All About Steiffgal



All About Steiffgal 

Steiffgal is a 3rd generation Steiff enthusiast. Her personal collection of button-in-ear treasures numbers north of 2,000 and focuses on examples from 1905 to 1948, uncatalogued rarities, cloth dolls, and display animals. 

Steiffgal worked for many years as the club manager for the German company Margarete Steiff GmbH in the United States. Through the end of 2017 she was Steiff’s North American archivist, where she identified and valued vintage Steiff on behalf of the company. She does not have any affiliation with Margarete Steiff GmbH or Steiff North America today. 

In 2014, through James D. Julia Auctions of Fairfield, ME, she managed the valuation and sale of the Chuck and Kathy Steffes' Steiff fine plush collection. This remains the largest and finest Steiff Teddy bear collection to come to auction in America. The 120 rarities on offer realized over $500,000.

Steiffgal's award winning blog, My SteiffLife, receives thousands of visits per month and focuses on interesting vintage Steiff items, Steiff antiquing adventures, and the history behind older Steiff treasures. It has won several unsolicited awards for content, including an ALLTOP citation for a best blog in the toy category. Through July, 2020, she managed a vintage Steiff Facebook page with over 12,000 followers. Her Steiff book for children, Sassafrass Jones and Her Forever Friends ABCs is available on Amazon.com and has been reviewed by Publisher's Weekly.

Steiffgal is a regular contributor to numerous print and online publications, including DOLLS, Doll News, The Steiff Club Magazine, Worthpoint, and Auction Daily. She received the 2022 Award of Excellence for writing and research contributions to Doll News from The United Federation of Doll Clubs. 

Steiffgal has consulted for HGTV, CBS (Inside Edition), History.com (Pawn Stars), E! Entertainment, MfG-Film (Germany), the BBC, and the radio programs The Antiques Airshow, Whatcha Got, and The Antique Auction Forum. Her industry, auction house, and media engagements have included Target, Teddy Dorado, Christies, Morphy Auctions, Theriault's, Ladenburger Spielzeugauktion, F.A.O. Schwarz, The Marin Country Mart, The Metropolitan Waterworks Museum, The Boston Center for Adult Education, The Strong National Museum of Play, The Metropolitan Waterworks Museum, The North Carolina Museum of Dolls, Toys, and Miniatures, The Questers, The Reading Society of Craftsmen, The Boston Globe, Bloomberg, Town and Country, and The Huffington Post, and many others.

Steiffgal is an active member of both Doll Collectors of America and United Federation of Doll Club's New England area Doll Study Club of Boston.

She and her collection are featured in a life-sized portrait by artist Michael Oatman which is part of a permanent installation at the West Cambridge Youth and Community Center in Cambridge, MA. Steiffgal truly leads "The Steiff Life."

Please click here for an in-depth interview with Steiffgal, published by Worthpoint in May, 2019.
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