October 4, 2014 Steiff Event featuring Dick Franz

 

I am so excited to announce the Fall  2014 Steiff Event in which I will be hosting the incredible Steiff US based archivist Dick Franz.  Dick is the author of "The Readers Service for the Steiff Club Companion".  Dick is also a long time collector and has been featured on Martha Stewart Living, Antiques in the Attic and QVC.

Mark your calendar ---- Saturday, October 4th, 2014 ---  Dick Franz will be from 11-2 only and will be appraising up to two items that you currently own.  Dick will also be more than happy to sign your pieces you either bring in (limit to two) or your purchases made that day.

Come see what's new at Steiff for Fall 2014 as many new items will be on view.  The adorable, Steiff 2014 Event Bear, Bert (pictured left) is artificial silk plush , dark beige, five joints, surface washable, 21 centimeters tall  (approximately 8.5 inches), limited to the year 2014, gold-plated "button in the ear" and only available for club events.  Bert is $99.00 plus tax.

 Bert looks wonderful with last years 2013 Event bear Flora who also happened to be artificial silk, which I have currently for sale as well for $99.00 plus tax.

Bert would be a handsome addition to any Steiff collection, as well as any Teddy bear collection.  As we all know some people only collect the event pieces so this is a not to missed opportunity.

Spring Steiff Event: Photographs

The day may have been cold outside, but inside of Keillor's A Teddy Bear Shoppe it was the start of Spring, with the Steiff 2014 Spring Event with Dick Franz, the Steiff USA Archivist.  I was so pleased to showcase the newest Steiff pieces for the day and invite everyone to attend.

The event started at 11 a.m. with the arrival of Dick, even though customers started arriving early to browse and buy merchandise.

 

Both of these Steiff pieces are sold out and can not even be ordered... 

 

This lovely trio inspired was by Alice in Wonderland.  The Mad Hatter and the White Rabbit are both sold out and can not be ordered, while Alice (as of now) can still be ordered.

 

The bear pictured on the left is made out paper fur and is sold out and can not be ordered.

 

Store owner Linda Keillor

 

This lovely duo was the give away that Steiff provided.

 

Who doesn't love a goodie?  We certainly had some really nice one's

 available that day.

 

Bagged "Bert" Steiff Event Bears all bagged, all pre-sold and ready to go to their "forever homes".  "Bert" can still be ordered and bought.  He will also be available at the Steiff Fall Event, where you can get him signed by Dick.

 

The next five pictures feature Dick Franz, the Steiff USA Archivist

 

I want to take the time and thank everyone who came out that day, everyone who bought something that day, congratulations to the winners, hopefully all of you enjoyed the goodies, and hopefully everyone got home before the storm hit on March 29th.  If you missed the event, don't get too sad as Dick will be back this fall for another event.

Photographs provided courtesy of Charlie Dale

Charlie Bears: BRAND NEW stock!

 This is Lita and she is designed by Isabelle Lee fro Charlie Bears.  She is 17 inches long.  Her fur  has a light brown undertone with a darker brown tone that ends in black tips.  She is fully jointed (head, legs and arms).  She wears a green gossamer bow that has a dark brown trimmed edge.  She also sports a heart-shaped charm that jingles when you move it.  She has ultra-suede paw pads and sculpted toes and foot pads.  Lita is price at $80.00 plus tax.

 This is Tatty, and he is part of the Minimo Collection from Charlie Bears.  He is limited to 2000 pieces and this piece is number 711.  He is made out of honey colored mohair, and measures 7 inches tall.  He has jointed arms and legs, ultra suede paw pads.  He wears a thread necklace that has two beads and a coin charm.  Tatty  is priced at $140.00 plus tax. 

 This is Whiskers and he is part of the Minimo Collection from Charlie Bears.  He is limited to 2000 pieces and this piece is number 711.  He is made out of a pale peach with crème and pink undertones mohair, and measures 7 inches tall.  He has jointed arms and legs, ultra suede foot pads as well as the inside of his ears, and complete with filament whiskers.  He wears a thread necklace that has three beads. He has a matching ultra-suede tail.  Whiskers is priced at $140.00 plus tax

  This is Nibble and he is part of the Minimo Collection from Charlie Bears.  He is limited to 2000 pieces and this piece is number 711.  He is made out of a pale green mohair, and measures 7 inches tall.  He has jointed arms and legs, ultra suede foot pads as well as the inside of his ears, and complete with filament whiskers.  He wears a thread necklace that has three beads. He has a green ultra-suede tail.  Nibble is priced at $140.00 plus tax.

