Rare Big Sister Early Steiff Peggy Penguin Bird Velveteen Wings And Red Feet 2 IDs Plus US-Zone Flag

This sweet girl is truly a “rare bird,” and I am not speaking metaphorically. She is the early version of Peggy Penguin, who is so rare, you may never have seen her before. This Peggy is the largest of the three sisters made in this design, made with a black back, red feet, and velveteen wings. The three sisters were all on the scene for the same very few years—1952-1956. Although each size was made for the same number of years, the frequency of their appearance on the secondary market is inversely proportional to their size. In more than two decades I have been helping Steiff animals find new homes, only once before, did I have this size, and she had no ID!

Peggy’s flag (more on her flag below!) is faded. But you can still read her article number, 4322, the “22” part of which signified her size as 22 centimeters. She comes very close to her catalogued size, measuring 21.5 centimeters, or 8 1/2 inches to the top of her head.

Peggy is in very good condition; I will even add a “plus” to that, because her few detractions are really minor. As you know, if you have read one of my descriptions previously, my condition assessment is made DESPITE her age, not “for” her age. I assess condition as an absolute, directly comparable between two (or more) animals, no matter when they were made. Peggy’s age, by the way, is almost certainly the earliest year of her production, 1952.

The first evidence of her age is Peggy’s almost totally intact US-Zone flag. It has some fraying but the words are all there. Having that flag puts an upper limit of 1954 for Peggy’s production. I know Pfeiffer says 1953, but I can think of counter-examples. In any case, even 1953 would be too late to be Peggy’s birth date. Her flag allows me to narrow down her hatching date even more.

To start, the font of Peggy’s flag differs from the fonts of flags appearing in 1953. One difference is the fact that the name “Steiff” is printed, not written in cursive script as it was in later years. You can’t see the “Steiff” on Peggy’s flag, since I could not get a good angle for the picture; I did not want to lift her wing very much, for fear of tearing the flag around her button.

The second difference in her flag is the appearance of the word “geschützt,” which means “protected” and serves a similar function to the ® we associate with trademarks and the © we associate with copyright. This version of a Steiff animal’s flag ended in 1952, but it was used for decades earlier.

Although Peggy no longer has her chest tag, her name would have been printed in reddish-brown letters. Of course, it would be nice for her to have that tag, but she is pretty much complete, just the way she is!

OK, back to Peggy’s condition. The first really nice thing is that her front-side mohair is still white. The white is warmer than the white I used for my backgrounds, but I don’t think it was ever much whiter than what you see here. Likewise, Peggy’s black is very black. I tried taking pictures with a blue background (different from the black I prefer, which was obviously out of the question) but even with the blue, I just couldn’t get her to look right. When you shine a bright light on Peggy’s back, it might look a little faded, but that is because the white of the rest of her body is shining through. Truth be told, the black hair on the sides of Peggy’s face and head is a little thinner in places, but you don’t really see that either, unless the light is shining directly on her.

Peggy has a few small moth kisses, and I am not even sure about all of those little blemishes. I am showing you Peggy’s one obvious moth kiss as an inset in my third image. I warn you there that the moth activity is NOT TO SCALE with my enlargement of her US-Zone flag. The kiss is just a few millimeters by a few millimeters in an oblong shape. BUT there is good news about that kiss! Peggy’s right wing almost totally masks it, and the tiny part that the velveteen does not quite reach is hidden in shadow by the wing. 🙂

Peggy has what might be a moth kiss or an injury I cannot diagnose on her left wing. I simply could not get a picture of it, so I am pointing to the approximate place with an arrow in my fourth composite image. The wound is actually in two parts next to each other, but the total injury is about ¼ the size of the kiss on Peggy’s right side! I think if this were going to be my Peggy, I would put a tiny dab on her wing with a black felt marker pen, but I know you purists shudder at that idea. 😉

I have two things to tell you about Peggy’s wonderful red felt-covered feet, and I believe she acquired both “issues” at the factory. You can see that her stance is just a bit off being perpendicular to the surface she stands on. That comes from the fact that her feet were not absolutely symmetrically attached to her bottom. Although she will wobble for the first second or two after you put her down, she immediately thereafter stands fine. Since I believe you will only need to place her once (or maybe a few times as you figure out the best place in your vitrine to place her), once she is settled into her new home, she will stay standing just fine.

The second issue with her foot—the left one—is that the felt is a tiny bit torn right at the top. I believe that happened at the factory too—perhaps in the way her foot was handled as it was attached to her. Of course, the question would be, “well, why didn’t they start over with another foot?” Like so many other unexplained small condition issues that were allowed to leave the factory, we will never know the answer. I SUPPOSE the tear in the felt could be owner caused, but, in any case, it is absolutely inconsequential, and you might very well have missed it if I had not mentioned it.

I have only two remaining things to mention. First, as you might expect because of her age, Peggy’s amber eyes are glass. And, finally, although her ribbon is faded and frayed, it is still there! The bow was attached a bit off from the center of Peggy’s chest; if there ever was a nitpick, that is one. 🙂

I can’t think of anything else to tell you, but please write if you have a question. Even if you have one of Peggy’s later descendants with mohair wings (or the even-later one in my shop I have called “sparkling,” your collection would definitely be enhanced by adding this early Peggy. And if you have no Peggys at all, this girl is a great beginning!

WHATEVER YOU DECIDE TO DO ABOUT PEGGY 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.