This Midcentury Steiff Cub Is As Sweet As A Chocolate Kiss!

Now here's something you don't see every day! Check out this sweet and unusual Steiff bear. His construction is quite distinctive, most certainly reflecting the realities of manufacturing in the era in which he was "born." Four different fabrics were used to bring this happy handful to life!

What we have here is a sweet as a chocolate kiss Teddy baby bear. He stands 22 cm tall and is fully jointed. His face is detailed with brown and black glass pupil eyes and a black hand embroidered nose. His claws are also stitched in black. He retains his original red collar and named chest tag, along with his short trailing "f" button, as his Steiff IDs. Although only he knows for certain, it is Steiffgal's very best guess that he left the factory in Giengen around 1947 or 1948 as he does not specifically appear in any Steiff or Teddy bear reference book she can identify. 

Teddy baby has several fabric features that date him to the immediate postwar period. His body, head, and limbs are made from short pile artificial silk plush fabric. According to Pfeiffer's 1947-2003 Sortiment, the company did produce a 30 cm brown artificial silk plush Teddy baby bear in 1949. This guy at 22 cm is much smaller, but could still be his distant cousin. Teddy baby's muzzle and the tops of his feet are made of wartime era wool plush, not mohair. This durable fabric was often used in the place of mohair when it was not available or rationed for military purposes. It is not unusual to find Steiff items traditionally made from mohair from the mid-1930s to early 1950s produced in this substitute fabric. It is also interesting to note that Teddy baby's paw pads are made from an inexpensive, thin linen material. These would traditionally be made from felt, which was also in very short supply in the late 1940s. A loving previous owner has done a wonderful job fixing and stabilizing his linen foot pads with stitches and TLC. 

One thing that makes Teddy baby bears so universally precious is their open, felt lined, smiling mouths. And, like all but the smallest versions of this classic pattern, this one also has this charming feature - despite a felt shortage! Steiffgal thinks felt was used here for two reasons. 

The first is that it is possible that the company tried to make the mouth in linen, but it just did not look right. It is also possible that linen could not hold the shape or form required for the pattern. And the second is just how visible the mouth is. It is one of the first things you see on this design, and is so fundamental to its appeal. Making the mouth out of felt on this pattern only required a little more than a square inch of material. So many Teddy baby bears could be importantly detailed with just a touch of felt when the company had minimal felt in inventory. This bear pattern usually also has its hands and feet pads made from felt. But in this case, those areas are not nearly as visible, prominent, or key to its design. Creating this pattern with felt foot and hand pads would require about five times more felt than one that just had a felt lined mouth. This Teddy baby is equally as precious with linen pads as he would be with felt pads... at least in Steiffgal's humble opinion! 

Steiffgal hopes you found this discussion on this very early postwar Teddy baby bear materially interesting!

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

What A Pretty And Petite Steiff Prewar Pup!

Good things come in small packages. Especially when those things are button-in-ear. Check out this absolutely darling, pint-sized pup Steiffgal just recently added to her collection. He is a little known example from a long legacy of Steiff's prewar Fox Terrier production. Blink and you would have missed him!

What we have here is a seldom seen version of Steiff's late 1920s era Foxy Fox Terrier. He is 10 cm tall, sitting, head jointed, and made from white mohair. He has very distinctive jet black mohair ears. His face comes to life with proportional brown and black glass pupil eyes, a black hand embroidered nose and mouth, and black airbrushing around one eye. He also has traces of black airbrushed highlights around the base of his tail. He wears his original silken ribbon and jingle bell. He retains his prewar styled, red imprinted named chest tag as his Steiff ID. This darling doggie was produced in 10, 14, 17, and 22 cm from 1929-1933 overall. He is pictured here on the left, and a close up of his named chest tag is below. 

Fox Terriers are one of Steiff's earliest dog breeds. They made their debut in the Steiff line in 1899, just a handful of years after the company's commercial catalog launch in 1892. The earliest ones were made from felt or velvet. Typical to the period, Steiff's debut Fox Terrier came on metal wheels and was made from felt. Mohair became available on a commercial scale in 1903 and shortly after, a broad range of mohair Fox Terriers graced the pages of the Steiff catalog. 