 This is Helen and she is designed by Isabelle Lee for Charlie Bears.  She is 13 inches tall.  She has a fully jointed head, arms and legs. Her fur is white  with black and gold highlights scattered throughout.  Her paw pads are ultra-suede and have hand sculpted toes.  She wears a "shoelace" necklace that has eight beads and a large key charm.  She is priced at $97.00 plus tax.  SOLD

  This is Smokey and he is designed by Heather Lyell for "Charlie Bears".  He is 13 inches tall.  His head, arms and legs are jointed.  He wears a Silver bow.  His fur is a "giraffe-inspired" print that is grey and black in color.  This style of fur sets Smokey apart from any other bear we are aware of.  He has black ultra-suede paw pads.  He is priced at $67.00 plus tax.

 This Harrold and he is designed by Isabelle Lee for "Charlie Bears".  Harrold measures 19 inches long.  His fur has a dark brown undertone that is underneath his golden crème colored coat.  His arms, legs and head is jointed.  He wears a green "velour" scarf that is adorned nine beads and one ittty-bitty jingle bell.  Harrold is priced at $100.00 plus tax.

 "Love, Dreams and Bears: Celebrating the First Five Years of Charlie Bears" the book measures 10 inches high and eight inches wide.  The book is 224 pages long, has a hard cover and a dust jacket. Written by Charlotte and William Morris and published by Ebury Press in 2013.  This book is the first edition.  A treasure trove of information and highlights into the personal and private lives of "Charlie" and William as well as a full index of all of the ENTIRE "Charlie Bears" line for their first five years.  Full color photographs abound in this luxurious book.  The book is priced at $50.00 plus tax.  Within time will  be considered a true collectible itself.  SOLD

 

As always thank you for your continued business and support, and for visiting this blog.



 

Let's Visit the Steiff Zoo

Who needs to visit either the Akron Zoo or the Central Park Zoo, when all you have to do is visit Keillor's A Teddy Bear Shoppe.  While you're skipping the Central Park Zoo, you can also skip FAO Schwarz as well.  Why, you ask?  Because Keillor's has these adorable zoo animals that are a FAO Schwartz Exclusive.

Giraffe---  Is made out of 53% Mohair and 47 % Cotton, is stuffed with Polyester, and has Felt ears and horns with brown highlighting.  Giraffe comes with a black and white hang tag that says FAO Schwarz Exclusive, has the Steiff "button in the ear".  Giraffe is 8.5 inches high, 4 inches long and 2.5 wide, and is priced $80.00 plus tax.

Elephant--- Is made out of 53% Mohair and 47% Cotton, is stuffed with Polyester.  Elephant has pink highlighted ears, a felt mouth with a red highlighted tongue and a "yarn-like" tail.  Elephant is 4.5 inches high, 5.5 inches long and 3.5 inches wide. Elephant comes with a with a black and white hang tag that says FAO Schwarz Exclusive, has the Steiff "button in the ear" and is priced $80.00 plus tax.

Panda--- Is made out of 49% Mohair and 51% Cotton, is stuffed with Polyester.  Panda is 7 inches tall, 5 inches wide and 3 inches "deep". Panda has jointed arms and legs.  Panda comes with a with a black and white hang tag that says FAO Schwarz Exclusive, has the Steiff "button in the ear" and is priced $90.00 plus tax.

Monkey--- Is made out of 47% Mohair and 53% Cotton, is stuffed with Polyester. Monkey has felt ears with "ear" highlights, the hands have stitched "fingers" and the feet have stitched "toes".   Monkey is 7 inches high, 6 inches wide, and 3 inches "deep".  Monkey has jointed arms and legs. Monkey comes with a  black and white hang tag that says FAO Schwarz Exclusive, has the Steiff "button in the ear" and is priced $90.00 plus tax.

When you're done with your zoo purchases why not take them to see "Noah"?

Charlie Bears: Part 2

 This is Wotsit, and is designed by Isabelle Lee for Charlie Bears.  Wotsit has two primary colors.  The first being a rusted-auburn brown, while the secondary color is dark green.  Wotsit has a reddish brown hand embroidered nose.  Wotsit has sculpted toes and footpads that correspond to the rusted-auburn brown color.  He sports a brown and green "gingham" style cotton bow, a "shoestring" necklace with a bell.  Measuring 20 inches tall, Wotsit is priced at $98.00 plus tax.  SOLD

  This is Mulberry, and is designed by Isabelle Lee for Charlie Bears.  The fur on Mulberry has a "Merlot-wine" undertone with a "frosted" brown-crème highlights.  The pile on this bear is a bit longer than some of the line.  Mulberry sports a brown gossamer ribbon, a "shoelace" necklace with eight beads and one large jingle bell.  Paw pads are a russet color with sculpted toes and foot pad.  The nose is hand embroidered in dark brown.  Mulberry is 19 inches long, and is priced at $98.00 plus tax.

