's canine designs changed significantly and became more "childlike" - often with oversized features and detailing, imaginative coloration, and truly playful personalities. So not only is this example from a key time frame in Steiff's production history, it is also small scaled - another super interesting factor that always calls to collectors.

Now let's move to his second outstanding detail. It is impossible to tell at first glance, but this petite treat also has an amazing secret. He has TWO small silver long trailing "f" buttons in his ear! You can see this illustrated here on the left, One of the buttons has traces of a white paper tag, but the other does not. So why is this? Although the double buttoning in his ear could be an accident, his ear is so small, and the button is so well placed, that the second button truly looks intentional. In the past, Steiff used multiple buttons to keep track of which items were samples, prototypes, and versions of items under development. In the 1920's, this usually took the form of a regular button in one ear, and a "muster button" in the other. It is entirely possible that this dog's multiple button system is an early form of this tracking system - given he was introduced in the 19-teens. Unfortunately, only he knows for sure!

And if you think things couldn't get better than that - guess again! The third amazing thing about this fine example is that it comes with full provenance - that is, documentation regarding his life story. In this case, his provenance includes a letter and several photos - one which is shown below. According to the letter, in part:

"I wanted to share a little bit of history about this Steiff St. Bernard toy dog. It belonged to my father, Robert, who was born in Pittsburgh, PA in June, 1924. My grandmother was sentimental and a "saver," so many things from my father's childhood through his Army service in WWII were passed down and cherished, including his stuffed dog named "Sheppy."

My father always enjoyed reminiscing about his childhood, and he thought his dog was a gift received either for Christmas in 1925 or his second birthday in 1926. Looking at many photos, there was certainly a time period that my father went nowhere without his beloved "Sheppy" in hand."

You can enlarge the provenance letter as well as the photograph here on the left by clicking on them.  

Steiffgal hopes that this discussion on this fantastic Steiff Sheppy has left you quite Peppy!

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

The Power Of Provenance!

What makes a fantastic Steiff find simply extraordinary? When it comes with full provenance. Provenance, which can include documents and/or photos, is "the place of origin or earliest known history of something," "the beginning of something's existence; something's origin," and/or a record of ownership of a work of art or an antique, used as a guide to authenticity or quality," according to Merriam-Webster. In this case, all three truly apply! Come learn more about this amazing Steiff Ted from 1905 through words and images from his original family.

This marvelous and very early Steiff cub stands 16 inches tall, is five ways disk jointed, and made from mohair that has faded from an apricot color to a light blond color. You can see hints of his original hue in his cracks and crevices, and places the "sun don't shine." Ted has black wooden shoe button eyes, traces of his black stitched nose, and five black claws on each of his hands and feet. His stitched mouth has been lost to time. His original owners invented in essential, finely rendered professional restorations on him to improve his stability and aesthetics; these included a light restuffing, redoing his felt pads, and restitching his claws.

This turn of last century treasure also has a distinctive physical form to him. He has a very early shaped face and head, somewhat reflective of the Baerle style. His muzzle is long and pronounced, and a bit less sophisticated (don't take that in the wrong way!) than bears produced just a year or two later. Ted's body is very similar in looks and scale to Steiff's c. 1904 rod bears, with a rounded, almost American football shaped torso. He has very long arms with curved wrists, skinny, narrow feet, a back hump, and spoon shaped pads. He has a really teeny tiny blank button in his ear... it probably measures about 2-3 millimeters in diameter. Given all of these metrics and factors, it is Steiffgal's best guess this bear was produced at the factory in Giengen in c. 1905.

But wait... there's even MORE to love about this ancient cub. He has a handwritten, full letter of provenance summarizing his history, as well as a photo of him with his original owner. This bear was from the family of Alice Bogart Vail Tufts who was born in NYC in 1900. This bear was given to her as a gift when she was a child, and was purchased at FAO Schwarz. Given Schwarz and Steiff have been doing business together since 1906, this makes this bear one of the earliest Steiff bears extant purchased in America! You can see this photo of Alice and her friend for life from c. 1908-1910 here on the left and the letter below; click on each to enlarge them. In the photo, which appears to have been taken in a studio, Alice is "feeding" this bear with a teaspoon. Don't you just love her HUGE hair bow? 

Steiffgal hopes this fabulous bear and his lifelong documentation has helped to demonstrate the Power of Provenance! For more about this delightful cub, check out this YouTube video on his physical and historical highlights!

