My Lips Are Sealed Over This Rare Steiff Closed Mouth Teddy Baby Bear

Smile, and the world smiles with you. But sometimes with Steiff, a treasure does not have to be "bearing" a grin to make the world happy. Such is the case with this petite treat that Steiffgal recently added to her collection. Take a look at this happy handful and see what makes him so distinctive from the design and product development perspectives.

Oh baby! Steiff enthusiasts are certain to recognize this beloved pattern as that of Teddy baby. This version is about 17 cm tall, standing, fully jointed and made from chocolate brown mohair. His paw pads are made from tan felt. He has all the legacy Teddy baby features, including flat, cardboard lined feet designed for standing; downward curving paws; a prominent muzzle; and a delightful, childlike appearance. However, unlike most prewar Teddy baby bears 15 cm tall and larger, this one has a closed mouth - making him quite the rare bear indeed!  

Let's give a shout out to this pensive pattern. Just for comparison, consider the following history. Steiff's beloved, open mouthed brown mohair Teddy babies were made prewar in 13 sizes ranging from 9 to 65 cm from 1930 - 1943 overall. Given the number of years and sizes produced, these appear with somewhat regularity on the secondary market. However, Steiff manufactured its brown mohair closed mouthed Teddy babies only in six sizes ranging from 15 to 45 cm from 1929 - 1931 overall. So simply based on the numbers, finding a Steiff prewar, closed mouth Teddy baby is sort of like hitting the lottery! Here on the left you can see three Steiff brown Teddy baby bears: the one on the left is the closed mouth version under discussion today, the one in the middle is an open mouthed version from the 1950s, and the one on the right is an open mouthed version from the 1930s.

It's always fun, and interesting, to think about why a pattern was produced for only a handful of years. Clearly, the closed mouth version was introduced with optimism, as shown in this leaflet from October, 1929. The picture is from Carsten Esser's Steiff Katalog 1920-1929. Although there is nothing exactly documented (at least that Steiffgal can find) about why the closed mouth pattern was discontinued so quickly, here are three possible reasons why.

The first, from the business/financial perspective, is that the open mouth version simply sold much better than the closed mouth version. Although the two are similar, the open mouth version appears sweeter and kinder than the closed mouth, more "pouty" version. This may have called to consumers' preferences, and pocketbooks, and the company simply "fished where the fish are."

The second, from the product development perspective, is that the open mouthed version might have better reflected the company's design priorities than did the closed mouth version. The general Teddy baby pattern was invented due to a late 1920's directive of Richard Steiff. He asked that the company develop products with "smiling faces that come alive." It is pretty clear that the open mouthed version is more "smile-ly" than the closed mouth version.  

The third is a bit more esoteric. From the historical and public relations perspectives, it is possible that the open mouth version might have projected a kinder, more welcoming face for the company than did the more solemn, closed mouth version. This is important when you consider what was happening in Germany and the world at the time that the pattern launched. Germany entered a period of economic depression and widespread unemployment in 1929 while growing anti-German sentiment were starting to cripple Steiff's export markets. As such, the happy-go-lucky open mouthed Teddy baby was the perfect, joyful fit as the company's brand ambassador at a most challenging time.  

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on closed mouth Teddy baby bears has opened up new ways of thinking for you about this delightful legacy pattern. 

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

Your Jaw Will Drop When You See This Turn Of Last Century Steiff Tom Cat!

Mouth agape! That was exactly Steiffgal's reaction when this turn-of-last-century rarity finally made its way into her Steiff collection. Like every Steiff enthusiast, Steiffgal also has a wish list, and this terrific Tom had been on it forever - until now! Check out this cover boy (really - and more about that later!) and see what makes this fantastic feline so interesting from the historical and design perspectives.

They say orange is the new black, but sometimes being old is in vogue, too! Here on the left is Steiff's original Tom Cat in the smallest sized produced. He is standing, unjointed, and made from jet black velvet. Measured vertically, he's 8 cm from the top of his head to his toes and 10 cm from the top of his tush to his toes. His thin, almost straight tail measures 8 cm long and .5 cm wide - and even more astonishingly - it is stuffed with excelsior! How did they do that, given its scale and configuration? Tom Cat wears his original silken bow and bell. This pattern was produced in 10, 14, and 17 cm from 1903 through 1919 in black velvet, and in 14 and 17 cm in white velvet from 1906 through 1908. This example retains his original blank button, dating his production to around 1905 or 1906.

Face it, you can't look away from Tom Cat's distinctive head design and construction. He comes to life with tiny, triangular shaped ears, black seed bead eyes backed in yellow felt, and an open, pink felt lined mouth. The lining is held in place with tiny pinkish-tan colored stitches - perhaps to resemble teeth? You can see where the seamstress tied the knot of pinkish-tan thread for these stitches on the cat's chin area. This is a tiny but interesting detail; it is not unusual to see an embroidery thread  knot on the face of an early Steiff bear or animal. Tom Cat also retains a number of his clear, monofilament whiskers. One could say he has a face only a (Steiff) mother could love! You can see all of these delicate details on the photo trio above. 

