`MORPETH TEDDY BEARS` Goodmorning, Mohair Steiff Archives

‘MORPETH TEDDY BEARS’
Morpeth Teddy Bears, Campbell’s Store Craft Centre
175 Swan Street, Morpeth NSW 2321
Phone 02 49343938 Thursday to Sunday
or 02 49331407 any time. Fax 02 49342107
Shop open 10am-5pm Thurs till Sunday
Website: www.morpethteddybears.com
www.morpethgallery.com
Email: info@morpethgallery.com
May 2012
www.morpethteddybears.com
Goodmorning,
Mohair
I have come to realise that I would need another lifetime to
make all of my mohair stash into bears, along with sewing
quilts, knitting tea cosies, making sock monkeys, magnetic
soap holders by the thousands, travelling and keeping up
with grandchildren. So I have made the sad decision to sell
most of my mohair. There is a lot of it and every single
piece has been personally chosen by me with special bears
in mind. I spent a whole weekend sorting and pricing and
just drooling over the beautiful pieces. Much of it I have
purchased at the factory in Germany so it is almost all Steiff
Schulte Mohair.
I know that some of you are also bear makers, so if you would like some of this amazing fabric, come in and see
Barb. The fabric is in the front shop of Campbell’s Store near the scarves and Akubra Hats. Mention this letter and
she will gift you a pattern to go with your mohair. For those who live far away, we can always post. Most of the
fabric is cut into fat ¼ ‘s or ½ metre pieces.
Steiff Archives
I was so excited I didn’t sleep a wink the night before my tour through the Steiff Archives, Giengen, Germany. On
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13 March 2012, it was up early to travel the one hour from the beautiful medieval walled township of Rothenburg,
to reach the front gate of Steiff by 8.30am. Editor of the Steiff Club Magazine Inge Zinnecker, was there to greet
Kylie & I, and once the introductions had been made, it was off to the rarefied world of the Steiff archives.
Located in the back of the Steiff Factory and museum, the archives have been purpose
built in an upstairs area of one of the 100 plus year old factory buildings. There we
were left in the capable hands of Manuela Fustig, who manages the archives, along
with her capable assistant.
Their work initially began in 2005, by gathering together all the bears, animals, furry
samples and documents that had been scattered around the entire Steiff factory – a
huge conglomerate of many multi level buildings and bring them together in the one
place, into purpose built rooms. Temperature controlled, dark, with shelves that
stacked together, so that they were dust free, when not being used. Manuela told us
there were bits and pieces hidden or stuffed into many nooks and cranny’s. Even now
a worker may find a rare article whilst cleaning up a long forgotten corner!
Manuela is also responsible for curating rotating exhibits in the Steiff Museum, selecting and packing items for
worldwide exhibitions in other countries such as Russia and Japan, organising pieces for magazine and photo
shoots and locating samples for future production. In between these tasks, every new Steiff item must be entered
into the computer system with its EAN number, description, including interesting features and limited edition number
if applicable, before being located a space on the archive shelves.
Through the big metal door we went into a huge room which was full of concertined shelving units, just like you
might see at the doctors, or in a library. My heart skipped a beat as we passed an area full of animals on wheels.
Friend and travelling companion Claire would have cried out with delight, seeing 250+ of the Steiff items she loves
to collect above all others! Some dating back to the late 1800’s, when Steiff first began making toys. These animals
on wheels were designed to hold the weight of 16 fully grown men!
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Down to the end of the room we walked and there to my delight was a market cart, just like the one featured in our
new Cabinets of Curiosities museum at Campbell’s Store. This particular one had belonged to Paul Steiff (brother
of Richard, who created the first ever Teddy bear). Manuela explained that in 1924 Paul’s cart was borrowed by a
neighbour and brought back and left in the rain. Paul had written a story along the inside of the cart explaining that
if one was to borrow his cart again, please replace it to exactly where you got it from, because he was not
impressed that it had been left out to be ruined in the elements. Signed, Paul Steiff.
Paul’s market cart contained a large Affe (ape), dating from 1908. It was in perfect
condition. Kylie owns a replica of this monkey, and was excited to see the original.
