This Delightful 1920s Mohair Bird Gets Top Bill-ing!

This week's special blog guest should have you tickled pink. A new friend writes about a pastel pet her Mother received nearly a century ago. Was this dear heirloom made by Steiff? Let's take a deep duck dive and try and solve the mystery for her. Trish shares,

"I have my Mom's duck that was given to her on shipboard during her family's immigration from Germany in 1929. It no longer has IDs. But the story is documented and she was always adamant that it was made by Steiff. For my own curiosity, I tried to find a reference to Steiff ducks from that era, but have had no luck. It lacks any obvious marks where a tag might have been attached. It measures about 9" long from the tip of its beak to its tail. I appreciate your time!"

Bird's the word with this delightful duck for sure. However, it is Steiffgal's best thinking that it was not made by Steiff. However, its coloration and presentation are very reflective of the mid to late 1920s, which was when Trish says her Mother was gifted the duck. Starting around 1924 or 1925, Steiff's product line began more accurately reflecting the aesthetic of the "roaring '20s," with items having more of a fun, fluffy, and feminine appearance. Other toy manufacturers quickly followed suit. A big marker of this change across the industry was the widescale production of soft toys in happy pastel colors, including examples in pink, purple, and blue mohair or velvet, as well as vibrantly tipped mohair. Clearly, these colors for the most part did not reflect the animal's hues in nature, but they proved to be "best sellers" with customers because of their novelty and appeal. Trish's pink duck is a perfect example of this.

Not to duck the question, but what about this toy is not Steiff-like? Here are a few areas of note. First, it lacks the "roundness" of Steiff's swimming style play ducks of the era. It also does not have distinctive wings on the sides of its body. It is missing orange felt legs and feet, and there is no evidence that this toy every had them. Steiff's ducks from this era tended to have black button eyes backed in felt, not oversized glass pupil ones. And finally, as far as Steiffgal can tell, many of Steiff's ducks of the era had open beaks made from double thick felt and not felt that was seen together with seams. So these small details point to another manufacturer for Trish's duck. You can see the Steiff's analogous pastel duck pattern here on the left. These beautiful birds were made in pink, purple, and blue mohair in 11, 13, and 15 cm from 1926-1929 overall. The photo is from Pfeiffer's 1892-1943 Sortiment.

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on this novelty duck has made your day pretty in pink.

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

No Need To Spin Your Wheels Over This Remarkable Prewar Steiff Doll On The Go!

It's time to hit the road - literally - with this week's special blog guest. A new friend from the state of Wisconsin in the United States asks about a special family heirloom that holds a very important place in her heart. This racy red rider has escaped identification, until now. So the question is... is he the wheel deal? 

Diane shares,

"I have never been able to locate a Steiff like my Grandmothers. It is a postman on an Irish Mail or pull cart. He is 8 inches tall when he is in the forward position. The button is in the ear. It is difficult to see the button in the photo. He was purchased in the 1930s. I have seen a few animals on pull carts but never a doll. Thank you in advance for any information you could provide."

What we have here is Steiff's super cute, and super rare, Radler doll on wooden wheels. The doll itself is 20 cm tall, fully jointed, and made entirely from felt. He wears a red felt suit that is integral to his body. His jacket is detailed with cuffs and a collar, as well as buttons. His shoes are black, and his matching red felt hat fits nicely on his head. His boyish face comes to life with a prominent center seam, glass eyes, a dimensional mouth and nose highlighted with hand painting, rosy cheeks, and pert ears. His hair is painted. He sits upon a metal carriage which glides along on four naturally colored wooden wheels. When the cart is pulled along, it appears as if the doll is shuffling back and forth in tandem with the movement of his vehicle. This particular doll design is named "Radler" and he was produced in this size only from 1916-1929.

It's interesting to note that "Radler" is the German word for cyclist. The word is also a name for a distinctly German adult beverage. A "radler" is a mixture of beer and citrus flavored soda. It is fitting to see how a radler might enjoy a cold, frosty radler after a long bicycle ride! For a detailed history of radler the beverage, please click here!

Radler (the doll!) is part of Steiff's beloved and traditional "record" production. "Record" refers to a jointed item riding a four wheeled cart with a handle. The first record item was "Record Peter" - a chimp on wheels - who came on the scene in 1912. He was an immediate best seller then, and remains a collector's favorite today. A Record Teddy debuted in 1913 and a Record Rabbit appeared in the catalog starting in 1926. In terms of dolls, in 1916 a series of record dolls topped Steiff's novelty production. These included a Record Puck gnome, Shockheaded Peter, Max, Moritz, a Record August (a boy in a purple felt suit) and this Radler. Over time, popular characters like Mickey Mouse, Petsy the baby bear, and Felix the Cat were also produced as record-style novelties. Postwar, record style rabbits and chimps appeared in the line through 1964 and 1970, respectively. You can see a photo of Radler as he would have appeared leaving the factory brand new a century ago - this image is from Pfeiffer's 1892-1943 Sortiment.

Steiffgal hopes this discussion of Diane's radler has been a refreshing pause in your day. 

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

Hands In The Air Over This Marvelous Midcentury Puppet!

The theme of this week's Steiff blog has a lot to do with hands! In this case, we're taking about a really unusual very early postwar hand puppet. But the context for all of this is that Steiffgal broke her hand in several places in February, which explains why this blog was a bit on hold for awhile. But things are coming together, and blogging is possible again - finally! So hands in the air about that... and this adorable midcentury marvel!

