On the Up and Up With This Tiny Steiff Pup!

Friends for life! Collectors will recognize this slogan as one of Steiff's tag lines in terms of its toy production. But this "promise" also extends to the company's business relationships with other beloved brands and characters over time. Check out his note from a new friend on the west coast who asks about a tiny Poodle that appeared mid-century with dolls from the Nancy Ann Storybook Company.  She writes, in part...

"Several of my doll collecting friends have been helping me research the question of Steiff's Poodle being the dog that Nancy Ann Storybook Company used. 

...I have acquired all the reference books available for Nancy Ann and the company catalog photos that they contain, and even though the salesman's sheet doesn't say that the Poodle in the container is Steiff, my fellow collectors all agree that it is a Steiff Poodle that we see in the containers. You can see the Steiff tag around the belly of the dog.  

...Who knows why Nancy Ann didn't say in their catalog that it was a Steiff Poodle? Vogue Doll company didn't say in their Ginny catalog that Ginny's dog was a Steiff either. The Poodle was available in Muffie catalogs from 1956-1960. it was available in 3 colors from (what I understand): white, gray, and black."

What a best-of-show inquiry! So let's first paws and take a look at the Poodle in question, which is INDEED made by Steiff. This model was made as part of the company's very popular post-war woolen miniature collection, and could be one of the smallest dogs Steiff ever made! These are 6 cm tall, standing, leg and arm jointed, and made from wool and felt. Their faces, arms, and legs are like pom-poms, while their ears and body are felt. They come to life with a little black cord tail and black bead eyes. All models left the factory in Germany wearing a tiny red cord collar. This Poodle was produced from 1955-1978 in grey, black, and white. You can see all three here on the left. They are so tiny that they wear their yellow "eartag" like a bracelet around their middles; this is secured with a tiny Steiff button. These IDs were often lost to time, as noted on the dogs in this picture. Because of their size, they never had a chest tag. 

This precious design remains a collector's favorite today, given how nice they look posed with small to medium scaled mid century dolls.

As far as Steiffgal's understanding and research reveals, Steiff did not specifically make a dog for dolls in this line. However, it is entirely possible that the Nancy Ann Storybook Company "adopted" this dog pattern into its line and made it part of its merchandising and product line - given how delightful the two go together! The Nancy Ann Storybook Company most likely purchased a bunch of these woolen miniature Poodles then boxed them and distributed them through their regular sales channels from their own business headquarters. Steiff usually includes some Steiff branding on their packaging that is factory original. Steiffgal can't tell if there is Steiff branding on the Nancy Ann Storybook Company packing on the photos above, but it is not obvious. It also appears that some of the Nancy Ann packaging for the accessories is quite similar. That also suggests that the packaging was done by Nancy Ann in house and not Steiff. Finally, it is not clear why the Nancy Ann Storybook Company did not promote these as made by Steiff... perhaps for some sort of licensing or business reason? 

  

The Poodle design "adopted" by the Nancy Ann Storybook Company was not a "company exclusive" and was available through worldwide sales channels. You can see the 1961 Steiff catalog page showing these in white, black, and grey, here on the left. (You can click on the photo to make it bigger.) So what would make a product an "exclusive?" It has been Steiffgal's experience that company exclusives often are standard line items with a little something different to them. For example, in the case of these Poodles - if the collars were a different color or style (say blue or green, etc.), or they came in a different color, like brown - that could suggest an exclusive.  But Steiffgal has not personally seen any examples like that, at least not yet! Have you?

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on the company's woolen miniature Poodles has been enormously interesting for you!

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