Thursday, July 14, 2011

Rabbits, dogs , bears oh my!

Expecting to find my AP exam score results today in the mail I was not at all disappointed when I found a small brown package all the way from my Grammy Nancy in Pennsylvania instead! Curious as to what could be in the box for it wasn't my birthday, or Christmas for that matter I was surprised to find a little 6 inch antique bear in wonderful condition! With the bear she included a letter which said "I'm sending this Steiff bear that I have had in my possession for many years. It's very old and as you can see the bear has the Steiff signature label in its ear showing that it was made in Germany. I had seen one the same size at an antique auction house years ago that was selling for $125. When you were little, I left Hans and you pick from Steiff animals to take home. I hope you still have them." Well I happened to have the two other Steiffs sitting on my desk at the moment so I thought I should take a picture of this happy family reunited :). I hope they bring a smile to your day as they did to mine !
- Heidi

I've only done a little research so far but I think he could possibly be from the 1950's..?

This little guy is the first hand made bear I have seen made by someone else. It is interesting
to compare the feel and look at the techniques that Margarete steiff  had used. Her bear is much
harder than mine and the stuffing is firmly packed; mine are very soft and theres not so much stuffing.
 I wonder if all of the stuffing helped preserve the bear over time. This might be a technique
I should look into. 
                                         

2 comments:

  1. Oh what a sweet family of friends. I suspect that your little Steiff is stuffed with wood wool (excelsior) that makes them hard. Most old bears are.

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  2. Wow! I would have never thought of wood as being cuddly. :)

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