Your First Rabbit Sighting Of The Spring Season!

In the mood for a 14 carrot worthy discovery? Then check out this little known Steiff bunny that is certain to satisfy your rabbit-habit! This hoppy handful is certain to put a much welcomed spring in your step.

Here we have Steiff's sitting Sunny the Bunny. He is also known as Ruebenhase, or Carrot Rabbit. He is 17 cm tall, made from tan mohair, and is head jointed. His arms are lined in wire and are posable. He has chunky thighs and long, narrow feet. His charming, center seamed face comes to life with round, dimensional black, brown, and white glass eyes, a pink hand embroidered nose, a black hand embroidered mouth, clear monofilament whiskers, and long-ish mohair sideburns. His pert ears are lined in felt. Rabbit holds an oversized, dimensional orange felt carrot in his hands, and has another smaller, removable orange felt carrot tucked into a mohair pocket on his back side.

This rare hare was made in 9, 12, 17, and 30 cm from 1954-1956 overall as an exclusive for the US department store R.H. Macy & Co., better known today simply as Macy's. The 30 cm size also came with a music box. This particular model under discussion today has a raised script button, a yellow ear tag numbered 7317, and a US Zone tag in the seam of his arm as his IDs. These align really well with his early postwar era of production. In this case, 7=in caricature, 3=mohair, and 17=17 cm tall. Pfeiffer's Sortiment shows that sizes from 12 cm onward included the letter "R" in their article number. Steiffgal suspects that the R indicates the presence of a felt carrot (or two) in the design; perhaps the 9 cm version was too small to incorporate this detail.

This sweet design, like many exclusives produced for the US market in the second half of the 20th century, seems to be a modification of one of the company's popular standard line editions of the time. This 17 cm Sunny has the general look and feel of Steiff's beloved and popular 17 cm Niki Rabbit, who appeared in the line in 14, 17, 22, 28, and 35 cm from 1951-1964 overall. You can see Niki below, posing with a few springtime friends. Sonny's pert tail, head shape, closed mouth, facial embroidery, whiskers, and long mohair sideburns are quite similar to Niki's. However, the 17 cm Sonny has a few design features that make him more "economical" from a production standpoint than the 17 cm Niki. For example, Sunny is head jointed only, while Niki is fully jointed. Sunny has ears lined in felt, while Niki's are lined in mohair. Niki has felt pads; Sonny does not.

So what does all this mean, maybe? It is entirely possible that Macy's was looking at ways to produce a fun, playful rabbit exclusive based on Steiff's Niki that didn't break the bank. Sunny's simpler, less expensive, and appealing construction certainly checked all of those boxes. And Sunny's cartoon eyes and fun felt carrot details - neither being expensive or terribly complicated to implement - really brought the design to the next level. 

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on the company's rare Sunny the Bunny has added a little crunch to you day.

Have a question about one of your Steiff treasures? Let's talk! Click here to learn more.

Steiff Teddy Hugs and Aloha from Waikoloa, Hawaii!

Teddy hugs and aloha from The Big Island, Hawaii!  Steiffgal is having such a delightful time here that her traveling companions insisted on putting together a little diary so friends around the world could see how fantastic this vacation destination truly is!  Our tour guides today are Sunny, a mid-1950's era blond Teddy baby, and Pipsqueak, a late 1930's panda.  Readers may recognize Sunny as the host of another Steifflife travel diary from Hollywood, Florida.  This is Pipsqueak's blog host debut.  So, without further ado, let's get started!

 

  

Flowers are everywhere here, and this one particularly caught the team's eye given it's "Steiffy" colors of red and yellow.  Sunny and Pipsqueak pose with a large and lovely native hibiscus.  

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas, even around these tropical parts.  Here Sunny and Pipsqueak pretend to drive the Christmas Express train featured at the Queen's Shops at the Waikoloa Beach Resort.

It's no fish tale that koi ponds are very big on the Big Island.  If you look closely you can see some very large - some as big as 18 inches! - orange fish in the water behind our wonder cubs.   

It's easy to fit in while you're on holiday!  Here Sunny and Pipsqueak welcome visitors to the Hilton Waikoloa Village, a wonderful resort with so much to see and do!

Two Shirley Temples, please!  Sunny and Pipsqueak really enjoy hanging out by the poolside bar and chatting with the other vacationers.  Needless to say, they made alot of friends very quickly.  

Just along for the ride... Sunny and Pipsqueak and a little boy friend enjoy a pretend adventure on the back of a supremely large fish.  The hotel featured delightful and playful sculptures like these all over its very large campus. 

A little to the left, please... the Hilton Waikoloa Village also features many spa services, including specialty massages.  Here Sunny and Pipsqueak get ready for their very own "cub-rub."

 

Water, water everywhere.  Sunny and Pipsqueak check out the pool rules.  So far, so good...

Hum.  Well, maybe not.  This depth definitely presents a challenge to our little friends!

Every vacation photo seems as perfect as a postcard, especially those that feature Sunny and Pipsqueak.  Here our sweet friends pose on a little bridge that connects the hotel's lagoon and pools to the main hotel building area.

Larger than life!  Here Sunny and Pipsqueak mouse around with a huge statue of a dressed rodent.   One of the pool areas featured all the characters of the Chinese Zodiac, but our cubs felt this particular one stood out head and shoulders above the rest.

It's easy to feel playful on vacation, especially when it's 80 degrees with gentle winds and no humidity!  Sunny and Pipsqueak discover an outdoor version of Konane, a traditional Hawaiian form of checkers that uses lava and coral as game pieces.  

So we've come to the peaceful end of our tour - the same place where many Hawaiians say "goodbye" to the sun each day.  Sunny and Pipsqueak get cozy with a giant Buddha who is located at "Buddha Point." Visitors gather at this location each night with snacks and cocktails to watch the island's magnificent sunsets.  

Steiffgal, Sunny, and Pipsqueak hope you enjoyed this little travelogue from the Big Island.   Mahalo!

Have a question about one of your Steiff treasures? Let's talk! Click here to learn more.