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

Ringing In The Holidays With A Very Special And Early Steiff Lamb

'Tis the season of bells. It seems like sleigh bells, the bells rung by the Salvation Army volunteers manning red donation kettles, and the ubiquitous "Jingle Bells" song on the radio are top of mind with everyone as we celebrate this special time of year. For Steiffgal, the holidays came a few days early with another bell related treat - a precious and early Steiff lamb with full provenance. Check out this charming barnyard buddy and see what makes her so special from several perspectives.
 

It's easy to jingle all the way with this adorable little lamb. What we have here is Steiff's Lamm or Lamb. She is standing, unjointed, stuffed with excelsior, and made from lamb's wool plush. Lamb's wool plush has a marvelous, "lumpy-bumpy" texture to it, much like that of a real lamb. Although her design is relatively simple, she has wonderful and angular back legs and perfectly lifelike proportions. Her face is detailed with green and black slit pupil style glass eyes, a red hand embroidered red nose an mouth, and a touch of pink airbrushing on her eyes and muzzle. Her ribbon and bell are original. This pre-WW2 design was made in 14, 17, 22, and 28 cm from 1928 through 1943. This basic design in this wonderful material was also produced in a lying position, on wheels, as a music box, and as a ride on animal.
 

Steiffgal was fortunate enough to win this great example at the recent Morphy Auctions' Toy Auction Sale on December 18, 2015. This lovely lamb really called to her as she already had the 22 cm version of this pattern. And, as all collectors know, you can never have enough of a good thing! The happy duo are pictured together here on the left. They have almost identical ribbons and bells. Isn't their resemblance uncanny?
 

One of the things that makes this example so special is that it came with full provenance. Lamb is from the estate of Patsy Ziemer. She was given to Patsy on her first birthday by a family friend who also gave her a pair of felt slippers at the same time.  You can see this documented in her baby book - a page of which is pictured here on the left. According to her family, "Patsy was born Patricia Erica Lyon in the Philippine Islands on October 20, 1927. She had ancestors dating back to nobility in Germany as early as 1110. Her parents were American Civil Service teachers living in the Philippine Islands when she was born. They moved to Germany in 1928 where they established and managed the American School in Berlin. Her parents were active in pre-war Berlin society and observed first-hand the development of the Nazi party. They barely escaped from Germany as hostilities heated up in 1939. Shortly after arriving in Lake City, Minnesota at the age of 12, Patsy wrote the book Two Thousand and Ten Days of Hitler with her father’s coaching. It described her experiences in pre-war Germany, became a best seller in New York, and was published in many languages."  

To honor Patsy and her memory, Steiffgal has named this lovely lamb "Patsy."

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on Patsy's sweet sheep has really rung a bell with you.

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

Begging To Learn The Story Behind This Vintage Lifesized Steiff Poodle

It is so exciting to stumble upon a great Steiff treasure.  But only once in a blue moon does that find also comes with a full history and provenance!  Such was most unexpectedly the case with this recent addition to Steiffgal's hug.  Check out this lifesized Steiff poodle and see what makes him so wonderful from the design - and in this case personal - perspectives.  

This guy's got rock star appeal and knows it!  Here we have Steiff's studio Snobby poodle.  He is in the "begging" position, with a great body shape and realistically curved arms and legs. He is 80 cm and made from grey mohair.  He is head and arm jointed.  His limbs, tail tip, ears, forehead, and nose are made from very long, wavy mohair, while his torso, mouth and muzzle area, and tail are made from short mohair.  He is solidly stuffed with excelsior.  His face comes to life with oversized black and brown pupil eyes, a black hand embroidered nose, an open, peach colored felt mouth with a dimensional felt tongue, and airbrushed highlights.  He wears a great red leather collar.  It is backed in felt, and is adorned with a number of brass colored studs.

One of the things about this item that is both cool and helpful in identifying him is his fully legible yellow ear tag.  This is pictured on the left. On it is hand written:  4380,95.  This translates to: 4=begging, 3=mohair, 80=80 cm tall, 9=display animal, and 5=grey.  This makes perfect sense in describing him.  He is pictured in the Sortiment and also the Steiff catalog in black mohair, but with a different article number, 4439/08.  (You can see the Steiff catalog page below.)  Both of these references date him at 1967.  

So what's up with his numbers? Many studio items from this period have hand written numbers on their yellow ear tags.  And it is possible that his number is different than the one documented in the literature for a number of reasons.  Here are two thoughts.  First, he is indeed a different color than the more documented black version.  And second, Steiff reconfigured their numbering systems several times during the 1960's, his most likely decade of production.  In general, the number "443" on a mid- to late- 1960's item appears to be associated with Steiff's legacy "Snobby the poodle" design.

