DOI issue:
Studio-Talk
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43448#0249
Studio-Talk
giving them to her young friends of both sexes.
Every new creation of her deft fingers was greeted
with rapturous delight, and soon the quaint little
animals became quite the rage of the little town
where she lived, and even grown-ups found a use
for them as pin-cushions. Then one of Margarete’s
brothers hit upon the idea of taking some of them to
the annual fair at a neighbouring place, and trying his
luck with them. His success proved the soundness
of his speculation and that much might be expected
to accrue from the sister’s ingenuity and talent.
What had hitherto been a hobby pursued in leisure
now became a serious undertaking, and Margarete
Steiff showed herself equal to the occasion.
Novelty of idea is of course the life and soul of
every kind of applied art, but it can only attain
“TARGET PRACTICE.” TOYS BY THE MARGARETE
STEIFF CO., GIENGEN
“AT THE PHOTOGRAPHER’S.” TOYS BY THE MARGARETE STEIFF CO., GIENGEN
reproduced with striking ac-
curacy. The naturalness of
these animals made of soft
felt or silky plush was accen-
tuated by an extraordinary
suppleness of their limbs,
which permitted of their
assuming almost any position,
and so, being unbreakable,
they came to be the com-
panions and playfellows of
little folk, who could make
them undergo an infinite
number of transformations
significance when, in addition to artistic
feeling, the peculiar character and limi-
tations of the raw material employed are
borne in mind. She was quick to discern
these limitations and possibilities, as well
as those of her own gifts, and when a
nephew of hers, Richard Steiff, who had
received an art training, interested himself
in the industrial exploitation of her ideas
further developments ensued. After the
elephant came the plump, benignant bear,
and with it the name Steiff and the now
celebrated trade-mark, “ Knopf im Ohr ”
(button in the ear), were carried far and
wide. Then came the comical monkey,
the whimsical kitten, and the awkward
puppy, followed by the majestic lion and
almost life-sized St. Bernard, rabbits, pigs,
and all sorts of feathered creatures, the
characteristics peculiar to each being
“THE WAY TO a MANS HEART IS THROUGH HIS STOMACH*’
TOYS BY THE MARGARETE STEIFF CO., GIENGEN
235
giving them to her young friends of both sexes.
Every new creation of her deft fingers was greeted
with rapturous delight, and soon the quaint little
animals became quite the rage of the little town
where she lived, and even grown-ups found a use
for them as pin-cushions. Then one of Margarete’s
brothers hit upon the idea of taking some of them to
the annual fair at a neighbouring place, and trying his
luck with them. His success proved the soundness
of his speculation and that much might be expected
to accrue from the sister’s ingenuity and talent.
What had hitherto been a hobby pursued in leisure
now became a serious undertaking, and Margarete
Steiff showed herself equal to the occasion.
Novelty of idea is of course the life and soul of
every kind of applied art, but it can only attain
“TARGET PRACTICE.” TOYS BY THE MARGARETE
STEIFF CO., GIENGEN
“AT THE PHOTOGRAPHER’S.” TOYS BY THE MARGARETE STEIFF CO., GIENGEN
reproduced with striking ac-
curacy. The naturalness of
these animals made of soft
felt or silky plush was accen-
tuated by an extraordinary
suppleness of their limbs,
which permitted of their
assuming almost any position,
and so, being unbreakable,
they came to be the com-
panions and playfellows of
little folk, who could make
them undergo an infinite
number of transformations
significance when, in addition to artistic
feeling, the peculiar character and limi-
tations of the raw material employed are
borne in mind. She was quick to discern
these limitations and possibilities, as well
as those of her own gifts, and when a
nephew of hers, Richard Steiff, who had
received an art training, interested himself
in the industrial exploitation of her ideas
further developments ensued. After the
elephant came the plump, benignant bear,
and with it the name Steiff and the now
celebrated trade-mark, “ Knopf im Ohr ”
(button in the ear), were carried far and
wide. Then came the comical monkey,
the whimsical kitten, and the awkward
puppy, followed by the majestic lion and
almost life-sized St. Bernard, rabbits, pigs,
and all sorts of feathered creatures, the
characteristics peculiar to each being
“THE WAY TO a MANS HEART IS THROUGH HIS STOMACH*’
TOYS BY THE MARGARETE STEIFF CO., GIENGEN
235