Steiff German Soldier Doll Set, ca. 1915
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GUEST:
He's a World War I German soldier doll. My grandfather brought him back from Germany. So we don't know whether he purchased it or somebody gave it to him. We just don't know the history of it.
APPRAISER:
Okay, where have you been keeping him? Has he been on display or...?
GUEST:
No, he has not been on display. He's kind of been in a box with some other memorabilia from the family. I don't think he was ever played with. He just was, was kind of stored because we didn't really know the, his history. It was just a... memorabilia from Grandpa.
APPRAISER:
On the other side, we have your grandfather's...
GUEST:
Dog tags. Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Well, your doll is made by Steiff, and Steiff was begun by Margarete Steiff, and she's famous for Teddy bears.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
About 1903, the Steiff Company began making this soldier doll, and actually, Richard, her brother, is the one that did the design. And they were hugely popular. Boys liked them, girls liked them, soldiers liked to get them and bring them home. And so they started out with kind of a happy fantasy face...
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Cheerful. And then a little bit later, in 1913 and '14, they started making them look a little bit more serious. Then, in 1915, the German government did not like that they were looking serious and looking like mean, scary soldiers. And so they actually dictated that the Steiff Company make them with friendly, warm, happy faces again.
GUEST:
Huh.
APPRAISER:
This particular doll was made in the 19-teens. People think of them as something to play with...
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
Happy... Or some people think of them as creepy.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
But dolls reflect our history.
GUEST:
Yeah, yeah.
APPRAISER:
And he's telling us a story about World War I.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
They were very finely made and highly detailed. Your doll is made of wool felt. He does have on leather boots.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Everything is of, of the finest quality. He would have had had a button in his ear. Um, I see that it is gone.
GUEST:
Oh, yeah.
APPRAISER:
And that is very common. They came with their backpacks. And I'm going to just gently turn him.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And you can see... Even his backpack is fully complete.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Sometimes they would have all types of gear inside of them. Button details, the red cording-- just all the little extra details that they didn't really have to do.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
That's just how wonderful Steiff is.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
He has little glass eyes. He has a belt with his little ammunition boxes along the side. And then we also have a canteen and some type of little pouch to keep things in. He has his helmet, which is, unfortunately, very frail.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Made of leather, and it has the, the brass top on it. On the base of the boot, we have the Steiff buttons. And they did make them with a center seam down the middle.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
And that is one of their trademarks...
GUEST:
Right, for Steiff, yeah.
APPRAISER:
On any of their dolls. Well, these dolls were very popular until after World War I.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And then people were so tired of war...
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
And agony and pain, that the market for them sort of drifted off.
GUEST:
Yeah, yeah.
APPRAISER:
However, the market for them today is strong. This particular one is a German soldier.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
But they made American soldiers, English soldiers, policemen-- all types of varieties. They made them from about eight inches tall to about 28 inches tall.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
And most of them are the smaller ones.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
because that was easy to get home.
GUEST:
Home.
APPRAISER:
Or for a child to hold.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
So yours is one of the little bit larger ones. He's around 14 inches tall.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
We've got a little bit of cellophane tape, um, on his forehead and on his lower jaw. But this fellow, in his condition, in today's market, would retail between, I would say, about $1,800...
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
And about $2,200.
GUEST:
My goodness! My goodness. I think he needs to come out of his box and get a... Get a display case for him. (both laughing)
APPRAISER:
If he was perfect and in his original condition, we could look at him retailing between $6,000...
GUEST:
Wow-- wow.
APPRAISER:
To $7,000.
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