Catalog from 1967.  Provided by friends at Teddy Dorado!

Steiffgal came upon this poodle online via a heads up from a friend.  With her blessing - and much gratitude - Steiffgal purchased the poodle. It arrived at her home a few days later without incident.  A dozen white washcloths, two bottles of cleaning solution, and two hours of elbow grease later, the poodle was a good as new.  And that should have been the end of the story.  But then something amazing happened.  A few days after receiving Snobby, Steiffgal received an completely unexpected letter lovingly detailing Snobby's entire life story.  It made this incredible find even more meaningful.  

The letter read, in part:

".... he's been a fixture in our house for 40 years. He was originally bought in the late 50's early 60's. He was a gift bought by a very wealthy man.  My parents were caretakers for his estate on the edge of a lake. He was a lawyer and bought the poodle on a working trip to Germany and gave him to his daughter.  

His daughter always had plenty of toys, however, she was never around due to divorce and never played with them. As such he decided to give him to me instead of keeping him.  

I was perhaps 7 years old and made him a fixture in our home by setting him in a central area, decorating him according to holidays during the year. Christmas was garland, tinsel, and other ornaments. Memorial Day was flags, 4th of July was fireworks, unlit of course. Birthday presents on birthdays, Thanksgiving was a turkey hat and a cornucopia. This all changed as I got older, but I held onto him. 

Last year I found him in one of our storage closets looking like he needed a bit of sewing under his collar and a gentle cleaning. 

In short, it is hard to do this, but its time to pass him on to someone who can appreciate him and add their own memories in a happy home. Take good care of him..."

And Steiffgal PROMISES to do just that!

Steiffgal hopes this heated discussion on this Steiff studio poodle welcomes in the dog days of summer for you!

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

This Vintage Standing Steiff Molly Is Absolutely Picture Perfect!

Good golly, who doesn't love Steiff's adorable Mollies?  These precious pups have been delighting Steiff collectors since their introduction in 1925.  Most enthusiasts are familiar with the company's sweet sitting style Molly dogs.  However, the company also made lesser known standing versions of this legacy design.  Steiffgal had the great pleasure of adopting one of these standing sweeties over the summer, and this one came with a neat surprise - but more about that later.  Here's a bit more about this fantastic find.

Clearly, there's no need to sit and stay with this marvelous Molly! She is 17 cm tall and 25 cm long, head jointed, and made from long off white mohair. When she was new, her back, sides, face, and bottom and were beautifully airbrushed with brown patches, but those highlights have faded over time. Her ears are made from mohair and are "folded over" as typical to her design. She has very large brown and black pupil eyes and a black hand embroidered nose, mouth, and claws. When she was new, her mouth had a slight touch of red, accenting her lips. She has a nonworking squeaker in her belly. Her collar is not original to her, although it was made by Steiff.

Molly was introduced in the Steiff line in 1925 in both sitting and standing versions.  This standing Molly was produced in 8, 12, 14, 17, 22, 28, and 35 cm through 1936.  Other standing models included Molly dogs on regular and eccentric wooden wheels, hanging pram toys, musical versions, and barking pull toys; a few of these novelties were manufactured until the early 1940's. No version of standing Molly was reintroduced after the factory reopened for business post war in the late 1940's.

This standing Molly has spent her life as a "friend for life," and Steiffgal has the proof!  When she purchased this blue ribbon buddy, she came with a very special treat - provenance, in the form of four vintage, black and white photo postcards of her with her original owner! Each is 13-1/2" cm by 8-1/2 cm and has the words, "Frankfurt a. M. - T. H. Voight. - Bad Homburg v. d. H." printed on the back.  Here are these four charming pictures.

This first photo shows the beautiful little girl resting on a cushion.  She is holding a large doll, and Molly peeks out behind her legs.  This photo is not dated.

This second photo is quite similar to the first one, and you can also make out more details about her doll.  Molly stands right in front and you can see her coloring and perhaps a bit of her original ribbon or chest tag.  This photo is also not dated.

This third photo features the little girl standing up and holding Molly.  Her dress is the same in all three of these photos.  This is probably the best view of the Molly, and you can clearly make out Molly's round, metal rimmed chest tag. This photo is dated February 15, 1928.

This final photo shows the little girl posing with an older woman, perhaps her mom, an aunt, cousin, or even an older sister.  It is hard to tell, and there aren't alot of clues in the photo.  Here she clutches Molly like a toy, and you can make out what is probably the ribbon around Molly's neck.  This photo is dated 1927.    

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on this standing Molly with provenance has been picture perfect for you.

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