Singing A Happy Tune Over This Unusual Steiff Musical Tiger!

Well, this interesting find should be like music to your ears if you like Steiff tigers. And why is that? This wonderful jungle gem has a secret - he's got a special and most unusual music feature hidden in his belly. Check out this terrific tiger and see what makes him one of the coolest cats around!

It's easy to break out in song over this pretty kitty. "Music Tiger" is unjointed and about 20 cm tall and 30 cm long (not including his tail.) He is in Steiff's "lying" position, meaning he is curled up with his legs resting gently to his side. His face is detailed with piercing green and black eyes, a pink embroidered nose, a black embroidered mouth with a touch of pink airbrushing, and tufts of longer mohair around his jowls. He has many long, clear, monofilament whiskers.  He is made from short mohair, which has been hand airbrushed and stenciled to give his coat a most authentic and realistic look.  Even his paw pads have charming "footprints" on them.  On his underside, there is a small brass winder that activates his happy tunes; it is in working condition. 

Collectors will recognize this beloved pattern as the one identical to Steiff's popular lying tiger cub design, which was produced from 1953 through 1978 in 17, 28, 43, and 60 cm.

Let's take a look at some of the special IDs of this singing sweetie, which does not appear - as far as Steiffgal knows of - in any regularly referenced Steiff book. The first is his eye-catching chest tag.  It is Steiff's regular, colorful bear faced version with his name on it.  Given the "secret location" of his music box, and the fact that his basic pattern is relatively standard in the Steiff line, this tag is essential in identifying him from pictures as something really unique. The second is his special musical item tag.  The tag is metallic silver, red, and blue, and features a Steiff logo and the word "Musicanto" on each side. It is in four languages, and reads, "Contains a genuine Swiss music box. To wind: Turn knob in the tail or underneath tummy."  

It's not polite to ask someone their age, so let's figure out another way to date this Music Tiger. Steiffgal has two other Steiff musical animals that have this tag. The first is the company's Music Kitty. This fancy feline is 17 cm, head jointed, and resembles Steiff's beloved sitting Susi cat pattern. Music Kitty was made in 1955 through 1957, and then again in 1961; she is pictured here on the left. The second is Steiff's Music Cockie Cocker Spaniel. Cockie is 17 cm and sitting. She is made from black and white mohair and is head jointed. She has a large, open, smiling mouth. Her face is detailed with large, friendly brown and black pupil eyes and a black hand embroidered nose.  Music Cockie was produced from 1955 through 1957 only.  Both Music Kitty and Cockie's music features are activated by winding up their tails.  And of course, who can forget Steiff's fabulous Music Teddy, which was made in 35 cm from 1951 through 1957?

Given all of that, it is Steiffgal's best guess that this Music Tiger, like his other talented and performing cousins, was most likely made in the 1955 through 1957 time frame, give or take a pinch.

It was not terribly unusual for Steiff to take some of its most popular patterns and try "theme and variation" items from them. Some of these "experiments" were produced on a commercial level and appeared in the catalog; others were made in extremely limited quantities if at all. For example, Steiffgal also has a larger lying tiger made as a silk-lined and zippered pajama bag. This also does not appear, as far as Steiffgal knows, in any standard Steiff reference book. In 2009, Ladenburger Spielzeugauktion featured two marvelous musical rarities; a musical Lulac rabbit and a very large musical tiger.  The auction house dated each from approximately 1952. Both are pictured here on the left - click on the photo to enlarge it!

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Steiffgal hopes this discussion on this Music Tiger has been a high note in your day.

This Singing Steiff Spaniel Has Things All Buttoned Up

Some Steiff items are worthy of royalty - especially the company's beloved King Charles Spaniels!  So it should come as no surprise that Steiffgal all but rolled out the red carpet when a dear friend and fellow collector brought this musical "Charly" to her attention!  This dog truly is best of show for so many obvious - and not so obvious - reasons.  Let's take a look at this crownworthy canine and see what makes him so interesting from the design and historical perspectives.

You can't help but want to break into song over this delightful doggy.  This "Musik-Charly" is standing, head jointed, and made from long mohair.  His body and legs are white mohair, while his tail, long playful ears, and the sides of his face are made from brown tipped mohair.  Charly has a very detailed facial seam structure which really emphasizes his sweet and innocent look. His face is detailed with oversized black and brown pupil eyes, a black hand embroidered nose and mouth, and a few freckles on his muzzle.  Charly's music box is activated by pulling on his tail.  Overall, this particular model of standing Musik-Charly was produced in 17, 22, and 25 cm from 1928 through 1931.  Steiff also produced a sitting version of Musik-Charly in 17 and 22 cm during the same time frame. 

Charly has two very interesting features that make him top dog.  The first is his musical mechanism.  In the late 1920's and early 1930's, Steiff produced a number of "Musik" animals based on the company's most popular designs of the day.  These included Molly the puppy, Bully the bulldog, Fluffy the cat, and a sweet standing lamb, among others.  These were all activated either by gently squeezing and releasing the midsection or loins of the animals, or by turning the animal's tail.  However, for the standing Musik-Charly, his music was produced by tugging gently on his tail - not by turning it.

It won't take much to muster your attention towards Charly's second fantastic feature.  In addition to his standard Steiff trailing "f" style button in his ear (on the left size of the photo), Charly also sports a second button in his tail area.  This button, called the "muster" button, was used by Steiff pre-WWII on items considered samples, evolving designs, or prototypes. This is pictured here on the right side of the photo. In general, the button indicated that the item was Steiff property and was not intended for sale or distribution.  "Muster" translates loosely from German to English as "pattern" and in a sense, these "muster" items were just that.  This Charly's "muster" button suggests that he was made in 1928 or before, as the company was gearing up to put this model into production.  

It is interesting to note that Charly didn’t start out as a musical animal, but evolved into one. The original Steiff Charly dog was introduced in the late 1920s. He was produced both sitting (10, 14, 17, 22, 25, 30 and 35 cm) and standing (7, 10, 12, 14, 17 and 22 cm); the two versions were head jointed only. Their filling was soft kapok, meaning that they were lighter in weight and more cuddly than other animals stuffed with crunchy excelsior. An example of the 7 cm standing version is pictured here on the left.  Overall, the Charly pattern appeared in the line through 1936. 

Charly proved to be a great source for highly successful “theme and variation” product introductions, due to his popularity with collectors. He appeared as a 17 cm light brown and white mohair puppet from 1928 through 1939.  Both the sitting and standing versions were produced as pincushions in the 1929 through 1932 time frame.  He was also made as a 10 cm standing or sitting nomotta woolen miniature from 1935 through 1937, a 22 and 25 cm purse from 1927 through 1933, and as a playful, purple dressed 28 cm Pupp-animal doll (pictured on the left, photo from Christie's) from 1929 through 1930.

Steiffgal hopes the discussion on this most amazing vintage Charly dog has been like music to your ears.   

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