More of Schuco's Miniature Teddy Bears: The Compact Bear

The 1920s were a colorful decade, filled with flappers and their extravagant clothes, stylish hairdos, and exciting evenings of dancing, boozing, and general partying.

The Schuco toy company of Germany created a line of miniature and novelty teddy bears that mirrored these social trends and are now highly sought. These bears were dyed in unusually bright colors, small enough to tuck into a little beaded handbag, and sometimes had hidden novelty features including flasks and compacts. They were charming accessories for flappers of the period to use when touching up their makeup, freshening their perfume, or topping off their alcohol buzz.

Considering that they usually held lipstick, powder, and liquids like perfume or gin, these novelty bears are rarely found today, and when discovered are usually in poor condition. They're fabulous nonetheless.

Above is Schuco's famous compact bear (the pink bear on the left) along with her lavender companion. Both are about 3.5 inches tall. The pink bear has a secret: when her head is removed her torso can be gently opened to reveal a tiny compact inside, complete with lipstick tube, mirror, powder, and puff. This one still has powder after all these years.

The lavender bear is a lovely shade and still in good condition. Schuco made these bears in a variety of jewel toned colors including red, emerald green, and purple, and they are scarce and highly collectible today.

More Schuco Miniature Bears: the Perfume Bottle Bear

Another of Schuco's novelty bears from the 1920s, the Perfume Bottle Bear is a bear with a secret. When the head of the 5 inch ted is removed, a little glass flask is revealed, perfect for an evening's supply of perfume. Schuco also made a slightly larger bear (and a monkey) with a flask inside, intended for liquor.

Schuco's Miniature Teddy Bears

Just a quick pic of some colorful characters today: two 1920s Schuco miniature teddy bears along with a 1950s Steiff elephant. The bears are a wee 2.5 and 3.5 inches tall, and were dressed long ago by a creative owner. The clown hat came from the Steiff museum shop in Germany, and successfully hides a missing ear.

Schuco of Germany made tiny teddy bears in all sorts of creative forms throughout the 1920s and 30s. Some were novelty items, housing perfume flasks or compacts inside, while others were dyed in bright colors, all to appeal to the flappers of the period and small enough to carry in their beaded handbags. More of these clever little Schuco bears coming soon.

1908 Steiff Teddy Bear

The 1908 Steiff teddy bear is a classic of its type. By this year, Steiff had fully refined its bear design, resulting in a teddy that was cuddlier and friendlier in appearance than its predecessors. The year before, the company exported and sold nearly a million bears, and 1908 saw the teddy bear craze reach a fever pitch.

From 1908 all the way to his appearance under our Christmas tree in 2013, this 10 inch Steiff has lost none of his original appeal.

His big feet and long arms are classic features of antique Steiff bears. 

Antique toys for Christmas, 2013.

Coming in October...

Yay: it's October! Time for scary toys, creepy dolls, and antique Halloween. Spooky stuff coming soon!

1905 Steiff Blank Button Bear

My birthday was last week, and I got bears! Several antique teddy bears were among the presents, and one of them was something I thought I would never find: a Steiff teddy bear from waaaay back in 1905, still with its rare blank button-in-ear.

12 inch white Steiff bear, 1905.

This is a special bear with a very important place in teddy bear history:

Steiff of Germany designed the first plush jointed bear in 1902, and it debuted to the public in 1903. That bear wasn't yet called a "teddy," just a "bear." It was modeled upon, and looked like, its real life counterpart: large and fierce. In 1905, Steiff redesigned the bear, making it smaller and lighter and giving it a friendlier face, more of a "bear doll" than a toy bear. This model is the one that first had the "teddy bear" look so familiar to us today, and it inspired toy makers all over the world to design their own variations.

For the first year of this model's release in 1905, it came with a blank button-in-ear as a Steiff trademark, which was changed to a button with the company's name on it in subsequent years.

My bear is 12 inches tall, of white mohair, and came wearing a pair of blue overalls that suit him nicely. He has a whimsical, crooked smile. The wear to his nose appears to be damage from kissing, so I don't mind too much.

In profile, the features of early Steiff bears are clearly visible: long arms with curved, spoon-shaped paws, big feet, and a hump.

This bear was so popular, orders skyrocketed, and the Steiff factory sold nearly a million bears in 1907!

1930s Playskool Pullman

Two years ago, I finally found one of my most longed for toys: the Playskool Pullman, made for a very brief period in the early 1930s. You can read the original post about it here. Recently I found another one, in much better condition, with many of the accessories and details that were missing from my first find.

The pressed steel Pullman playset measures 11 1/2 by 9 1/2 inches, and was designed to resemble both a Pullman train car and a little suitcase. The leather handle made it easy to carry on a real train trip.

Two clear windows allow the little passengers to look outside, while a third window is covered with a decal printed to give the look of frosted glass.

The Pullman opens from the back, revealing  a compartment tucked behind green curtains.

Behind the curtains, a cozy compartment is unveiled, complete with benches and a fold away table. I've fitted it out with a tablecloth and some refreshments for the miniature French doll and Steiff bear travelling inside.

