Early Post WWII Next To Smallest Brother Rare Steiff 5xJointed Dark Brown Original Teddy Bear ID

I am delighted to bring this sweet little bruin to you. His brother left a few days ago and is now ensconced in his new den, so I can present this guy to you. I don’t like to have two of the “same” item competing with each other in my shop, and there is now a place for another 15-cm dark brown Original Teddy. With the exception of an earlier and similar non-standard size, but DESIGNATED-15-centimeter, dark brown Original Teddy (henceforth “OT”), who was a special case made only in 1949, I only once before helped this size brown OT find a new home.

Although he is not from that 1949-only series, I am certain that this OT is from the next series, which was produced from 1950 to 1958. My confidence comes from Teddy’s sliver of a white US-zone flag (see my third image), meaning that his article number was 5315. That series of the brown OT was made from 1950 to 1958, although I can narrow down his production from both directions. He has a raised script button, which makes it very likely that he was no produced before 1951, and his US-zone flag (or what remains of it ;-)) means that he was not produced later than 1954. I know Pfeiffer says 1953, but I can think of later examples.

Teddy has two issues, one that occurred, probably over an extended time, and maybe with more than one owner. I am referring to Teddy’s wear, which you can see is pretty serious.

Teddy’s other issue—or maybe issues—are his bizarrely twisted anatomy. Despite differences in the length and placement of Teddy’s legs and head, I got him to stand in several positions, with lots of trial and error and patience. His lopsided head, leaning toward his left shoulder rather than upright and centered, is actually kind of sweet. You don’t have to MOVE his swivel head to give him a coy presentation; that comes naturally. 😉

Because there is really very little variability in Teddy, standing poses, I measured him in the way he looks in his second and third images, and from the ground to the center of the top of his head, he measures 14.5 centimeters, or about 5 3/4 inches—still close to his 15-cm catalogued size. Although Teddy is surprisingly stable in his twisted and pigeon-toed stance, I am guessing you will want to pose him seated. And with his uneven hips, even that will take some trial and error. One wonders how they let Teddy leave Giengen, although he may have had an intermediate stop at the factory store.

In a weird way, Teddy’s birth defects and his wear complement each other. He looks like he’s had a particularly hard life, and all he needs is to relocate to his forever home, where he will be loved BECAUSE of his issues, not despite them. Are you that person—or do you know one?

The only other things I want to tell you are that Teddy’s eyes are glass—which you probably surmised because of his age—.and that his ribbon is a gift from me. He came wearing what I believe was his original ribbon, but it was awful! The ribbon was faded, dirty, and shredded, .and unlike his permanently and sweetly cocked head, the ribbon was definitely a detraction.

I think you have all the information you need, but by all means, ask a question if you have one.

WHATEVER YOU DECIDE TO DO ABOUT TEDDY OR ANY OF MY OTHER STEIFF ITEMS, PLEASE BE SURE TO SEE THE ARTICLE I HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT STEIFF ID FRAUD—INCLUDING COUNTERFEIT CHEST TAGS—(AND OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR COLLECTORS). YOU WILL FIND THE LINK ON THE BOTTOM RIGHT OF MY SHOP HOME PAGE UNDER “FAVORITE LINKS.” IF YOU HAVE NOT LOOKED AT IT RECENTLY, I UPDATED AND EXPANDED IT IN MARCH, 2023.