This Prewar Steiff Bear Doll Is Simply Picture Perfect!

This next great Steiff find is dressed for success. Steiff's prewar animal dolls are beloved by collectors but are quite rare - especially in their original clothing. They are among Steiffgal's most favorite button-in-ear novelties of all time, so she was thrilled to welcome this irresistible cub into her collection recently. Check out this handsomely attired example and see why he's just about picture perfect!

Here we have Steiff's a-maiz-ing Puppbaer or Bear Doll. He is 22 cm tall, standing, and head jointed. His arms hang loosely at his sides. His body is solidly stuffed and made from a soft flannel material. His head, in the form of the company's beloved Teddy Baby, is made from shaggy maize and white wool plush. The tops of his hands and flat feet are made from white wool plush. His earnest face comes to life with an open, felt lined mouth, a brown hand embroidered nose, and glass pupil eyes. He wears well fitting red, blue, orange, white, and green plaid calico pants, a long sleeved red cloth shirt, and a blue and white fringed calico scarf. He retains his long trailing "f" button and traces of his red ear tag as his IDs. This design was produced in 14, 22, and 28 cm from 1931-43 overall; Steiffgal suspects this cub was born around 1933-34. 

It is interesting to note that over his 12 year prewar production period, this Teddy Baby bear doll was available in 11 assorted clothing options. These finely tailored outfits included play and sporting outfits, pajamas, dresses, swimsuits, and traditional Germanic attire. This particular example under discussion here is in outfit #7, which is documented simply as, "winter suit, checkered trousers." The scarf is definitely "winter-y", and there's no question his pants are plaid! Outfit #7 was manufactured from 1933 through 1942. 

And just why is this fashion plate "picture perfect?" Check out this page from the company's 1938/39 catalog. On the top of page 40 of this great reference, you can see Bear Doll modeling in the exact outfit as he wears today. In 1938/39 - according to this catalog - he was available in six total outfits and in 22 or 28 cm. 

The approximate translation of this catalog text is...

"Soft body, floppy arms, firm body, plush head, funny clothes in different versions. 

#1 is sports shirt, blue trousers. #2 is blue suit, sand colored apron. #3 is polka dot dress, belt, red cape. #5 is loose salmon red dress. #6 is red and white smocked dress. #7 is winter suit and plaid pants. #8 is green trousers and a red blouse. #9 is a blue patterned dirndl dress. 

Please specify the outfit number and the doll size when ordering this item."

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on Steiff's Bear Doll has been the best of all worlds for you.

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

Hands In The Air Over This Marvelous Prewar Steiff Charly Puppet!

The eyes have it with this marvelous Steiff creation. Steiffgal recently welcomed a rare Steiff prewar novelty into her collection... this marvelous Charly the King Charles Spaniel puppet! This darling dog has truly captured Steiffgal's heart via her irresistible expression as well as her place in the Steiff product development timeline. Admit it, you can't look away either! Come take a look at what makes this puppet such a top dog!

This happy handful is 17 cm tall, unjointed, and made from mohair. Her body, ears, arms, and face are made from longer mohair, while her muzzle is made from slightly shorter mohair. Her head is stuffed with excelsior and is lined with a cardboard finger tube. Her ears are long, floppy, and stitched lightly to the sides of her head. Her mohair has faded overall and evenly to a mellow vanilla color. When she was new, her ears and parts of her face were light brown, and the rest of her was white. Charly has three hand embroidered black claws on each of her paws; these each have a little bit of excelsior in the ends to give them some dimension. Her pouty face comes to life with oversized brown and black glass pupil eyes and a black hand embroidered nose and mouth. She retains her long trailing "f" button as her Steiff ID. Her article number is 317, which translates to 3=mohair and 17=17 cm. This lovely puppet appeared in the line from 1928 through 1939 in this size only. 

This Charly puppet, of course, is a novelty based on the company's beloved and best selling prewar Charly the King Charles Spaniel. Steiff introduced Charly in the late 1920s, a time of great creativity at Steiff. The original Steiff Charly was produced both sitting and standing; the two versions were head-jointed only. Charly dogs were made from light brown or orange-tipped mohair and white mohair; had extremely long fuzzy ears; large, childlike brown and black-pupil eyes; a very detailed facial seam structure; and a prominent tail. Their filling included soft kapok, meaning that they were lighter in weight and more cuddly than other animals stuffed exclusively with excelsior. Here on the left, you can see a picture of this Charly puppet, along with a number of other charming Steiff puppets in this vignette from the company's 1929 catalog. The image is from Carsten Esser's Steiff Kataloge 1920-1929.