Above the passengers' heads, the sleeping berth is tucked away, ready to be pulled down in the evening.

Here's the berth pulled down, complete with sheets, pillows, and blankets.

To the left of the compartment is a small closet holding a porcelain sink, perfect for freshening up after a long journey.

I also found some old dollhouse sized luggage, perfectly scaled for the Pullman playset. The largest is a cardboard candy container, made in Germany in the early 1900s. The tiny red hat box is also German, while the black tin trunk was made by the Marx company.




All aboard the Playskool Pullman!

Toy Show Finds

Just got home from one of my favorite vintage toy shows. It's an annual event that happens each January, which really seems like a lousy month for a toy show, coming as it does right after Christmas. This year I planned strategically: when my family asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I said "money for the toy show please!" Here's what I spent it on:

There were all kinds of toy treasures, including a tin litho grocery store playset made in the 1950s by Wolverine; a scarce (and creepy) Hugo, Man of 1,000 Faces from the 1970s; a two-headed Doublenik troll from 1965 along with a tiny vending machine troll; a Weinermobile whistle; a bunch of 1950s space guys; Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon newspaper comics from the 1930s-1940s; a 1960s Batman puzzle; Barbie's original convertible; and a 1950s tin wind-up robot. I'll post properly about them later, but here are some quick pics and sneak peeks.

The robot has some rust, but he also has lots of character.

1950s space guys.

A Doublenik two-headed troll from 1965,
with its gumball prize friend.

Hugo, Man of 1,000 Faces, was a bizarre toy made in the 1970s. It's essentially a creepy looking guy's torso and head, along with a package of "disguise" accessories, including false chins, fake scars and warts, various noses, glasses, an eye patch, and hair pieces. I'm guessing it was inspired by spy films, but who knows. It's weird and now rather rare.

Hugo, Man of 1,000 Faces with some of his original accessory pieces.

Barbie's convertible, made by Irwin in the 1960s, was her first car.

The two shelf units on either side of this tin litho grocery store fold inward to close up the playset. Originally it would also have had a separate counter with accessories like a scale, but these are usually missing. The center span features great imagery of a 1950s supermarket.

The iconic weenie whistle.

The 1930s Buck Rogers newspaper comic above is complete, while the Flash Gordon strips below are only portions (but they feature a fantastic alien giant squiddy monster) :

These two mechanical bears were made in Japan in the 1950s. When wound, the bear on the left turns the pages of his book, while the one on the right wipes his glasses before holding them up to his eyes.

Pink & Green Peng Peng Bear

This funky teddy bear, just 5 inches tall, was handmade by one of my favorite artists, Peng Peng of Chicago. Wearing a pink dress made from a little sock, she is crafted from tie-dyed green and cream mohair and has tiny glass eyes. She reminds me of peppermints and wintergreen, and was a perfect Christmas present this year.

Antique Teddy Bear & Photographs

The first antique toys I began collecting years ago were teddy bears, and although my toy collection has become much more varied since then, I am still always in perpetual bear hunt mode. It's especially exciting to find an antique bear that comes with some provenance, like the photographs in this lot.

The bear is an unusual 10 inch American made ted, circa 1906-1908, with a handmade sweater coat. It came for Christmas along with a beautiful photograph of the little girls who originally owned it, and a picture of the house they all lived in, somewhere in Michigan long ago.

These three little sisters were the bear's first owners. Although the bear isn't in this cabinet photo, a doll and picture book are prominently featured.

 

And here's the house where they all lived. Can't you just picture them playing together on the front porch?

 

 

 

 



Antique Bear & Badges: Mr. Oddfellow

I've posted once before about this bear, shortly after I found him, but he's had a lot of work done since then and I thought he was worth another look. One of the favorites from my collection, this large, 20 inch British bear dates from around 1915, and came wearing an antique child's coat of cranberry colored wool. His original owner had added a few school pins to the coat, including a prefect's badge and what might have been a track and field medal.

I added an old Oddfellows pin, given that the bear has a rather odd, yet endearing, appearance. At some point in his long life, he experienced eye replacement surgery, and apparently his doctor was all out of matching shoe buttons. I wouldn't change it though: the mismatched eyes give him great character.

Anyway, every time I'm antiquing I keep an eye out for more badges for Oddfellow's coat. Here's what he has so far:

Some of my favorites are in this closeup: another Oddfellows badge, a "23 Skidoo!" pinback from the 1920s, and a teeny tiny Charlie McCarthy.

The large Oddfellows badge below dates to the early 1900s.

Vintage pins, including a University of Michigan football badge, an old State Fair souvenir, and a Heinz Pickles advertising pin adorn the left side of the coat.

Another favorite, these flight wings were a premium from the Captain Midnight radio show:

Big Eared Bear

Just found this funny antique teddy bear at a weekend show. The 14 inch ted dates from the 1920s, and has some of the biggest ears I've ever seen on a bear. His comical face caught our attention from an aisle away, and he just seemed to be saying, "Please take me home." So of course we did.