Going Out On A Limb Over This Unusual Steiff Prewar Novelty

Look what I found! That's exactly what a new friend from Florida said when she came across an interesting button-in-ear treasure at an estate sale local to her. But what exactly is this creature? Is it a merry mashup, or a loved to (almost) death standard line novelty? Valerie shares in part,

"This odd little fellow has a bear head; a caramel colored velvet body; a maybe muslin head, ears, hands, and feet; but also a 2" long tail! His skinny arms and legs are sewn/unjointed. His hands and feet have red embroidery threads roughly delineating his fingers and toes. All of his "fur" has been lost over time, except for very scant tufts of grey mohair inside his right ear. There's a dark metal button in his left ear, with Steiff in all capital letters with the tail of the second F extending to the "e." His nose and mouth are embroidered with faded pink thread. His eyes are sew-on green glass with black centers, and stick away from his face. I think the head is stuffed with excelsior, but the body, hands and feel softer.

Ancient bears had long tails, but I'm wondering if somebody sewed a Steiff bear head onto another beloved animal's body? The only thing that throws me off is that the material of the head, hands, feet and tail are the same. What do you think?"

Fingers crossed that Valerie can bear the news that her fabulous find is not a bear, but actually a cat! This cute cat is named Fluffiette, and she was one of a series of long limbed lovelies featured in the Steiff catalog from 1927-1932. These "play and car dolls" included Bulliette the bulldog, Molliette the puppy, Rabbiette the rabbit, Cherrioette the open mouthed puppy, and this cat - named Fluffiette (after the company's popular and beloved 1920s era cat named Fluffy.) Each animal doll had the mohair or velvet head of the character, mohair or velvet paws and feet, and dangling velvet limbs. Most were available in several colors and in 20, 30, and 43 cm, with the larger sizes having a squeaker. Each left the factory suspended from an elastic cord and was detailed with an ivory ring for hanging and a decorative pom-pom. Fluffiette was produced in pink or orange velvet, which is completely consistent with Valerie's example. Here on the left you can see what Fluffiette looked like when new, the image is from Pfeiffer's 1892-1943 Sortiment.

It has been suggested that the design of this series was based on a similar line from the Chad Valley Toy Company of England called "Tango Toys." Steiff modified the design to fit their characters and manufacturing processes, and named the line "Charleston Animals," based on the Charleston dance crazy of the 1920’s, with its fast moving arm and leg movements. You can see Steiff's full line of Charleston Animals here on the left; this image appeared in the company's 1929 product catalog. Fluffiette is third in from the right, sandwiched between a standing Molliette and a standing Rabbiette. 

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on this Fluffiette Charleston Animal has put a little spring in your step today.

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!

Fantastic Steiff Finds at the Sturbridge Doll, Toy, Bear, and Holiday Show

It's been a pretty tough week in the Boston neighborhoods that are in close proximity to Steiffgal's home.  Thankfully things do seem to be returning to normal after a really high anxiety few days.  There is no better way, at least in Steiffgal's mind, to help improve one's mood than to surround themselves with good friends and Steiff.  And that's exactly what she did, by attending the annual Sturbridge Doll, Toy, Bear, and Holiday Show last Sunday in Sturbridge, Massachusetts.  The show, produced by Steiffgal's colleague Kim Kittredge, was a wonderful way to temporarily escape from Boston Marathon bombing madness... and enjoy some really remarkable Steiff treasures.  Here are a few great items that really caught Steiffgal's eye.

Does this goat float your boat?  Well, he certainly got Steiffgal's attention.  Here we have Steiff's Ziege or Goat.  He is five ways jointed and made from very long, white shaggy mohair.  His face is made from shorter white mohair, and is detailed with hand embroidered black nostrils and a simple line mouth.  His round pupil eyes are made from green and black glass, and his ears are lined in velvet.  Goat was produced in 22, 28, 35, and 43 cm from 1906 through 1927.

So what makes this goat "best of the barnyard?" Besides being really just marvelous, he also has two Steiff buttons in his left ear:  a large one (8mm) and a small one (4mm).  Both have the long trailing "f" style Steiff writing on them.  Some early Steiff items do have two buttons; this was sometimes done to indicate an item was an early prototype or model - but usually this was indicated by a button with the word "muster" on it, plus a regular Steiff button.  Steiffgal has never seen anything quite like this button configuration before.

So how much is that doggie in the window? Readers may recognize this tiny treasure as the smallest sized mohair version of Treff the bloodhound.  This feminine, droopy-eyed dog design was introduced to the world in 1928. The first Treff examples - like this 7 cm version -  were sitting, head jointed and made in light brown mohair or velvet. They all have long, floppy ears, brown and black pupil eyes set in eye pockets, hand embroidered black noses and dainty muzzle “freckles.” Every Treff left the Giengen factory adorned with a large pastel-colored silk ribbon. Early sitting Treffs were produced in 7, 10, 14, 17, 22, 28, 35, 43 and 50 centimeters.

Treff’s popularity certainly lived up to her blue-ribbon looks and personality. As a result, Steiff quickly expanded her role in the product line. She was soon manufactured in a standing position, as a large ride-on toy, a side-squeeze musical animal, a pin cushion, a dressed dog-doll toy, a child-sized purse, and a tail-turns-head model. It is interesting to note that she was also manufactured in a less-expensive coat-plush material from 1932 through 1937. Politics and the world economic situation during this time frame greatly limited both Steiff’s ability to obtain high-quality materials and its customer’s ability to afford such “luxuries.” Overall, Treff appeared in the Steiff catalog through 1938.

You've been a doll to read this far, so let's thank you with just that.  Here we have an approximately 16 inches tall or 43 cm Steiff doll.  She is made from felt and is fully jointed.  Her "typical" Steiff style face is center-seamed and is detailed with brilliant cobalt blue and black glass pupil eyes.  This sweet lady is wearing a peasant style removable dress and full skirted apron, as well as a bandana on her head.  It is Steiffgal's best guess, based on her size, styling, and removable clothing,  that she is the Brenz Farmer's Wife doll, which was made in 43 cm in 1912 and 50 cm from 1912 through 1921.

Well hello Dolly!  Given this model was only produced in this size for one year, this is indeed one fantastic find indeed!

Let's get a leg up on this final great show find.  This "tall drink of water" is Rabbiette, a design that Steiff produced from 1927 through 1932. She has a standard line mohair rabbit head, long, soft unjointed dangling limbs; and mohair hands and paws. Her body, arms, and legs are made from lilac colored velvet.  She has glass, very large black and brown pupil eyes and an embroidered nose and mouth.  When she was new, she had a bright, sherbet colored silk ribbon. 

Rabbiette is one of a series of long limbed lovelies in the Steiff catalog from 1927-1932. These "play and car dolls" included Bulliette, the bulldog, Fluffiette, the cat, Molliette, the puppy, and Cherrioette, the open mouthed puppy. These were based on the most popular named Steiff characters of the time; it is interesting that there was not a bear in this series.  Each play and car doll had the head of the character, mohair paws and feet, and dangling velvet limbs. Most were available in several bright, happy "jelly bean" colors and in 20, 30, and 43 cm, with the larger sizes having a squeaker. 

Steiffgal hopes these special finds have added some highlights - and happiness - to your day today.  (And be sure to mark your calendars for next year's Sturbridge Doll, Toy, Bear, and Holiday Show, which will be held on Sunday, April 27th 2014 at the Sturbridge Host Hotel, Sturbridge, Massachusetts.) 

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