This was where the tour really started for us – as all the animals are alphabetised. ‘A’
for Affe was where all the monkeys were & Kylie’s eyes nearly popped out of her head.
Kylie collects vintage Steiff Jocko monkeys, and there they all were – one of every
monkey ever created. Sommersaulting monkeys, ones with mechanised heads,
googly eyes, red tags and the oldest white tags. Blank button monkeys dating to 1904
and some that had the word Muster written on them. In German this means, ‘sample’
and many never made it into production, for one reason or another.
We were to learn that Paul was a prolific note taker, journal & letter writer and documenter. It is because of notes in
margins, on patterns and even scribbled on 100 year old Steiff samples themselves, that we can learn what the
brothers were developing, how they were feeling and what they were passionate about in the company.
An original first edition from the Beatrix Potter Peter Rabbit series was tucked away on the
shelves along with an original Steiff Peter Rabbit from 1904 in mint condition. The book had
been sent from Richard Steiff in New York, to Paul back in Germany in 1936. His inscription
read that when designing the original Peter Rabbit, Paul had only had a small book to work
from. Now he would have a big book with beautifully illustrated pictures to work from. Paul’s
original small first edition book had notes in it, stating that he had decided to give Peter
Rabbit a pair of red slippers to wear, to add some colour to his re-creation.
There were rows of dogs, cats, woollen animals, birds, bats, foxes… if Steiff had made it
there was a sample there. I was delighted to be handed a red elephant pincushion, dating to
1888. It was made as a sample only and until recently had been in the collection of Clara
Steiff. She was the great grand cousin of Marguerite, and had no children of her own.
Clara’s elephant was given back to the Steiff company for posterity when the archives
commenced.
One of the only items not in the Steiff archives is 55PB Teddy bear. The sample went to the patent office with the
paperwork to register it, along with affe monkey (in the market cart). Whilst the monkey came back to the factory,
PB55 did not and the original sample was never seen again.
This means that PB35 from 1904 is the oldest existing Teddy bear. Another teddy from the 1908 caught my eye,
and I just had to give him a cuddle. He was big, yet extremely light to hold, and this is because over time the
excelsior wood wool stuffing dries out and lightens the weight of the bear. This teddy was also one of the first to
contain a growler. Before this they had squeakers.
After visiting all the Teddys in the shelves it was onto the dolls and
puppets, many of which were still contained in their original boxes from
the 1930’s. These unique boxes were held together in the four corners
using Steiff buttons. Amazing. The most beautiful of all the dolls were the
ones with a centre seam, as opposed to those with pressed faces. I even
found a shelf of tea cosies, many of which never went into production. If
only I could borrow these for our annual tea cosy competition, they would
make a fabulous display!
Our three hours in the archives went so quickly, and we’d barely touched the surface. No time to look at anything
produced after 1980. After a quick cuppa in the archive office, where Kylie was allowed to bring out her favourite
archive monkey to say hello to Teddy, it was time to spend an hour looking at paper documents. Private letters that
belonged to Marguerite, Richard and Paul… never before seen photographs of Marguerite and workers in the
factory, thankyou letters for donations Steiff had made in the community, even a Christmas gift list Margarite had
made up, detailing what all her nieces and nephews would be receiving for Christmas presents. Richards Steiff’s
original sketch books and original patent applications and Marguerite’s guest book from her funeral were incredible
items to behold.
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Then, the hour was up. Manuela had us sign her archive guest book, and we noted we were the very first
Australians to enter the archives. After farewelling Manuela we were whisked away for a full traditional German
three course lunch at a Giengen restaurant with champagne to toast our amazing morning. Over lunch Inge
divulged a few secrets about the upcoming Steiff Festival and we learnt a little more about what was involved in
editing the Steiff magazine. Then it was off for a private tour of Margarite Steiff’s house, before returning to the
Steiff Museum for another private tour.
The new multi-million dollar Steiff Museum was amazing last time I visited,
and this time it had a new attraction in the form of a giant Steiff snake
slippery slide for little and big kids alike. It begins on the third story up and
you slide at a very fast pace all the way down to the bottom. Teddy and
Kylie took a ride together, and I was ready at the bottom to take their photo
when they appeared. We wandered around taking in exhibits in the
cabinets, highlighting each decade of Steiff through its creations, through the
area demonstrating how to make a Teddy bear & the interactive section for
children. As our day came to a close in the gift shop, Inge gifted us a
beautiful Classic Steiff Teddy Bear each with a personalised ribbon around
each Teddy’s neck with our name and date of our visit on it. Wow!
