Do Steiff's Rod Jointed Bears Test Your Metal?

Steiff is truly the ideal international ambassador. The reach of the brand, and the goodwill it generates, is simply universal! Steiffgal recently had the pleasure of speaking with a lovely collector from the Isle of Man, which is part of the United Kingdom. It was Steiffgal's first time connecting with someone from this small, rugged island territory that has a population of less than 85,000. (Just the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts - where Steiffgal lives - has a population of 119,000!)

Man-O-Man, did this collector have something to share! She recently added a very special bear to her hug and wanted to know more about it. Her new vintage friend just happened to be a delightful and very early Steiff rod bear! This bear was a blonde PB28 - Steiff's c. 1904 era, solidly stuffed and fully jointed cub. This fine, 40 cm tall example retained two of its "crowning glories," its all original black gutta percha nose, as well as its elephant ear button. (You can see a photo of this button at the bottom of this post.) He also sported black shoe button eyes, a prominent back hump, an "American" football shaped torso, felt pads, and five hand embroidered claws on each of his paws - all design elements typical to Steiff's early turn of last century production. A gorgeous example all around. 

Do Steiff's rod bears test your metal? One of the things that makes these turn of last century cubs so interesting is how varied they truly are - despite their limited time and appearance in the line. They were technically only produced in blonde and white in two sizes (28 cm sitting/40 cm standing and 35 cm sitting/50 cm standing) from 1904 through 1905. Steiffgal has handled only 8 examples professionally, but none of them really looked anything alike. Some were long and lean; others were quite chubby and cub-like. Their faces ranged from serious and pensive to "dazed and confused." And the fabrics included short cinnamon mohair to long and wavy apricot plush - and everything in between. It is most unusual to see such variety in manufacturing, especially from a company famous for its precision, consistency, and quality control. So how can this be?

It's Steiffgal's best guess that each rod bear is almost a "one of a kind" because of their era of production. Jointed bears were truly an entirely new category for Steiff; made, stuffed, and detailed by hand; and based on quickly evolving patterns. So the manufacturing "learning curve" had not kicked in yet. And mohair became commercially available in 1903 - just a year before their launch. As such, it is possible that Steiff used a variety of mohairs on these earliest bears because that is what was available at the time. 

Steiffgal hopes you note that this discussion of rod bear finds - and differences - has been a joint effort.

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