The late 1920s could be thought of as a "best of show" period for Steiff's Fox Terriers. In 1928 and 1929, the company designed and manufactured two brand new mohair examples that were simply irresistible. All had two solid black mohair ears; rounded, puppy like body proportions; and impish personalities. The first of course, was the one under discussion today. He was also produced standing in 10, 14, 17, 20, and 22 cm through 1933. Another "Foxy" pattern had darling and distinctive airbrushed lines on his forehead and a pert, red, round felt tongue. It appeared in the line from 1928 through 1933 overall in two versions: standing in 14, 17, 22, and 28 cm and sitting in 14, 17, and 22 cm. Both the sitting and standing versions are pictured above; all images are from Pfeiffer's 1892-1943 Sortiment. 

Steiffgal hopes you found this discussion on this little sitting Fox Terrier has been dog-gone delightful for you. 

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

Connecting Then And Now With This Adorable Steiff Play Doll

What's old is new again, especially when it comes to this relatively modern Steiff doll under discussion here. Our friends in Giengen started producing fine cloth dolls on a commercial scale at the beginning of the 20th century. These gorgeously rendered playthings appeared through the early 1950s. After that, dolls with rubber faces (and sometimes rubber bodies) represented a significant portion of the Steiff doll line through the 1970s. Moving forward, the company's doll offerings included mostly well-dressed children and characters in synthetic materials as well as artist collaborations.

This Andrea doll is a sweet nod - with a modern twist - to Steiff's legacy doll production. She is 32 cm tall, unjointed, and made from soft woven fur. She is stuffed with a mix of polyfill as well as weighted beans. She comes to life with a shock of longer brown hair decorated with red ribbons, oversized brown and black pupil eyes, a button nose, a pink painted mouth, and airbrushed facial highlights. She wears a white cotton "onesie" that is both underwear and a white t-shirt, a red calico dress decorated with yellow ladybugs, and red shoes which are integral to her body. This sassy lassie appeared in this size only in 1999. At the same time, Steiff produced two other similarly constructed dolls; a girl dressed in blue named Babinchen and a red-headed boy in overalls named Andreas. Both were also 32 cm.

Andrea has three features that connect her with the past.

The first is that she is clearly designed as an appealing child. Starting around 1908, Steiff began producing their most adorable and humanly proportioned child dolls. Before then, Steiff's dolls were more caricatured (for example, had exaggeratedly long legs, arms, or torsos) and often represented adults or professions. Steiff's kids were usually dressed as students or in traditional outfits, and sometimes even in regional attire. They were playful, distinctly youthful, and looked precious in school room vignettes and in the company's print and postcard advertising. Today, these child-inspired antique felt dolls are coveted by Steiff and doll collectors worldwide.

The second is that she is (relatively) finely attired. Steiff has always paid special attention to their doll's clothing and their detailing. For example, Steiff's early 20th century dolls were "dolled" up head to toe, with well-made and finely accessorized outfits. Most girls had shoes and hats, while adults could have layers and layers of clothing to match their real life counterparts and inspirations. Police, soldiers, and firemen had perfectly to scale boots, tools, and helmets. Of course, Andrea - as a play doll - is not on that level. But she does have shoes, underwear, hair accessories, and a dress that is perfectly appropriate to her. Her outfit is well planned and coordinated for what she is. It is also sweet (and probably not a coincidence) that her dress perfectly aligns color-wise with her prominent chest tag. 

And last but not least, she features Steiff's signature center seam facial construction. This is hard to miss if you don't look closely. This means she has a vertical seam going right down the middle of her face. This helps to add to her symmetry, as well as youthful appearance. Steiff introduced this legacy design feature with their debut doll line in 1903. By the late 1930s, this construction was replaced with a seamless, pressed felt faced design. Given today's manufacturing options, Andrea could have been designed and produced without this seam. But in Steiffgal's heart of hearts, she believes she was made with it to remind collectors of her turn of last century relatives - and the beauty and joy they generated... both then and now. 

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on this modern play doll has added a touch of childhood wonder to your day.

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

Ray-zing The Profile Of This Spectacular Special Edition Steiff Sun

Here comes the sun! August is known for its hot days and lazy pace - at least around these parts. This final month of the "official" summer season is best celebrated via barbecues, beach visits, and bikinis - if you dare! Perhaps the finest Steiff item ever created to represent the marvelous month of August is a plush sun. He's pictured here on the left, "hanging out" in Steiffgal's front bay window. Take a look at this super star - literally - and see what makes it so interesting from the design and product development perspectives.

