Reunited, and it feels so good! Childhood and Steiff often go hand in hand, so it is always a sweet treat to come across a old button-in-ear friend from long ago. This just happened to a new friend from across the pond, who asks about her blue-eyed beauty. Vicki from the UK writes...
"Hi, I recently found my childhood toy in my dad's under stair cupboard. She is what appears to me to be a leopard I have attached a photo of front and back. She's a hand puppet with a stuffed head with a solid finger hole in her head (difficult to describe) the button is in her ear with some yellow fabric still present although ragged. She has blue glassy eyes and whiskers. I would like to know if you can tell me the age as I can't find anything similar when I search online just cats but she's not tabby. Thanks for your help. I'm from Hertfordshire. She has no claw stitches but her nose is sewn with pink thread. Inside the fabric is very rough but I'm guessing it's mohair (I wasn't sure if real fur?) I've had her since I was little and I'm 38."
Well, isn't this the cat's meow? What we have here is not actually a leopard but a kitty, although the two probably share alot of the same feline DNA in real life. Steiff has named her "Hand Minka Cat." This oversized puppet measures about 30 cm tall and is made from white and patterned woven fur. Her head is stuffed with soft foam, which has a tendency to break down over time. Her face comes alive with a pronounced white muzzle, oversized blue and black pupil eyes, a pink nose, and dark whiskers. She left the factory wearing a red ribbon. Minka Cat appeared in the line in this size and color combination only from 1978 to 1984. Given Vicki was born in 1980, her ownership timeline corresponds perfectly to the production era of this puppet.
Puppets are legacy novelties for Steiff, and a cat puppet has been in the line since about 1912. As for Vicki's particular cat puppet, it is part of a series of larger, all woven fur puppets from 1978. These included a bear, rabbit, dog, owl, donkey, penguin, and this cat. All were 30 cm in size and had charming, childlike presentations to them. They were more soft and silly than serious - and clearly designed for play.
The 1970's were a challenging time at Steiff in terms of production and costs, as the competition with products from Japan really disrupted the toy marketplace. The year after Minka debuted, in 1979, Steiff launched its "Hand Cat" puppet, which was 27 cm in size and had a blue trevira velvet body. Only its head and paws were made from patterned plush. His only "detail" was small white felt collar. All of these updates to the pattern were probably done for the purpose of making a smaller, cheaper, more efficient-to-produce cat puppet for the line. Hand Cat appeared though 1983. You can see this Hand Cat puppet here on the left; the picture is from Pfeiffer's 1947-2003 Sortiment. 
Like a cat with nine lives, it is interesting to note that in 1984, Steiff re-engineered its trevira bodied Hand Cat puppet - again. It now featured an even simpler face, which saved on labor costs, and was made in a much more basic grey plush fabric, which saved on material costs. This model appeared in the line from 1984 through 1992 overall. You can see this cat - and other soft plush puppets on offer at the time - pictured here on the left; the photo is from Steiff's "Steiff Collection 1992" customer catalog.
Steiffgal hopes this discussion on Vicki's cat puppet has been a happy handful for you.
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