This Delightful Midcentury Steiff Treasure Is Dressed For Success!

There's no need to skirt the issue when it comes to this week's Steiff story! Check out this inquiry from Elizabeth, who asks about the history and timeline associated with an adorably dressed girl doll she recently added to her hug. She shares,

"I purchased and recently received off of eBay this cute little Teddy Baby doll, I think. I'm guessing that she is from the late 40’s because it appears she had the US Zone tag removed/worn off from her leg at some point. Her head and the tops of her paws and feet are mohair and her body is cloth and excelsior stuffed. Her arms are a little floppy. It seems like she did a lot of hand holding in her time. What do you think, am I even close to right?"

This ever-cheerful design always makes Steiffgal's heart happy. Elizabeth's doll was made in 25 cm and appeared in the line from 1950 - 1957. This head jointed model appeared as a boy, dressed in a red jacket, white shirt, and black shorts, or a girl, in a red jacket, white shirt, and green skirt. All the clothes were removable, so it finding an example today in all original clothing is quite rare. They were simply called "Boy Doll Bear" and "Girl Doll Bear" until 1954 when they were more lovingly named "Teddyli." The boy and girl dolls together are pictured here on the left; the image is from Pfeiffer's 1947-2003 Sortiment. A similar pair of boy and girl dressed Teddy baby bears, produced in a blondish-yellow wool plush, appeared in the line from 1951 - 1954.

Teddyli, of course, is based on the company's legacy Teddy Baby bear design that was introduced in the 1920s. This pattern proved so delightful, and so popular, that it because the inspiration for many novelties over the years. Post World War II Teddy baby novelties included a display sized Teddy baby (produced in 150 cm in brown mohair in 1960 and 1967); a press-and-release musical Teddy baby (produced in 25 cm from 1950 - 1951); and a tiny Teddy baby doll on a rubber body named Teddyli (produced in 12 cm in brown mohair from 1955 - 1957.) Tiny rubber and mohair Teddyli is pictured here on the left. Steiff also produced Teddy baby as a 17 cm hand puppet; he appeared in brown and maize mohair from 1929 - 1943 overall; and then again in brown artificial silk plush and then mohair from 1949 - 1978 overall.

Now let's take a closer look at this item's IDs. When she left the factory in Giengen, she almost certainly had her Steiff button and a yellow ear tag with the article number "325 M" on it. These digits correspond to 3=mohair, 25=25 cm tall, and M=maedel (or "girl" in German.) Steiffgal has never seen one of these midcentury cubs with a chest tag. Elizabeth notes the remains of a US Zone tag in her leg seam. These tags were technically required in all German export products from the end of WWII through the early to mid-1950s to communicate that the item was produced in a "civilian" factory and met business and distribution standards set up by the American military government overseeing the United States' occupational zone in Germany. These usually actually appear on items produced in the c. 1951-1955 time frame. Given that observation, it Steiffgal's best guess that Elizabeth's Teddy Baby doll girl was made in the c. 1951-1955 time frame.

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on Elizabeth's mid-century find has tagged your interest in this collection era!

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