 This is Inca, and she is designed by Isabelle Lee.  Inca has a blue undertone fur with a blue-crème  and brown highlights and a blue muzzle.  Inca's paw pads are a dark blue ultra-suede with sculpted toes.  Inca has a dark brown hand embroidered nose, and sports a dark blue Satin bow.  Inca measures 18 inches long, and is priced at $94.00 plus tax.

 This is Edwin, and he is designed by Heather Lee for Charlie Bears.  His fur is a rich maple color with black highlights.  He has a hand embroidered nose, which has gold thread highlights.  He sports a felt collar with three large, metal jingle bells.  His paw pads are crème colored ultra suede paw pads with sculpted toes.  He measures 18 inches long, and is priced at $97.00 plus tax.

 This is Nora and she is designed by Isabelle Lee for Charlie Bears.  She is crème colored, plush that has a fluffy pile.  She sports a brown gingham bow.  She has a hand embroidered dark brown nose, and has matching crème colored ultra-suede paw pads.  She measures 13.5 inches long.  She is priced at $59.00 plus tax.

 This Lorna, and she is designed by Isabelle Lee for Charlie Bears.  Lorna is a smokey grey- black color with cream color highlights.  She wears a "shoestring" style necklace with four metal jingle bells.  She has a hand embroidered navy blue-black nose.  Her paw pads are beige ultra-suede with hand embroidered claws. She measures 19 inches long, and she is priced at $90.00 plus tax.

 This is Figaro, and he is designed by Isabelle Lee for Charlie Bears.  His fur is tightly knitted "knotted" plush that is a two tone beige and brown corduroy color.  His cap and scarf is a beige and dark brown corduroy material.  His paw pads are ultra-suede and has sculpted toes and footpads.  A darker brown hand stitched nose.  He measures 18.5 inches long.  He is priced at $100.00 plus tax. 

 

This is Xavier, and he is designed by Heather Lyell for Charlie Bears.  He is a chocolate brown color, and has corresponding "vinyl" foot pads.  His nose is a darker chocolate color.  He sports three bows.  The first is a white with gold trimmed gossamer ribbon.  The second is a gold gossamer ribbon, while the final ribbon is a black gossamer ribbon trimmed in silver high lights.  He measures 17 inches tall, and is priced at $108.00 plus tax. 

As always, Keillor's A Teddy Bear Shop is thankful for our customers.  All the bears pictured here can be purchased from the blog by emailing me at keillorsteddybears@yahoo.com  or by calling me at 330-854-0481 or by stopping in.

Charlie Bears: Plush Part 1

 This is Sparrow.  Sparrow wears a charming waxed thread necklace with three beads and a metal key charm.  He also sports a brown Gossamer ribbon.  His fur is  a mixture of gold and tan with ultra-suede corresponding paw pads.  He is 11 inches long and  is $60.00 plus tax. SOLD

 This is Philip is 11inches long.  He is designed by Isabelle Lee for Charlie Bears. He wears metal jingle bells around his neck.  His fur is a patchwork of gold and brown.  His paw pads are a corresponding ultra-suede.  He is priced at $56.00 plus tax

 This is Percival.  He designed by Heather Lyell for Charlie Bears.  His fur is "grey, brown, olive green" cast.  His paw pads are tan ultra-suede and has embroidered "claws.  He wears a black "shoe lace" style necklace with a varnished wood flower charm.  He is priced at $104.00 plus tax. 

 This is Firework has a Satin bow, is 17 inches in length, Navy blue paw pads, his nose a pink and lavender hand stitched nose, and the fur is a blue and purple mix. Priced at $80.00 plus tax 

 This is Chuckles and he designed by Isabelle Lee.  He is the rare bear in the company with an open mouth.  The area of the mouth is made of an airbrushed felt, that is sculpted.  He sports a leather collar that has five bells.  He is dark chocolate in color and is made out of "long pile" fake fur. He measures 19 inches long.  He is priced at $105.00 in tax.