Knowing a good thing when they saw it, the designers at Steiff recognized that Charly would be a great source for “theme and variation” product introductions, due to her popularity with collectors. As a result, she appeared as various novelties throughout the line through 1940 or so. In addition to the puppet discussed here today, other highlights included pincushions, music boxes; tiny Nomotta woolen miniatures, a purse, and a pajama bag. Perhaps the rarest Charly of all was a Pupp Animal Doll. This version was 28 cm and dressed in a playful purple outfit. She appeared in the line only from 1929 through 1930. In 2010, a Pupp Charly realized over $8,300 at auction at Christie's in London. She is pictured here on the left; the image is from Christies. 

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on Steiff's prewar Charly puppet has been a very paw-sitive experience for you. 

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

When It Comes To Steiff, Variety Is The Spice Of Life

Given that Thanksgiving is just around the corner, how about spicing things up around here, too... Steiff style! Steiffgal was recently in London at the fantastic 200 Years of Childhood weekend. This grand multi-day affair featured a gala dinner as well as antique toy related lectures and a breathtaking salesroom. Steiffgal spotted this happy handful out of the corner of her eye, and it was love at first sight. Now he's crossed the pond with her and happily living amongst lots of new Steiff friends. Check out this sweet boy and see what makes him such a treat for all the senses.

Here we have a most unusual prewar Steiff Jocko on wheels; this design is also "officially" named Record Peter. This example is 20 cm and fully jointed. He is made from mohair and his hands, feet, face, and ears are made from tan colored felt. Jocko's gentle face comes to life with brown and black glass pupil eyes, a seamed mouth, and light airbrushed highlights on his nose area and forehead. He rides upon a black metal, four-wheeled cart. The centered wheels are solid wood and painted red. When Record Peter is pulled, his arms and legs move back and forth vigorously, giving the appearance that he’s working hard to keep his cart moving. When he left the factory in Giengen, Germany nearly a century ago, he had a pull cord attached to the front of his vehicle.

Prewar, Record Peter appeared in the standard Steiff catalog in 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 cm in deep chocolate brown from 1913-1943 and in white in 18 cm from 1925-1934. He was also produced in blue, yellow, green, red, or black mohair in 20 or 25 cm from 1913-1917 overall. However, these specific jewel toned examples are EXTRAORDINARILY rare. Steiffgal knows of only one on the entire planet! But returning to Earth... you can see a close up of this Jocko's face and distinctive coloration here on the left.

There are two factors that make today's ape-on-the-go the wheel deal. The first, of course, is his awesome hue. He's made from cinnamon mohair. Cinnamon is not a standard mohair color when it comes to Steiff's Jocko, monkey, or ape production, wheeled or otherwise. However, once in a blue moon cinnamon examples turn up and they can be of great interest to collectors given their rarity.  In January, 2019 Vectis Auctions sold a very appealing, 28 cm fully jointed cinnamon mohair Jocko in fine condition for 2,900 GBP. This beautiful boy is pictured here on the left.

The second is his proportions. The vast majority of mohair Record Peters that Steiffgal has seen or handled have been the 25 cm size. This is probably the case as the 25 cm versions were made both pre and post war. Steiffgal has never personally handled a 10 or 15 cm Record Peter, ever (but would welcome the opportunity to do so!) Those smaller than 25 cm are just really, really rare overall. 

Rolling onward, how does this 20 cm cinnamon fellow under discussion today compare to the brown mohair 25 cm Record Peter most of us know and love? In terms of the drivers, the 25 cm and 20 cm Jocko chimps have several key design differences. For example, the 25 cm versions have dimensional ears, eyes in eye pockets, and a white mohair chin, while the 20 cm versions have simple felt ears, no eye pockets, and a felt chin. And in terms of their carts, 25 cm Jocko's cart measures 22 cm wide with 8 cm diameter wheels, and 20 cm Jocko's cart measures 18 cm wide with 6 cm diameter wheels. You can see these two Sunday drivers pictured side by side here on the left. 

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on this cinnamon Record Peter has been a savory delight for you. 

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