This Rare Steiff 50th Anniversary Booklet Is Worth Its Weight In Gold!

It's easy to celebrate all things Steiff! Steiff introduced the world to its fully jointed Teddy bears in 1903. In honor of the golden anniversary of this accomplishment in 1953, the company designed and produced an entirely new and novel Teddy bear design. It was named Jackie and she was made in 17, 25, 35, and 75 cm from 1953-55 only.

Collectors could bearly get enough of Jackie. For many reasons - including her charming appeal, airbrushed belly button, pink-highlighted nose, and short time in the line - Jackie remains one of the most beloved Steiff bear designs of all times. Accompanying Jackie was a small celebration booklet, which told the history of the company in words and pictures. To find a mid century Jackie bear in very good condition with IDs is a dream come true for many collectors; to find one with this original booklet is practically unheard of!

But sometimes wishes do come true, at least in part. Steiffgal recently had the pleasure of finding one of these original Jackie booklets for sale, and was delighted to add it to her Steiff ephemera collection. The piece itself is very small - measuring 10.5 cm x 7.5 cm closed, or 10.5 cm x 15 cm opened up.  There are 14 total printed pages, and all words are in German. The booklet is bound by one staple. It is printed on paper which has most likely mellowed to a tan color over time. Let's take a peek into this time capsule and see what secrets it might hold about the company we all know and love. 

You can click on any of the pictures of the spreads to make them bigger on your screen!

Here is the front and back spread of the booklet. As you can see, the cover features the delightful Jackie bear, complete with her special anniversary chest tag. It is interesting to note that she is pictured without her Steiff button or ear tag. The front reads, "a small teddy travels in the wide world," probably in reference to Steiff's humble beginnings which progressed to international standing and recognition. The back very roughly translates to, "This is the story of the Teddy bear with the button in ear by Margarete Steiff GmbH."

Featured on pages 2 and 3 of the booklet are two iconic Steiff images.  The first is of company founder, Margarete Steiff.  The other is of the two very distinctive church steeples which are the prominent features on the Giengen horizon - even today. The headline of the spread reads, "The history of the Teddy bear." 

Pages 4 and 5 are graced with the headlines, "At the beginning was a small felt elephant" and "Richard Steiff, the inventor of the teddy bear." The illustrations include a small grey felt elephant, which was Margarete's first "toy," a picture of her in her wheelchair hand sewing something, and a handsome headshot of Richard Steiff. Richard, Margarete's nephew, came up with the idea of the fully jointed Teddy bear after studying how real bears move and interact at a local zoo.  

The next pages - 6 and 7 - are dedicated to 1903, the year Steiff Teddy bears really went global. The headlines roughly translate to, "In New York from 1903 onward" and "The Leipzig Fair debut in 1903." The page is illustrated with a skyline of New York City, an early and very fuzzy Steiff Teddy, and a man hammering shut a wooden crate, presumably filled with Steiff Teddy bears heading to the USA. This page most likely references how 3,000 early Steiff bears were ordered by an American distributor (The George Borgfeld Company of NYC) at the 1903 Leipzig Fair. The whereabouts of those Teds have been lost to time. This mystery is still ongoing today.  

Pages 8 and 9 are all words. Given the headline, which translates to "Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt gave him his name," these key passages probably explain why Steiff's Teddy bears from Germany were branded after the famous American President. Roosevelt refused to shoot a baby bear cub on on a hunting adventure in Mississippi at the turn of last century.

Next up on pages 10 and 11 are a charming series of illustrations featuring Steiff's "Nimrod" bears. Like Jackie, the Nimrod bears were produced in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Teddy bear. They appeared in the line in 1953 and 1954 in 22 and 50 cm. Four versions were made in a variety of hunting themed outfits. These "outdoorsmen" bears are a gentle nod back to President Roosevelt - who was instrumental in his own way in helping Steiff grow and thrive in the early 1900's. 

The headline on page 11 translates to "The Steiff factory is built entirely of glass" and is referencing the illustration that is found on page 12.

And here on page 12 you can see this glass factory. This feat of architecture is sometimes referred to the "1903 Building" because that's when it was built, or the "Maiden's Aquarium," because you could see from the outside of the building all of the beautiful seamstresses working inside. The headlines roughly translate to, "Steiff animals, the beloved toys of all children," "Only the best for our children," and "Steiff button in ear - adorable playmates." These statements, now over half a century old, still ring completely true today.