 This is Beamer and is designed by Isabelle Lee for Charlie Bears.  His fur is honey colored while his muzzle and inside ears have a tan fur highlight.  He has a hand embroidered nose that is a darker brown in color.  His paw pads are darker honey color with stitched claws.  He wears a dark brown "knitted scarf" which has eight beads and two tiny bells sewn on.  He measures 19 inches long and is $104.00 plus tax.

This is Albert and is designed by Heather Lyell for Charlie Bears.  He is a mix of grey, tan and charcoal colored plush.  He has a hand stitched black nose.  He sports a black gossamer ribbon with silver highlights.  His paw pads are tan colored ultra-suede.  He measures 14 inches long, and is priced at $73.99 plus tax.  SOLD

This is Wozley and is designed by Isabelle Lee for Charlie Bears.  He is a mix of green, brown and some light tan highlighted plush.  He has a hand stitched nose that is corresponding in color.  He wears a dark chocolate colored Satin Ribbon.  His paw pads are ultra-suede and is also dark chocolate in color.  He measures 18 inches in length.  He is $98.00 plus tax.


These adorable Charlie Bears are looking for "forever homes" and can be purchased either at the shop or through the blog by dropping me an email at keillorsteddybears@yahoo.com 
or by calling the store at 330-854-0481

  As always I appreciate your coming to the blog, and being my customers.

~ Linda

Dick Franz: Videos from the internet

For those of you who maybe missed seeing Dick Franz yesterday,I wanted to make you feel like you were part of the fun as well--- and this is what I found:

 This great video is from July 2010.  Here Dick introduces part of the new 2010 Fall line. Here is another one from 2011, rather short but it shows just how warm and friendly Dick always is with all of his fans and followers. Lars is 15 inches long and can be easily found on E-bay, if your looking to buy him as well.
Here is another short video of Dick talking about Twinkle-- The Swarovski Bear.  This is also from 2011.  Are you enjoying these "clips" as much as I am? This delightful video shows Dick unveiling the Karl Lagerfeld Steiff Bear.  This incredible bear was an "End of Edition" piece and was priced at $999.00, a true masterpiece of work and collaboration. Steiff teamed up with Karl Lagerfeld, director and head designer of the famed Chanel Fashion House and the Karl Lagerfeld Bear was born. From the video you see just how much they look alike!  The top of the head, the sunglasses, the suit, everything.   He came with a custom stand and was made exclusively for Neiman Marcus although I believe Steiff did sell some themselves at the end of the edition. 

He was more expensive than most Steiff bears but the detail, work, and presentation is truly amazing. I am of the understanding that Lagerfeld actually designed this bear himself.  The bear's clothing replicates what he is known to wear.  The suit is made of Italian wool.  The belt is leather.  The sunglasses have his name on the arms.  Everything was made to become a reflection of Karl himself.  You can easily find this bear on E-bay if your in the mood to buy him. And finally, I couldn't find the feature to cut and paste this video in which Dick Franz appears on "The Martha Stewart Show" but I had to include that as well.  So provided below is a link to that video.  

 http://www.marthastewart.com/914381/collection-steiff-company-stuffed-animals

It is my hope that you enjoyed these as much as I did.  Dick will be back in autumn for the Fall Steiff Event.  Date and time will be announced at a later date.  So if you missed him this time around, or would like to meet him again you will have a chance to do so. Until then remember Keillor's A Teddy Bear Shoppe is your place to find Steiff!

Some Basic Steiff History

by: Charlie Dale
March 11, 2014

I've decided to provide some background information on the history of the Steiff history, based on the fact that Keillor's A Teddy Bear Shoppe is having their annual Steiff Spring event coming at the end of the month.  I also felt that a basic history lesson in where Steiff started might be of some interest to the followers of this new blog and Keillor's A Teddy Bear Shoppe.

Steiff is a German-based plush toy company known for its excellent, high quality stuffed toys.  It began in 1880 by Margarete Steiff, who was later assisted by her brother Fritz.  Margaret, a polio victim learned to sew with one hand and despite her infirmity, she was able to build an internationally successful company that thrives to this day.

The toys began as elephants, and were originally a design Steiff found in a magazine and sold as pincushions to her friends.  However, children began playing with them, and in the years following she went on to design many other successful animal-themed toys for children, such as dogs, cats and pigs.  She designed and made of the prototypes herself.

The company's success lies in its lack of willingness to compromise on quality.  Every item is still handmade using century-old manufacturing techniques in their factory of Giegen, Germany.

