Getting Cosi With Steiff's Poodle Named Tosi

Poodles are amongst the most popular dog breeds globally and are regularly celebrated for their distinctive good looks, superior intelligence, and fun-loving personalities. These wonderful dogs, often sporting fantastic hair-dos, are so important to Steiff that several were featured in the company's debut catalog in the early 1890's. Since then, Poodles have appeared almost continuously in the Steiff line to this day.

One of the rarer Steiff poodles, Tosi, tops the wish lists of many collectors today. This is most likely due to her unique presentation, unusual detailing, and place in the company's product development timeline. A deeper dive into her history suggests she is a case study in early postwar design, development, and distribution. Here is the story behind this precious pup!

Given the breed's appeal, Steiff started manufacturing Poodles as soon as possible once the factory reopened for toy making business after the conclusion of WWII. The first new postwar Steiff Poodle design was Tosi. Here you can see her on the cover of the company's 1950 product catalog. Tosi's design strategy was based on two of Steiff's key business drivers at the time - to produce quality, appealing toys as quickly and efficiently as possible and to regain their status as a premier, worldwide toy manufacturer. However, Steiff still had alot to manage operationally in the earliest midcentury period, including rebuilding their infrastructure, optimizing new regulations and distribution channels, and dealing with material and talent shortages, among other factors.

Many of Tosi's design elements reflects these postwar realities. She was standing and simple in design and only head jointed in the larger sizes. She had minimal seams and labor intensive details. Because mohair fabrics during this period were limited and expensive, this model was made from wool plush. Her coat was in a "Karakul" trim, meaning that it was fluffy but uniformly the same length all over her body. This gave her a sweet and youthful appearance, but also required no additional hand-trimming or work on her legs and torso. Tosi's face was detailed with a round, black glass button nose and soulful, almond shaped white, brown, and black eyes. These facial features did not require facial hand embroidery, which can be time consuming and require special expertise to execute. Her accessory was a simple red leather collar, which was easy to manufacture and attach to the dog. And, her small size and compact form made her light and easy to pack and ship worldwide. Here on the left you can see Tosi in a variety of color and size combinations as she appeared in Steiff's 1950 new product catalog. 

Overall, Tosi was produced in black or white wool plush in four sizes ranging from 14 to 28 cm from 1950 through 1953. Because of her time of manufacturer, Tosi would have left the factory with either a short trailing f, blank, or raised script button; yellow ear tag; a red or blue imprinted chest tag; and a cloth US Zone tag in her leg seam as her Steiff IDs. You can see these IDs on the white Tosi above; the image is from www.invaluable.com. Examples in excellent to as new condition with all IDs today can trade hands in the high three digits - low four digit range.

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on Steiff's Tosi poodles has you feeling quite rosy!

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

Steiff's Perfect Vintage Easter Rabbit

Hippity, hoppity, Easter's on its way!  What wonderful words, given the cold and snowy winter we've all experienced here in the Northeast.  In just a few weeks, we can all hope for a visit from the Easter rabbit, with a basket or two full of goodies in tow.  But have you ever imagined what this most famous Easter "hare-binger" actually looks like?  Steiffgal has... and here's what she came up with!

If this beautiful bunny doesn't put a little spring in your step, Steiffgal's not sure what would!  What we have here is Steiff's Hase or Rabbit.  She measures 26 cm head to toe, and 33 cm ear-tips to toe.  She is begging, head jointed, and has a non-working squeaker in her belly.  She is entirely made from white mohair, including the lining of her ears. Her charming face is detailed with a simple pink hand embroidered nose and mouth, clear monofilament whiskers, and over sized pink and red albino style glass eyes.  Surprisingly, she does not have any hand or foot claw stitching.  Hase's Steiff ID includes a long trailing "f" Steiff button and remains of her red ear tag.  Her large pink silk ribbon is not original to her, but suits her perfectly! 

According to Steiff records, this particular model was made from 1927 through 1941 in 11, 15, 18, 23, 29, 36, 44, 50, and 70 cm.  (It is not 100% clear which size this bunny under discussion falls as she is a little tall, or a little short to standard; this happens alot given the hand-made nature of early Steiff treasures.)  Hase came in light brown, white, gold, purple pink, and light blue mohair.  Steiff also made this same popular pattern in velvet from 1927 through 1932 in 11, 15, and 18 cm in white, purple, orange, light brown, light blue, pink, and yellow.  All models left the factory with a pastel colored silk ribbon and a bell.  

It is hard not to take notice of this rabbit's large and unusual eyes.  Steiff started using glass pupil eyes on their Teddy bears, animals, and dolls in the early 19-teens when manufacturing and distribution processes made it economically feasible to do so. The company soon started experimenting with different glass eye color combinations and even sizes to give their products a unique, or authentic, touch.  For example, early Steiff cats often had hazel or greenish-blue slit glass pupil eyes, much like real cats. Some novelty items, like Petsy the Baby Bear, Bonzo, and Cheerio, had deep blue and black glass pupil eyes.   This gave them a "special" quality.  Many dogs launched in the 1920's through the early 1930's had larger brown and black pupil eyes to suggest a wide-eyed and youthful innocence.  These would include Molly, Bully, and Charly, just to name a few.  And then of course there is this albino rabbit, with his delightful red and pink pupil glass eyes - clearly a "focal point" of his marvelous design.

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on her perfect Steiff Easter Rabbit is sweeter than a big box of marshmallow Peeps - and far more healthy!

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