Here we have one of Steiff's one-derful items... a special toy that only appeared in the catalog for one year. This brown beauty is 17 cm tall and made from long, brown artificial silk plush fabric. His muzzle is made from short tan artificial silk plush. Ted's smiling, open mouth is lined in peach colored felt; it is the same felt as seen on his hand pads. He has brown and black glass pupil eyes, a black hand embroidered nose, and tan embroidered claws. His head and the tips of his paws are stuffed with excelsior. His head is lined in a cardboard finger tube. He most likely was wearing a red ribbon when he left the factory over seventy years ago. This puppet was made in this size only in 1949. His IDs have been lost to time, but MAY have included a short trailing "f" button, a red imprinted chest tag, and a yellow or white linen ear tag. 

This hand puppet sits at a key point in the Steiff product development tree for this puppet design. The full bodied Teddy baby bear debuted in 1929 in a variety of sizes, colors, and materials. He was an immediate sales success, given his appeal, form, and irresistible personality. Like many "home run" products, the company quickly started producing Teddy baby as a series of novelties to further leverage the design's popularity. Of course, puppets were an obvious direction for this patter.  A Teddy baby puppet was produced in maize as a closed mouth version in 17 cm in 1930 only. This puppet was also made in 17 cm in brown mohair in the more familiar open mouth design from 1929-1943. Other prewar Teddy baby novelties included pajama bags, pull toys on wooden wheels, dressed dolls, and roly-polys. 

Given the design's popularity, it is no surprise that a Teddy baby hand puppet would appear in the line in the late 1940s when the factory reopened for toy making business. As mohair was still in short supply, and expensive, Steiff produced this beloved and legacy pattern in brown artificial silk plush in 1949. The puppet under discussion here today is one of these rare models. Then, once mohair became available on a commercial scale, he was made in this traditional fabric again through 1978. A very early postwar brown mohair Teddy baby puppet is pictured here on the left. Its red imprinted chest tag and article number "317" dates it from c. 1949-1952.

This Teddy baby hand puppet design is pretty remarkable as nothing fundamentally changed in its pattern or construction in half a century. This, in some ways, makes brown mohair Teddy baby puppets without IDs somewhat hard to date. Steiffgal can only think of three very minor things that changed on this design in 50 years. First, of course, is their IDs, which would be updated to match their period of production. Second would be the shift from glass eyes to plastic eyes in the 1960s. And third would be the shift from a cardboard finger tube to a plastic finger tube, probably in the late 1960s-early 1970s.

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on Steiff's unusual early postwar Teddy baby puppet has been one happy handful for you.

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

This Marmalade Silk Plush Steiff Susi Kitten Is The Cat's Meow!

Orange you in the mood for something unexpected? Steiff's midcentury kittens are always the cat's meow, but this particular find is purr-fect in every way! Check out this fantastic feline and see what makes her so interesting from the design and historical perspectives.

This smooth-as-silk sweetie is an unusual example of Steiff's beloved Susi cat design. She is 16 cm tall, sitting, and head jointed. Susi is made from artificial silk plush. Her muzzle, front feet, and neck are white while her body, head, and tail are a marmalade color. The marmalade areas are hand airbrushed with dark orange or brown stripes. Her face comes to life with piercing green and black round pupil glass eyes, a pink hand embroidered nose and mouth, traces of a few clear monofilament whiskers, and a touch of pink paint to mark her lips. She has red embroidered claws on her front two paws. She retains her original pink bow. Her IDs include a large, watermelon style red imprinted chest tag, a short trailing f button, and traces of a light yellow or white ear tag.

Steiff's legacy Susi pattern has been a collector's favorite since her debut in 1936. It is rumored that this beloved design was named after a member of the Steiff family. Prewar, she was produced in grey and white mohair in 14, 17, 22, and 28 cm through 1943. In Pfeiffer's 1892-1943 Sortiment, she is described as "mohair plush, gray tabby, sitting, very pretty model, round shape." It is very unusual to find subjective or "flattering" descriptions in the Sortiment books as they are almost always entirely factual and literal. So Susi's design must have really caught someone's eye! Shortly after the conclusion of WWII, Steiff began manufacturing just a handful of their most popular prewar patterns - including a version of Susi. Her pattern was first produced in grey and white artificial silk plush in 14, 17, and 22 cm from 1948 to 1949, and then in mohair in 10, 12, 14, 17 and 22 cm from 1948 through 1978.

As far as Steiffgal can tell, this marmalade and white artificial silk plush full bodied Susi cat does not appear in any of the standard Steiff reference books. However, it is interesting to note that she resembles a most unusual marmalade and white artificial silk plush Steiff puppet sold at auction in 2019. This puppet, which is pictured here on the left, generated 20 bids and realized over $3,000! You can see that they share similar coloring and materials, as well as the same green and black pupil eyes, and other facial detailing. This puppet was described in the catalog as, "hand puppet, faux silk plush, cat, shiny button, rests of the ocher-colored paper sign, was produced during the war, good condition, nice colors." The photo is from Liveauctioneers.com.

So, what's the story with this very pretty, albeit uncatalogued kitty? Here are a few ideas. It is entirely possible that she is a variation of the grey and white artificial silk plush version from the late 1940s. Her IDs align perfectly to that time frame. Given her stunning but unconventional hue and era of manufacture, she may have been produced as a sample of a design that never went into commercial scale production; was made from the only fabrics available at the time; or perhaps was designed and produced as an item for sale at the PX stores where American soldiers shopped immediately post WWII. However, only she knows for sure!

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on this happily hued Steiff Susi has tickled your whiskers, in the best possible way.

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