The final spread of the booklet, which includes pages 14 and 15, present a playful quartet of photos featuring company's now most iconic designs of the early 1950's. Most of these charmers were completely new post-war introductions. The items pictured are:

• A standing duck, made in 11 and 18 cm from 1952-76. 
• A grey elephant, made in 7, 10, 17, 22, and 35 cm from 1950-78.
• A Niki rabbit, made in 14, 17, 22, 28, and 35 cm from 1951-64.
• A Zotty Teddy, made in 9 sizes ranging from 17 to 100 cm from 1951-78.
• A young lying lion, produced in 17, 28, 43, and 60 cm from 1953-59.
• A Mecki hedgehog doll, produced from 1951 onward in 17, 28, 50, and 100 cm over time.
• A Papa lion, made in 14 and 22 cm from 1949-61.
• A Jocko, made in 9 sizes ranging from 10 to 80 cm from 1949-81.
• A Disney Bambi, made in 14 and 22 cm from 1951-1972.
• A Pucki dwarf, made in 13, 18, 30, 55, and 115 cm from 1963-73. 
• A Peky dog, made 8, 10, 14, and 22 cm from 1952-77.

Steiffgal hopes you enjoyed this quick time-travel adventure back to 1953!

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Longing For More Information On This Early Steiff Novelty Dog

Steiffgal bets its a long shot that you've ever seen anything like this before!  Take a look - a long look -  at this wonderful, early Steiff dog... isn't he just marvelous?  This comical canine belongs to a collector in the Midwest who seems to specialize in delightful Steiff rarities.  Brad writes over a series of communications...

"Steiffgal:

Attached are some photos of the Ueberdax. 

He is approx. 14.5 inches long if you straighten his tail which is quite fragile as you can see. He is made of brown velvet and is filled with what seems like cotton batting or some other soft material. He is soft when you squeeze him, not crunchy like he's filled with wood shavings. 

He has a few minor issues.  His tail is split in two places and looks to have been maybe reattached at some point.  He also has a small split in the velvet on one side of his face and some worn areas on his velvet coat, but that is to be expected. Also not sure if he had more stitching on his nose. 

The button was hard to photograph.  It is very small but I think you can make out the style and probably date him. You would have a better idea of his age based on the button than I would.  

Thanks for your help!

Brad"

Steiffgal is over the moon, in overdrive, and willing to go overboard to tell you about this Steiff Ueberdax or "overdachshund!" What we have here indeed is Steiff's extremely long and narrow caricatured dachshund.   He is standing, unjointed, and made from brown velvet.  His face is detailed with early black shoebutton eyes and a simple hand embroidered nose and mouth.  From Brad's description, it appears that he is stuffed with kapok, an organic cotton-like material obtained from the seed pods of a tropical tree.  Steiff used this stuffing as a light and fluffy alternative to excelsior at the turn of last century.  

Steiff produced these long lovelies overall from 1903 through 1921.  They were produced in three sizes in brown velvet, two sizes in black and yellow velvet, and as a 22 cm "Buerstendax" or Brush-Dax.  This brush version had the body of the brown velvet dax as part of a clothing brush - perhaps the early version of a lint brush!  The tiny Steiff button Brad describes was in use from about 1906 to 1925; this helps date his piece to the approximately 1906 through 1916 time frame.  You can see this button here on the left, along with tiny traces of his early white ear tag. 

It is interesting to note that the models on all fours were cataloged as 8, 12, and 14 cm.  Clearly, they were much, much bigger (or at least longer!) than that!  The sizes in this case refer to their height from the top of their heads to the ground.  For example, the 8cm version is actually about 21 cm long.  However, the Buerstendax was cataloged at 22 cm, clearly referring to the item's length.  Ah, the never ending mysteries of the company we know and love... 

Dachshunds are an early blue ribbon favorite in the Steiff catalog, and for good reason.  Apparently the Steiff family themselves loved this particular breed, and always had a few (or more!) underfoot.  This comical doxie pattern was designed by Richard Steiff as a novelty and was based on his own beloved companion named Walle.   Dachshunds are great hunting dogs and Richard and Walle spent many happy hours together in the fields and forests around the Giengen, Germany area.  This very vintage design was brought into the collector's spotlight a few years ago when a fine example was sold for around $7,200 at the annual Steiff Sommer Festival auction.  As a follow up to the excitement generated by the transaction,   Steiff produced both a 22 and 60 cm long replica version (pictured here on the left) of Richard's black and gold Ueberdax in 2005; in 2006 this was followed up with a 22 cm long replica version of his brown velvet Brush-Dax.  

Long story short, Steiffgal hopes you've really enjoyed this discussion of Brad's Ueberdax!

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