Sometimes the most unexpected and super-scaled treasures appear almost out of the blue! Such is the case with this fantastic and extremely large prewar Steiff Ted. And just how big is he? Well, Steiffgal could barely pick him up and move him about for his photo session! Take a look at this titan-Ted and see what makes him so fantastic from the design and historical perspectives.
Here we have a HUMUNGOUS classic and traditional five ways jointed Steiff Teddy bear. He measures approximately 115 cm tall or 45 inches tall standing, is made from dark blonde mohair, and solidly stuffed with excelsior. He has a pronounced back hump, a partially trimmed muzzle, long narrow feet with felt pads, proportional brown and black glass pupil eyes, and a black embroidered mouth, nose, and claws. He retains his long trailing "f" button and traces of his white ear tag; these IDs date his production most likely to the mid 19-teens or early 1920s.
This gentle giant is the largest sized standard line bear produced by Steiff prewar; this huge size was made from 1905-1933. This is only the second jumbo mohair prewar Ted Steiffgal has handled - these big boys are super rare. Steiffgal suspects not many were made, and those produced most likely were destined to be showpieces or window displays. It really is not possible that a child could interactively play with a bear of this size given the weight and heft of him.
Big Ted was most recently in the collection of Iris Carter, a passionate Teddy bear and Steiff collector from Virginia. Iris was inspired to start collecting Teddy bears when she read Peter Bull's The Teddy Bear Book, which was first published in 1970. It would be so interesting to learn how and where she adopted this bear, given his rarity and timeline.
Like many old friends, this bear had a few condition issues typical to larger prewar bears. Mostly these had to do with his ankles and feet pads. His ankles had some splits and damages, and his felt pads were dried out and flaking off. Both of these issues can be addressed with gentle and sympathetic restoration.
However, Steiffgal came up with an idea to help stabilize those vulnerable areas until this work happens. Given his feet and legs were so oversized, standard commercial socks were not an option here. However, there is such a thing as bariatric socks, which are soft socks which are designed to cover the feet and ankles of people with extreme Lymphedema - or very, very swollen feet and calves. You can see what these look like here. This protective footwear stretches to 30" at the calf, up to 21" in the foot, and up to 14 E shoe width. These socks fit this big bear really well and provided a somewhat attractive way to cover and protect his pads, feet, and ankles up to almost his knees!
Steiffgal hopes this discussion on Iris Carter's terrific Ted has launched your 2026 in the most supersized way possible!
Have a question about one of your Steiff treasures? Let's talk! Click here to learn more.
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