Before the bears: Steiff’s little felt elephant

Steiff’s story began with something made for a sewing table. In 1880, Margarete Steiff followed a fashion-journal pattern to sew a small felt elephant intended as a pincushion. Children adopted it as a toy.

The company’s early range soon included other felt animals: donkeys, horses, camels, pigs, mice and giraffes. Richard Steiff’s jointed plush bear belonged to a later chapter, in 1902.

The elephant also appeared on the original button-in-ear trademark introduced by Franz Steiff in 1904. The familiar Steiff lettering replaced that early design over time.

Our museum’s wooden Steiff vehicles illustrate another branch of this maker’s range. The name on a tractor or road roller belongs to the same company whose first little animal began life as a practical household object.