This Steiff rarity is one hot ticket indeed. This Steiff sun is unjointed and made from fuzzy yellow plush. His "body" measures about 17 cm in diameter. He has yellow cloth arms and legs. His simple yet very pleasant face comes to life with black button eyes and a black airbrushed nose and mouth.  His Steiff button and ear tag are located on his corona near where his ears would be, if he had any. And his specially branded chest tag is located on his hip. This most unusual Steiff novelty was produced in 17 and 45 cm in 2001 only. You can see his backside pictured here on the left.

This celestial superstar was created as a promotional product for the Baden wine region in Germany. Germany has thirteen official wine producing regions, and Baden is the most southernmost area of the country. The area is warm and sunny and known for its good quality Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, and Pinot Blanc. Baden cover an area of about 400km (240 miles) along the Rhine from Lake Constance to Heidelberg, and includes the Black Forest, as well as the vine-clad terraces of the Kaiserstuhl, a volcanic massif. Steiffgal has visited this terraced area with her father and walked among the vineyards along the river. It was a beautiful and memorable experience. She even rode a luge (like a giant skateboard down a cement lined track) down one of the vineyard slopes toward the river which was a fun and once in a lifetime experience. Here on the you can see some of the terraced Baden vineyards; the photo is from www.vinous.com.

Besides his adorable and unique form, this great promotional item has a distinctive chest tag. You can see this tag here on the left. It is illustrated with a large letter B (for Baden) plus a happy sun holding a glass of white wine. How perfect is that? The German writing on the tag roughly translates to, "Baden wine spoiled by the sun."  

Steiff has a long tradition of creating promotional items for companies, brands, and commercial entities. Beloved vintage rarities of this ilk include Peck the Germ made for the pharmaceutical company Merck; Breuni bear, made for the upscale department store Breuninger, and a wool plush and rubber poodle made for Carl Walther GmbH. However, as far as Steiffgal can tell, this is the first "nonliving" advertising item Steiff has produced - a perfect planet! All others have been animals, insects, bears, characters, or human-esque figures. 

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on this bright and happy advertising item has added a spot of sunshine to your day.

Are You Smitten With This Midcentury Steiff Kitten?

It's time to let the cat out of the bag concerning this week's fantastic Steiff find. The company's delightful vintage button-in-ear kittens have long headlined Steiff and doll collectors' lists of favorites given their incredible appeal, playful personalities, and ease of display. And there's simply nothing cuter than a kindle** of Steiff kittens! Take a look at this delightful, interestingly ID'ed midcentury example and try not to fall in love with her!

This fantastic feline is an early postwar version of Steiff's beloved Susi cat. She is 17 cm tall, sitting, and head jointed. Susi is made from grey and white patched style mohair. Her muzzle, front feet, and chest area are white; her body, head, and tail are grey. Her grey mohair is hand airbrushed with bold, eye catching black stripes. Her front claws are red and hand embroidered. Sweet Susi's face comes to life with green and black slit pupil glass eyes, a pink embroidered nose and mouth, and clear monofilament whiskers. Her belly squeaker works, sometimes! Her dark pink silk ribbon is original to her. This mohair Susi was made in 10, 12, 14, 17, and 22 cm from 1949-1978 overall. This example was produced in the earliest part of that time frame.

Susi is paws-atively a key design in Steiff's century-plus history of cat production. Steiff debuted its original Susi cat in 1936. Prewar, she was produced in mohair in 14, 17, 22, and 28 cm through 1943. In Pfeiffer's 1892-1943 Sortiment, she is described as "mohair plush, gray tabby, sitting, very pretty model, round shape." It is very unusual to find subjective or "flattering" descriptions in the Sortiment books as they are almost always entirely factual and literal. So Susi's design really must be the cat's meow! Early postwar, Susi - like many of Steiff's legacy prewar patterns - was produced in artificial silk plush as that was the fabric that was available for toy product in the late 1940s. Art silk Susi appeared in 14, 17, and 22 cm from 1948-1949 overall.