Richard Steiff, Margarete's nephew, was responsible for developing the Steiff brand in the US and in the beginning demand has so high more than one million pieces have currently shipped to our shores.

Richard Steiff joined the company in 1897 and gave the company an enormous boost in popularity by creating the teddy bear in 1902.  In 1907, Steiff manufactured 974,000 bears, and has been increasing its output ever since.

The Steiff company motto, as styled by Margarete Steiff, is "Only the best is good enough for children."  Steiff products are subjected to meticulous testing and inspection.  They are required to be highly flame resistant and, among other things, smaller pieces such as eyes must be able to resist considerable tension, wear and tear, etc.

The most common materials used in Steiff toys are alpaca, felt, mohair and woven fabrics.  Eyes are generally made of wood or glass, and the stuffing is commonly wood shavings or polyester fibers.  A large amount of the work is done by hand, from design sketches to the airbrushed highlights.  The final touch on any Steiff toy is the trademark "button in the ear" (assuming the animal has one; in  any case they'll find a spot/hole for it).

The famed "button in the ear" was devised by Margarete's brother Franz in 1904, to keep counterfeits from being passed off as authentic Steiff toys.  It is metal and originally had the symbol of an elephant, later that was replaced by the name Steiff  The button is still used to distinguish Steiff toys from fakes.  Some special current toys have both the elephant and the name.  These types of toys are considered highly collectible.

Richard Steiff (February 7, 1877- March 30, 1939) Richard was born in Giengen, and entered his aunt's toy making enterprise in 1897.  WHile attending the Arts and Crafts (Kunstgewerbeschule) in Stuttgart, he would regularly visit the nearby Nill'scher Zoo (which was closed in 1906) and spend much of his time drawing the residents of the bear enclosure.  Is sketched were incorporated into the prototype of the toy bear he created in 1902 and code-named Steiff Bar 55 PB (where 55 equals the bear's height in centimeters; P which equalled Plusch, plush; and B equalled beweglich, moveable limbs).

At its debut at the Leipzig Toy Fair in 1903, the bear initially attracted little attention, but its fortunes were saved when an American buyer snapped up the entire lot of 100 bears and another 3,000 just before the exhibition finished.  The heyday of Steiff company thus began.  At the Saint Louis World's Fair in 1904, the Steiff's sold 12,000 bears and received the Gold Medal, which was the highest honor at the event.  The kind of toy bear they pioneered acquired the appellation "teddy" from several legends about President Theodore Roosevelt.  Steiff bears, with a small metal Steiff clip in the ear, can now be quite valuable.

Richard Steiff also  attained several other technological milestones.  He developed the Roloplan, a kind of kite, which could take aerial photographs of the Steiff factory and its surroundings in  Giengen.  The Imperial German Army expressed an interest in the Roloplan for aerial reconnaissance purposes, but abandoned such plans when it proved to be unreliably slow.

In 1903, Steiff also planned and erected a factory building of concrete and steel called the Jungfrauenaquarium (Virgins' Aquarium), which allowed all the workers inside to enjoy ample natural light, a first for its time frame.  He equipped the building with a ramp so that his aunt could reach the upper levels in her wheelchair.  Richard Steiff died at the age of 62 in Michigan.


There have been Steiff collectors fro almost as long  as the company has existed.  Early on, adults realized the high quality and exceptional value of Steiff Collectibles, so soon both adults and children were avid fans of these "toys."  There are more than two dozen quads on how to collect Steiff, but our advice is simple:  Collect what you love.  Collecting Steiff, both new and vintage, is a hobby that thousands of people around the globe enjoy.

How to identify Steiff

All Modern Steiff products and virtually all Steiff products are marked with the famous "button in the ear" trademark that identifies Steiff animals as genuine.  Through the years, it was silver colored and quite small.  Many items also include an ear tag or flag.  White tags with black type mean the piece is an exact replica of an earlier item.  White tags with red type indicate that the item is a limited edition.  Yellow tags identify that item as from Steiff's general assortment.

Other information

The Steiff range is divided into two segments: (1) collectibles and (2) toys.  While there is some overlap, most products fall into one of these two categories.  The collector range includes high quality Teddy Bears and animals made from mohair, alpaca, wool felt, cotton velvet and other natural products of valuable Woven Fur.  Now, 125 years later, this simple truth "Only the best is good enough" still guides our company in the production of both lines for collectors and children.

(Please be aware that the antique Steiff pieces pictured in this article ARE NOT available at Keillor's A Teddy Bear Shoppe, and were only used to illustrate this article.)