Bibbed Beauties: Steiff's Rare And Wonderful White Zotty Bears

Steiff's White Zotty bear, in the line for only two years, remains a collector's favorite more than six decades post his introduction. Here's a little more about this pattern, within the context of his legacy Zotty bear design. 

“Zotty” is from the German word “zottel,” which means “shaggy," and as such, is the perfect name for this signature Steiff bear. He was designed as a breath of fresh air after the factory reopened for toymaking business post WWII as his elements truly reflected the optimism and aesthetics of the 1950s. He was instantly popular, and many other toy companies introduced copycat Zotty bears as a result of his success. These companies would vary the pattern just enough not to infringe on the Steiff version.

Zotty’s legacy (and perhaps namesake) goes back over a century. In 1914, Steiff debuted their first “Zottlebaer” or “Shaggy Bear. ” He was in the line through 1927 and was known for his shaggy coat, sweet face, and soft texture.

Steiff's debut, midcentury Zotty bear was produced in 9 sizes ranging from 17 - 100 cm from 1951 through 1978. He was fully jointed and made from long shaggy caramel tipped mohair with an orange bib and a shorter mohair muzzle. His paw pads were made from felt. Earlier versions had glass pupil eyes, while later versions had plastic pupil eyes, for safety reason. Depending on size and era, Steiff sometimes backed the eyes in felt. Zotty featured an open, felt lined mouth, an embroidered nose, and distinctly toddler-like proportions. Zotty was created by Steiff designer Mr. Siegfried Zeller (1915-2000) around 1949-1950. His son, Rolland Zeller (1944-2008) also worked for Steiff and designed over 2,000 items over the course of his career there. You can see this great Steiff duo, along with an original caramel Zotty bear, in this photo on the left. 

Given his supersonic rise in popularity, Steiff debuted a white version of Zotty in 1960. He was made in 28 or 35 cm. He had almost identical design details as his caramel tipped cousin, but was made from very shaggy white mohair. In Steiff's 1960 new releases catalog, he is pictured along with a Disney Perri squirrel and a mohair Nagy beaver who were also relatively new products in the line at that time. Both Perri and Nagy which would go on to appear in the catalog for decades. You can see this catalog page here in the photo on the left. 

It is not clear why White Zotty was produced in so few sizes, relative to the standard line Zotty, or why he was discontinued just a year later in 1961. Traditionally, white mohair Steiff bears are quite popular and sell really well. It is possible that he just did not take off with customers, and/or the finances did not make sense. It is also possible that his white mohair was not available, or really expensive, or simply was challenging to work with. Whatever the reason - only he knows for sure!

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on the history of Steiff's white mohair Zotty bear has been a hair raising experience for you!

Getting Around To Solving This Unusual Steiff Mystery

Well, here's a little Steiff history-mystery! Check out this note about Steiff bear with some cryptic writing on his belly. Could this bear be a musical prototype? A new friend, in part, writes...

"I found your blog and thought I would reach out. Today I acquired what, from your blog, I have determined to be a mohair Musical Teddy. Unfortunately, it does not have the ear tag, though still has the made in Germany on the back, and has been signed on one paw by Hans Otto and the other paw is dated 1983. 

Interestingly, there is also writing on the red musical circle that appears to say 1954-55 and then has a series of numbers underneath that. The antiques store where I bought it seemed to think it was a "salesman sample". I just wondered if you had ever run across such a thing?"

Well, let's strike up the band and see what we have here. This bear is definitely an example of Steiff's Music Teddy. This bear was produced from 1951 through 1957. He is 35 cm, five ways jointed, and made from caramel colored mohair. His hand and foot pads are made from tannish peach colored felt. His face is detailed with brown and black glass pupil eyes and a brown hand embroidered nose and mouth. Smack dab in the middle of his belly is a red felt circle; when he was new, it had the word "music" in printed in white on it. When this spot was squeezed and released, it played a sweet lullaby. 

Let's paws for a second here and check out the information on the bear's feet. From the writing on the bear's lower pads, it appears that this piece was brought to a Steiff sponsored event in the early 1980's and signed by Hans Otto Steiff. Hans Otto Steiff was the former President of Steiff in Germany and a direct descendant of the founder, Margarete Steiff. Hans Otto and and his wife Brigit toured the USA several times in the 1980's, meeting collectors, attending events, and signing Steiff items.

Now let's circle back to the strange marks on his red felt belly patch. After thinking about this for awhile, it is Steiffgal's strongest suspicion that these numbers do not indicate that this bear is a prototype. The date on the patch, which reads 1954/5, doesn't really align with anything in this bear's production history. This bear was introduced in 1951 and was in the line from 1957. So if it was a prototype, meaning that it was produced prior to general line introduction, the date on the red circle would probably read 1950 or 1951. Or if it were a piece designed for the archives after manufacturing was complete, the date might read 1951/7, or something like that.

So what does this all mean?  Although there is no way to tell for sure, his presentation suggests that he was a beloved toy at one point in his life, based on his playwear pattern. Steiffgal speculates that that the date 1954/5 refers to the year that he was purchased or adopted, and the other numbers (12 9335,3) refer to the numbers that were on his original ear tag, which has since gone missing. These correspond to 12 = bear, 9 = mechanical, 3 = mohair, 35 = 35 cm, and 3 = with music box. Perhaps his owner put the dates and numbers on the red circle so they would forever be attached to his history, as the ear tags very often get lost to time. Or, it is possible that someone bought him from the owner, and asked them about the year they purchased him, or it could have been information from an antique dealer provided to someone at purchase. Besides his red felt circle, there really is no other place to record any writing or marks on him.

Steiffgal hopes her evaluation of this red-bellied mystery has been spot on with you.

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