Next To Largest Sister Steiff Gray Background With Black Continuous Stripes Early Post-WWII Tabby Kitten Cat ID

This is the next-to largest size of the coveted “gray” Tabby cat. Two of her relatives are in my shop—her gray cousin Susi, who also has continuous stripes, and her younger sister with the latter-day design of a light midsection encircled by stripes. Tabby’s little gray sister of the same design is on her way to her new home in Australia. Since I am particularly fond of the older (1930s) design on cats, I am glad to have the temporary companionship of this sweet girl.

Although Tabby retains only her button, her article number is certain because of her design. Her flag had “1314,0” printed on it, and this design of Tabby was made from 1949 to 1958. Because her button has raised script, you know that this particular Tabby was made in 1951 or later. The “14” of that number denotes Tabby’s size in centimeters. She is a bit smaller at 13 cm, about 5 1/8 inches tall. Of course, you want to have enough room for her ears, so I think a display space of 7 inches would be fine.

Tabby is in good plus condition. I am allowing her the “plus” for several reasons. Her gray background is still gray and not tan or taupe. In fact, I have seen some of these earlier continuous-stripe cats whose color under the stripes is essentially indistinguishable from their undersides. I don’t feel comfortable with a rating of “very good,” because Tabby’s gray is still somewhat lighter than It was more than 60 years ago and maybe more than 70 years ago.

I have to be conservative too because of Tabby’s wear. That wear is pretty generalized, although Tabby shows more thinning on her head (including her ears) and face (including her chin).

Interestingly, although both the insides and backs of Tabby’s ears show mohair thinning, she retains a touch of the rose-colored airbrushing on the insides, which once was present in more abundance. Likewise, Tabby has a tiny dab of rose at the intersection of her pink floss nose (in perfect condition) and mouth.

Again, speaking of Tabby’s nose, another element of the “plus” is the fact that she has most of her whiskers. She is missing only one on each side of the original six (on each side). And Tabby even has 4 whiskers in front of her right ear, which I think is the original number she had when she left Giengen.

Finally, Tabby is wearing her original bow. The ribbon is faded and worn, but it is quite respectable. Above that bow (and originally attached with the same string as her chest tag) Tabby is wearing her original bell, which still tinkles with its tiny pebble clapper.

I think I have covered everything, but please write if you have a question. Tabby is a rare and special kitty, and all serious Steiff collections should have one or more of these gray, tabby-striped cats. If you like that color scheme, see her hand puppet cousin (who never changed that pattern) and her same-era cousin Susi. If you are simply a cat fan, you have many others to choose from in my shop!

WHATEVER YOU DECIDE TO DO ABOUT TABBY 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.