You Are Certain To Have A Plush Crush On This Amazing Steiff Prewar Rarity!

No need to sugar coat this amazing rarity! Here we have a wonderful example of Steiff's little known sitting "coat plush" cat. Have you ever seen a Steiff animal in this little known fabric? She is just about purr-fect in every way. 

This pretty kitty is 17 cm tall, sitting, unjointed, and made from grey and white coat plush. Her back is covered in now faded black stripes. Her tail wraps around her rear, as often noted in Steiff's sitting cat patterns over the years. She has green and black pupil eyes and a pink painted nose and mouth. Her face is detailed with black stripes. Any whiskers have been loved off or lost to time. Her bow is not original to her, but her bell might be. She retains her button as her Steiff ID. This fantastic feline was made in 14, 17, 22, and 28 cm from 1931-1939 overall. 

Let's now take a look at how she is cataloged in Pfeiffer's 1892-1943 Sortiment. It says, "Rauhstoff, Grau/weiss, sitzend, billige Series." This translates to English as "Rough cloth, grey/white, sitting, cheap series." These descriptors are very telling about her construction and era of production in two key ways.

First, let's consider her material. It is called rough cloth or coat plush. This is the first time that Steiffgal had handled an item made from this wartime era fabric, it is that unusual. More commonly noted substitute fabrics found on items produced just before and just after WWII include wool plush, artificial silk plush, cotton plush, and linen. From an aesthetic perspective, this material looks and feels a bit like flannel cloth - the fabric usually seen on nightclothes and plaid shirts! It has a very slightly fuzzy surface. Steiffgal suspects that the absence of this fabric appearing over a wide range Steiff prewar designs suggests that it was unpopular, hard to work with, and/or unavailable on a commercial level.

However, it is interesting to note that coat plush was used on two other cat models around the same time as this one. One, a standing version, was made in 14, 17, and 22 cm from 1931-1933. This same model was also produced on blue eccentric wooden wheels as a pull toy in 14, 17, and 22 cm from 1931-1932.

And second, let's noodle what Pfeiffer might mean by the words "cheap series." It is unclear if this specifically means "cheap to manufacture" or "cheap (or cheaper) to purchase", or both. The early 1930s at Steiff were a time when the company was implementing numerous strategies to slash costs and create efficiencies throughout the entire organization. So the chronology of these words does make sense. This sitting cat was made at the same time as a number of the company's now legacy sitting cats, including Susi, the sweet tabby; Siamy, the Siamese cat; and Fluffy, the adorable blue tipped kitten. Clearly, these head jointed mohair cats were far more elegant in their materials, construction, and detailing than this basic, unjointed one. This "cheap series" cat also has simple painted facial features - not embroidered ones - which are far more economical to apply than hand embroidered ones.

All of these small tweaks in the aggregate certainly brought her costs down... but not her appeal or importance in the company's product development timeline in any way.

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on this prewar era coat plush rarity has warmed your heart and soul!

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

Having A Ball With This Prewar Steiff Kitten Novelty

Without trying to be catty, Steiffgal suspects you've never seen a Steiff kitten just like this one! Check out this fancy feline who is simply having a ball - literally. This prewar novelty is totally the cat's meow!

This lovely lady is simply cataloged as "Wool Plush Cat." But her details are far more interesting! She measures 9 cm tall and 17 cm long, not including her tail. She is head jointed and in a lying position. She is made from tan wool plush with now faded black airbrushed striping. She has a pinch style squeaker in her torso. Kitty comes to life with felt backed ears, green and black glass pupil eyes set low on her face, and a pink hand embroidered nose and mouth. Her accessories include a satin bow, jingle bell, and a red, yellow, and blue woolen miniature pom pom ball which is held between her two front paws. This delightful rarity was made in 17, 22, and 28 cm (measured horizontally, not including the tail) from 1933-1942.

Kitty's design and presentation closely mirror Steiff's late prewar design aesthetic as well as business drivers and strategy. In the early 1930s, the realities of Germany's challenging geopolitical, social, and economic situation really began impacting every level of operations at Steiff. As such, the company started using less expensive and more readily available non-mohair fabrics as well as launching simplified designs to minimize materials and labor costs. Here to the left you can see this pretty kitty as she appeared in Steiff's 1938/1939 print catalog; you can click on the photo to make it bigger. 

Here's how this kitty's pattern checks many of those boxes. 

1.  She is made from wool plush, which is lovely and durable, but is less elegant than the company's signature mohair. Wool plush is considered a wartime era, substitute fabric and was often used in Steiff's production on items bookending WWII. 

2. Her face is nicely done, and very appealing and expressive, while her body is  very basic in form. Starting around 1931, Steiff began consolidating their design and manufacturing efforts on an item's head, while leaving the rest of the body as simple as possible. A great example of this is the company's line of dressed animal dolls of that era. They consisted of a lovely, detailed mohair head on a plain, generic linen or fabric body. 

3.  Kitty she has only one joint - a head joint. Jointing is very expensive and time consuming, and the fewer joints an item has, the more efficiently it can be made. 

4. And finally, her accessories are also quite telling. Her bow, bell, and simple woolen miniature pom pom are inexpensive to source and quick to attach to her, but really elevate her presentation and draw your eye forward to her finest feature, her head. Steiff debuted its general woolen miniature line, which was invented in part to address the realities of manufacturing in Germany in the 1930s, so it is interesting to see it being used here to compliment and upscale this design. 