Thankyou Steiff for a memorable visit. Words can’t really do it justice. It was
such an honour, terrific learning experience and a privilege to see and in
some cases hold, some of the most precious Steiff items made. Teddy got
an extra cuddle that night, before I settled down to a well-earned sleep &
sweet dreams featuring Steiff.
110th Anniversary PB55
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Steiff celebrates the 110 anniversary of the Teddy bear with this
half-size version of the original PB55. He is not a replica, but is a
new version. (That is, a version of the first ever jointed Teddy
bear – the only one not in the Steiff Archives). He is 26cm and
made from dark brown slightly curly mohair. His hand stitched
nose has had wax applied and then been polished to simulate the
sealing wax nose of the original PB55. The mouth stitching is still
made from the same strong, waxed Saddler thread as used 110
years ago. Of course, the anniversary edition has the unique
five-claw stitching. Limited to 1,902 pieces worldwide, stuffed
with synthetic filling. You can own a true piece of history – The
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110 Anniversary PB55.
$350. Waiting for you at Morpeth Bears.
Steiff Othello
When in England recently Ian Pout confirmed to us that the original
Othello, who resides at Teddy Bears of Witney, will be going up for
auction. This official announcement was to be made at Teddy Total at
Munster at the end of April and Othello will go up for auction at the Steiff
Festival at the end June 2012. The reserve is 25,000 pounds ($38,000
Australian) but it is expected to sell for three or four times this price.
The Othello replica released for 2012 is a beautiful bear and is available
for $795. There are only 1912 pieces worldwide and it will sell out fast.
Picture: The original Steiff Othello at Teddy Bears of Witney
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Steiff Centenary Titanic Ted
is an exclusive for the UK and North America.
36cm limited edition of 1912 pieces.
I brought just a couple of these back from England with me
last week. Price is $395. from Morpeth Bears
You will notice that the Titanic bears have a red outline
behind their eyes which gives a feeling of sadness or grief,
which was the case when the Titanic sank one hundred
years ago.
Woody Teddy Bear
You simply must see the warm and natural shades of Woody to
truly understand how this Teddy earned his name. Woody is
made from the finest long pile mohair in various brown colour
shades on a dark olive cotton backing. He’s scrumptious, you’ll
love him. He’s 38cm and limited to 1,500 pieces worldwide. His
nose and claws are hand stitched with a nicely contrasting light
beige embroidery thread. His shiny black eyes will charm you
and Woody will speak to you with his full, rich-sounding growler.
In fact, he was growling as he arrived, anxious to get out of the
box for a cuddle.
$390. A beautiful bear from Morpeth Bears.
Millie Teddy Bear
Millie is 30cm and has all the hallmarks of an antique bear. Her
mohair has a vintage feel and at first glance you might think she has
been hidden away in the attic forever. There are a few skipped
stitches on the nose where the mohair shows through, simulating
wear. Her paws are shaded to make her look old and dusty from the
attic. Limited edition of 1,500 pieces worldwide, stuffed with
synthetic stuffing. Her head is loosely attached for the wobbly feel of
an old bear. She wears a vintage-style collar made from velvet and
felt.
$330. at Morpeth Bears.
Until next time…..keep on enjoying Teddy Bears.
P.S. If you are a reader of the Australian Teddy Bear Creations
magazine you may have seen a feature article on Kelly Dean, big bear
maker, from USA. I was very impressed and just had to order a bear.
It arrived today and what a great time I had unwrapping that parcel. A
beautiful big grizzly bear. He is 32 inches tall with extensive armature
and mechanical jointing and comes with nine leather handmade food
cans he has been pilfering from the rubbish. I also bought a serving
of “Duck Soup”. The attention to detail is second to none. You will be
able to see them in our new collectors museum “Cabinets of
Curiosities” when it opens at the end of May 2012, first floor
Campbell’s Store.
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Granger with Duck Soup.