Dressed For Success: Steiff's Early And Fantastic Golliwog Dolls

Good golly! Everyone needs a best friend, and that's just what the Golliwogs - storybook characters invented by author Florence Kate Upton in the late 19th century - were invented for. Steiff has a long tradition of bringing favorite fictional friends to life. One of the first examples of this was in 1904 when Steiff worked with author Beatrix Potter to produce her beloved Peter Rabbit as a soft toy for children. Take a look at this incredibly rare and early Steiff Golliwog based on Upton's tales and see what makes him so interesting from the design and historical perspectives.

You can't help but smile when it comes to this simply charming early felt Golliwog doll. He is 43 cm, standing, and fully jointed. His head and oversized hands are made from black felt. His legs, under his pants, are made from a linen type of material. His clothes are primarily integral to his body. He wears black oilcloth shoes with black felt soles, red felt pants, a white felt shirt detailed with black buttons, and a blue felt top coat - which also is decorated with a few buttons on the back and front. His red neck ribbon is all original to him. His jolly face comes to life with black button eyes backed in red and white felt circles, a sewn-on, dimentional red and white felt smile, a prominent horizontal seam, and a head full of black curly mohair. He retains his tiny long trailing f button as his Steiff ID. This classic design was produced in 28, 35, 43, 50, 60, 80, and 100 cm from 1909-1919 overall.

This period design was so popular at the time it was produced in two little known novelty forms. The first, a roly poly Golliwog, appeared in the line in 29 cm from 1909-1912. This very rotund fellow had the typical Golly head and red, white, and blue outfit, as well as arms and oversized hands, but no legs. He wobbled about but always came to rest upright. And the second was a “snap apart” Golly from around 1909. This doll looked just like the standard line, full bodied Golly but was jointed with metal snaps (not regular cardboard disks and pins) and designed to be taken apart and reassembled as a toy for children. Although there is reference to this unusual toy in reference books and the Steiff archives, it was probably not put into full line production.

It's also fun to take a look at the design elements of Steiff's early 20th century Golliwogs. Besides their really distinctive facial presentation, they do indeed have many of the same details as the company's felt farmers, who were also produced around the same period.

For example, Steiff's Dachau Farmer has nearly the same proportions, horizontal face construction, body shape, oversized hands, and simple footwear pattern as this Golliwog. This farmer doll is pictured here on the left. Even the clothing looks like they may have been borrowed from the same closet! Such streamlining adds production efficiencies to the manufacturing process, as well as gives the product line a somewhat standard "look and feel" which is important for branding, quality control, and marketing purposes. 

And speaking of marketing... you can see a super sweet print ad from around 1912 or so featuring Steiff's goofy Golliwogs here on the left. You can click on the image to make it bigger. The photo is from Dottie Ayers and Donna Harrison's Advertising Art of Steiff, Teddy Bears and Playthings.

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on early Steiff Golliwog dolls has gotten you into a playful mood!

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