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on this wool plush kitty has tickled your whiskers!

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

Getting Cosi With Steiff's Poodle Named Tosi

Poodles are amongst the most popular dog breeds globally and are regularly celebrated for their distinctive good looks, superior intelligence, and fun-loving personalities. These wonderful dogs, often sporting fantastic hair-dos, are so important to Steiff that several were featured in the company's debut catalog in the early 1890's. Since then, Poodles have appeared almost continuously in the Steiff line to this day.

One of the rarer Steiff poodles, Tosi, tops the wish lists of many collectors today. This is most likely due to her unique presentation, unusual detailing, and place in the company's product development timeline. A deeper dive into her history suggests she is a case study in early postwar design, development, and distribution. Here is the story behind this precious pup!

Given the breed's appeal, Steiff started manufacturing Poodles as soon as possible once the factory reopened for toy making business after the conclusion of WWII. The first new postwar Steiff Poodle design was Tosi. Here you can see her on the cover of the company's 1950 product catalog. Tosi's design strategy was based on two of Steiff's key business drivers at the time - to produce quality, appealing toys as quickly and efficiently as possible and to regain their status as a premier, worldwide toy manufacturer. However, Steiff still had alot to manage operationally in the earliest midcentury period, including rebuilding their infrastructure, optimizing new regulations and distribution channels, and dealing with material and talent shortages, among other factors.

Many of Tosi's design elements reflects these postwar realities. She was standing and simple in design and only head jointed in the larger sizes. She had minimal seams and labor intensive details. Because mohair fabrics during this period were limited and expensive, this model was made from wool plush. Her coat was in a "Karakul" trim, meaning that it was fluffy but uniformly the same length all over her body. This gave her a sweet and youthful appearance, but also required no additional hand-trimming or work on her legs and torso. Tosi's face was detailed with a round, black glass button nose and soulful, almond shaped white, brown, and black eyes. These facial features did not require facial hand embroidery, which can be time consuming and require special expertise to execute. Her accessory was a simple red leather collar, which was easy to manufacture and attach to the dog. And, her small size and compact form made her light and easy to pack and ship worldwide. Here on the left you can see Tosi in a variety of color and size combinations as she appeared in Steiff's 1950 new product catalog. 

Overall, Tosi was produced in black or white wool plush in four sizes ranging from 14 to 28 cm from 1950 through 1953. Because of her time of manufacturer, Tosi would have left the factory with either a short trailing f, blank, or raised script button; yellow ear tag; a red or blue imprinted chest tag; and a cloth US Zone tag in her leg seam as her Steiff IDs. You can see these IDs on the white Tosi above; the image is from www.invaluable.com. Examples in excellent to as new condition with all IDs today can trade hands in the high three digits - low four digit range.

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on Steiff's Tosi poodles has you feeling quite rosy!

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

It's Hip To Be Square With This Steiff Prewar Charly The King Charles Pajama Bag

You snooze, you lose! But everyone who is interested in this next fantastic find is a clear winner. Check out this short inquiry from Steiff superfan Michael, who writes about an unusual novelty. He simply writes...

"Hi, could you give some detail and history on this pajama case, I think?"

It's hip to be square with this marvelous 1930s era Steiff Charly the King Charles pajama bag. The bag itself is 30 x 30 cm, square shaped, and made from long, soft tan mohair. It closes with a metal zipper with a pull ring and is fully lined in textured light green fabric. All of these details appear to be original to the bag. The bag itself is decorated with the head of Steiff's signature Charley the King Charles Spaniel. Charly's head is made from mohair and measures about 15 cm long. It is head jointed to the bag and was designed to rotate. His face is detailed with oversized brown and black glass pupil eyes (one appears to be missing), a black hand embroidered nose and mouth, and oversized, floppy ears, just like the real dog. And cue the happy dance - this great novelty retains its long trailing "f" button as its Steiff ID. 

 

This functional favorite was made as part of a series of children's pajama bags in the late prewar period. They were formally called "night dress bags" and were the first style of pajama bags that Steiff launched to the world. For the most part, they are really rare and seldom seen on the secondary market as they were designed to be used and loved as toys as well as functional items. As such, most wore out or were lost to time. Their basic "template" was a simple, square shaped and lined bag with the head of a well-known Steiff pet of the era. They were produced from 1930-1937 overall and came with Teddy baby, Bully, Charly, a Scotty, a Sealyham, Molly, or a Siamese cat as the animal detailing. This is the first one Steiffgal has seen with a Charly as its featured animal.

 

This rare pajama bag appears to be in really nice condition overall. It is missing an eye, which sometimes happens. Replacing the lost eye would add to its appeal and presentation, and is not that difficult to do with the right needle and thread. However, it is sometimes challenging to find an exact ocular match in terms of size and era. And for some reason, eyes that don't match often look a little strange. As such, if Michael is not able to find an exact match, he may consider replacing BOTH eyes on this item to give the face a pleasing and authentic balance. Of course, it is important to note and disclose any and all known restoration on a vintage item if you are considering selling it at some point in the future.  

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on Steiff's Charly the King Spaniel pajama bag has been the crown jewel in your day today. 

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