This great Steiff inquiry walked in on little cat's feet! And talk about launching a collection with a rockstar! A new friend from Germany writes about her debut vintage Steiff purchase. She is curious about its birth year, give or take a bit. Rebecca shares,
"I bought my first vintage Steiff animal and it's the famous Tom cat. As I know that she was produced over many many years I'm now super curious which exact time it was that mine was produced. It's the smallest one. And it has the old button with the long "f" at the end. So I think that means that it can be between 1923 and 1953, right? Do you think you can say it more specific? I just can't find more information. Kind regards from Germany!"
Wow, Rebecca's purchase is truly the cat's meow. It is Steiff's mid- to later prewar Tom cat. This fantastic feline was made for the standard line in 8, 10, 14, 14, 22, and 28 cm from 1923-1943 overall. The 8 cm and the 10 cm versions had a pitch black velvet body and a fuzzy black mohair tail. From 14 cm onward, all sizes were made entirely from black mohair. These cats were technically measured vertically, from the top of their heads to their toes. Their long vertical tails almost "doubled" their height measurements. They were detailed with green and black round or slit glass pupil eyes, a simple hand embroidered mouth and nose (Steiffgal has seen both pink and red examples), and clear monofilament whiskers. They left the factory wearing a decorative silk ribbon and sometimes a little bell to match. The bow on Rebecca's example is not factory original.
Now back to the question - his birthday. The best telling clue here is that he has the short trailing 'f' style button. This button appeared on items in the line from about 1936 through the very early 1950s. So we know that the earliest the cat was produced was 1936. As noted above, this particular cat with a black velvet head and body and mohair tail was made in 8 or 10 cm from 1933-1943 overall. This skinnies down his production timeframe to most likely in the c. 1936-1943 timeframe. So he's clearly from the late prewar period.
One thing that's nearly purr-fect about this feline pattern is how long it has appeared in the Steiff line. The earliest version made its grand public debut in a photograph featured in the 1903-1904 Steiff catalog... in the same picture that introduced PB55... the world's first jointed Teddy bear! This puts Tom in very good company for sure. This photo is here on the left - you can click on it to make it bigger. And Tom CONTINUES to make guest appearances in the line on and off to this day in the form of replicas and special editions. His timeless, universal popularity and appeal have truly earned him legacy status within the Steiff collecting community.
Steiffgal hopes this discussion on Steiff's prewar black Tom cats has tickled your whiskers in a most happy way.
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