Things are twice as nice with this Steiff "Galop" pull toy. Its passengers are two petite pets, a Molly the puppy and a black mohair cat. Both are standing and unjointed. Molly is 2.5" tall and the cat is about 3" tall. These cuties each retain their long trailing "f" ear buttons as their Steiff IDs. Molly and the cat are mounted upon an elaborate metal wire chassis via metal loops that are inserted into each of their four legs. Their cart glides upon four red wooden wheels. With a Galop toy of this configuration, the riders shuffle back and forth in opposite tandem as the novelty is pulled along; the rotation of the front wheels is responsible for Molly's movement, while the rotation of the back wheels is responsible for the cat's movement.
Galop style toys appeared in the Steiff product line from c. 1926 – 1929 overall. In addition to this Molly and black cat model, versions included two bear cubs; an elephant and lion; a fox and a rabbit; Barney Google and a bear cub; Barney Google and Sparkplug; and two goats.
You'd be cat-atonic not to take special notice of the black kitty aboard this particular Galop example. Steiff did make standing, mohair "tabby" style cats as well as black mohair "Tom" style cats in the 1920s. But Steiffgal has never seen a black mohair "tabby cat" style version from this era. So it is quite possible that this black mohair tabby cat was designed and produced exclusively for this Galop. Producing exclusive items for 1920s-era pull toy novelties does have some precedent. Here on the left, you can see a print advertisement for the company's Galop line, featuring the Molly dog and black mohair cat version under discussion here today. The tri-lingual copy notes, "Two different animals of fine plush on car of special construction. When pulled along, the galloping movement is produced."
Galop novelties - and a series of similar pull toys - were developed in the mid-1920s to meet growing international expectations for dynamic, playful, and charming products that reflected the mood and aesthetics of the "roaring 20s." Through a series of letters to his family in Germany, Richard Steiff himself stressed the need for these sorts of products in the Steiff line, in order that the company appeared forward thinking and "modern" in terms of its production and offerings. Other "two passenger" novelties produced in this series included Roly-Drolys, which appeared in the line from 1924 – 1934, and Wiwags, which appeared in the line from 1924 – 1927. Roly-Droly carts moved their passengers around in circles, while Wiwags see-sawed them up and down, as the toys were rolled about. You can see the mid-1920s catalog page advertising Steiff Galops here on the left.
Steiffgal hopes this discussion on this rare Steiff Galop pull toy got your heart rate up, just a bit!
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