There is so much to love about this pretty kitty. Her facial expression and presentation are lifelike and irresistible. Her construction has so much integrity, and has a distinctively "old fashioned" quality to it. And her condition is lovely, too; it's amazing she looks almost fresh as a daisy after nearly seven decades. From the historical perspective, Susi's IDs bridge pre- and post-war designs. She has her linen tag style "US Zone" tag sewn into her arm seam; technically, these appeared in items produced in the c. 1947-1953 time frame. She also has her red imprinted, "watermelon" bear faced chest tag. These appeared on items prewar from c. 1928 through the mid 1940s, then again through 1952. This tag features a very angular Teddy bear face with a distinctive "U" shaped muzzle. 

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on this early postwar Susi kitten has made you grin like a Cheshire cat.

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

**YES! This is a real word to describe a collection or group of kittens!

Good Things Come In Threes With Steiff's Tiny Tabby Kittens

Less is more when it comes to Steiff's amazing palm-sized pets!  And who wouldn't want to add a few petite treats to their Steiff hug? Although by nature more of a "dog person," Steiffgal recently had the the opportunity to adopt three utterly marvelous palm sized Steiff kittens into her collection.  Check out this terrific trio and see what makes them the cat's meow in so many ways!

Steiffgal is totally smitten with these tiny kittens! Here we have three of Steiff's Tabby cats.  They are standing, unjointed, and made from white mohair which has been highlighted with grey and detailed with black stripes. Their faces are brought to life with green and black slit pupil eyes, pink hand embroidered noses and mouths, and clear monofilament whiskers.  Each wears a pink or red bow and a tiny brass colored jingle bell.  Overall, postwar Tabby was made in 7, 10, 14, and 17 cm from 1949 through 1977.

Size also defies with these charming baby cats! Although they are "technically" labeled and cataloged as the 7 cm version (measured vertically from top of head to toe,) these Tabby cats actually vary from a little over 7 cm down to 6 cm.  A centimeter plus or minus doesn't sound like a big difference here, but when things are actually this small, it has a huge effect on an item's scale and appearance. 

It's never polite to ask someone's age, but in this case, it's makes for an interesting mystery!  These "triplet" cats all have their raised script buttons, yellow ear tags, and red imprinted chest tags.  This combination of IDs dates them all around 1952.  However, when it comes to Steiff, things are never quite that simple... especially when it comes to identification and detailing on items from the late 1940's and early 1950's.  There are a few very subtle differences between them that suggest that they may not all share the identical birth date!

• One Tabby has a tiny white linen "US Zone" tag sewn into his front leg seam; the others do not.  This tag measures less than 1 square cm overall and is pictured above on the left. The US Zone tag was technically used on all items produced by Steiff in the 1947 through 1953 time frame.
• One Tabby has early style, "teal green" and black slit pupil eyes, while the others have more "soda bottle green" and black slit pupil eyes; this is pictured below.
• One Tabby's ear tag reads, "Steiff (in bold script) Original 1307,0 Made in Germany" while the others both read, "Steiff (in regular print) Orig. gesch. 1307,0 Made in Germany."  Both of these styles of ear tags were used in the approximately 1952 time frame, and are pictured below.
• Each kitten has a silk ribbon; however they are not matching in color.  One ribbon is not original, but in the correct "color palate" to the others.  

So what does all this mean?  Here are two things to keep in mind...

First and foremost, it is important to remember that these sorts of vintage Steiff items were all made by hand, so slight differences in size and general appearance are to be expected.  And this truly does magnify with smaller items, where there is less "wiggle room" for differences.  Most collectors would agree that these variations only add to the appeal and charm of Steiff treasures.

Secondly, these items were made during a less than optimal production period at Steiff (circa WWII) where the company was dealing with limited supplies and resources.  During this time, it would not be unusual to use pre-war materials on post war produced items, as the company has traditionally used "what's on hand" for manufacturing and ID purposes.  For example, in this case, the blue-green eyes on one of the Tabby cats could have easily come from pre-war stock, while the Tabby herself may have been made post war.  And, to complicate things even more - given Steiff did indeed make a 7 cm grey and white striped Tabby cat from 1936 through 1943 - this Tabby could have even been made pre-war, tucked away during the war, and then buttoned, labeled, and sold postwar!   Only she knows for sure!

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on these baby kittens reminds you that good things indeed come in threes!

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