This Tom Cat is truly a headliner - from both aesthetic and well as historical angles. This petite treat was featured in an important photograph from the company's 1904/04 product line catalog. But what's so special about that? It's the same picture that debuted PB55... the world's first jointed Teddy bear! Timing is everything, eh? A snapshot of this catalog page is shown here on the left; you can spot the arched back Tom Cat a little to the right of center standing on top of a donkey on wheels. Given the scale of the items in the image, it is Steiffgal's best guess that the Tom Cat pictured is the 17 cm version. What you can't see on the photo is the cat's intricate mouth construction, but you can make out his bow and bell. This picture is from the Cieslik's Button in Ear The History of the Teddy Bear and His Friends reference book, published in 1989.

Now let's paws and look at the details noted on the photo. According to the hand written notes along the bottom of the page, these original black velvet Tom Cats were 14.40 Deutchmark per twelve. That is VERY ROUGHLY equivalent to $0.30 each in 1903.  This translates to approximately $8.59 in today's US dollars, given inflation and other financial and economic factors. 

Steiffgal hopes this discussion of this rare Tom Cat has left you on your toes for your next great find!

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

It's All Cheers For This Fantastic And Extremely Rare Early Steiff Puppy

Cheers! A toast to great Steiff finds... where ever they are discovered! And nothing could be truer in the case of this exceptionally rare Steiff dog that Steiffgal found in the sales room of the 2013 United Federation of Doll Club's annual convention in Washington, DC! Let's take a look at this "Dom Perignon" calibre canine and see what makes him so spectacular from the design and historical perspectives.


Please raise a glass to Cheerio, "the laughing puppy." Like Molly the Puppy, Cheerio does not have a designated breed, he is simply a young dog.  This totally adorable example is 17 cm, begging, and made from mohair.  He is chunky, proportioned like a toddler, and head jointed only.   Cheerio has three black hand embroidered claws on each of his hands and feet.  Of course, it is impossible to miss his beaming open-mouthed smile which is made from pink velvet.  It is most probable that Cheerio's pink felt tongue is a replacement.  This Cheerio is wearing a vintage silk bandana imprinted with an American flag; this is so as he was "adopted" into Steiffgal's collection in our nation's capital city.

It is interesting to note that Cheerio is one of the earliest open mouthed dog Steiff produced.  The first appears to be an open mouthed poodle on wheels which was in the line from 1912 through 1919.  This open mouth feature is relatively uncommon in early Steiff dogs.  However, it is also noted on some Bully Dogs, German Shepherds, and Arctic Expedition Dogs from the early 1930's as well as Flock and Tino from the mid 1930's through the early 1940's. 

In addition to his smile, Cheerio's round, oversized head has a number of interesting design details that are typical to his time of production. His ears are relatively small and "folded over" and he has enormous brown and black glass pupil eyes, similar to those features on Molly the Puppy. Other Cheerio models have very large blue and black cartoon eyes - the same ones used on Petsy the Baby Bear. Cheerio's eyes are in eye pockets, analogous to those seen on Jocko the Chimp and Treff the Bloodhound. And, his prominent tongue, more friendly than taunting, is also seen on Steiff's other caricatured and cartoon strip inspired dogs including Pip, Mops, and Putzi.

Despite his winning looks and personality, Cheerio only brought good will to the Steiff line for a handful of years.  Steiffgal's Cheerio is the begging version; he was produced in 17, 22, and 28 cm from 1928 though 1931.   Begging Cheerio was also made as a press and release music pup in 22 and 28 cm from 1928 through 1930.  Cheerio was also manufactured standing on all fours in 10, 14, 17, 22, and 28 cm from 1928 through 1932.  Standing Cheerio also appeared as a press and release music box in 17 and 22 cm from 1928 through 1930. He is pictured here on the left and sold for close to $5,000 at Christie's in 2010.  Perhaps the rarest Cheerio is "Cheerioette", the long limbed velvet bodied "Charleston animal" that was produced in 30 and 43 cm from 1928 through 1931.  

Cheerio has a fascinating history that is well documented in the Steiff archives.  Cheerio is actually Steiff's version of Bonzo, who was a very popular cartoon character created in 1911 by George Studdy.  Steiff was very interested in creating their own version of Bonzo, and had a very strong and successful record of working with other companies and artists in bringing their characters to life.   Good examples of this include projects with Disney (Mickey and Minnie Mouse), Billy DeBeck (Barney Google), and Pat Sullivan (Felix the Cat).  In the case of Bonzo, Studdy himself was solely in charge of granting licences and approvals to use his characters.  In about 1927, Steiff created a version of Bonzo, but Studdy did not like it at all.  This Bonzo is pictured here on the left; it sold in 2010 for almost $26,000 at Christie's.  According to company records, Studdy described the samples as "vulgar" and rejected them offhand, and gave the licence to the English company Chad Valley instead.  Paul Steiff, who was in charge of the project, apparently wrote, "We can't and don't wish to make an exact replica of Bonzo" on the rejection note.  The company then went on to create Cheerio in the likeness of Bonzo, and registered the design in 1929.  

Steiffgal hopes that this discussion around Steiff's wonderful Cheerio has brought a big smile to your face today!

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