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The
PB Rod Bear introduced in 1904 by Steiff is one of the oldest documented teddy
bears known. P stands for "plush" and B stands for "beweglich"
which is German for "movable". The PB Rod bear takes his name from the
unusual jointing technique, which consisted of metal rods passing through the
body to hold it together. These rods are clearly seen on Xrays of the bear . However,
these bears were not very popular with children because the metal rods, together
with the tightly packed woodwool and kapok stuffing, made the bears much less
cuddly and heavy for the children. This design was used only in the years 1904
and 1905, before new jointing techniques were developed and used. | 
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| This
sweet looking old bear, Albert by name, is a PB28 Rod Bear. Circa
1904, He measures 28cm (11 inches) sitting and 40cm (16 inches) full length .
| Note
the unique horizontal headseam from ear to ear. The head was stuffed from the
top and then the seam was handsewn. |
| In
his early days, he would have had a nose made of sealing wax, which has since
been replaced, but he still has his original boot button eyes. His button in the
left ear would have had an elephant symbol with an S shaped trunk (for Steiff),
but even with this missing, he is still unmistakably a Steiff Rod Bear. As with
other early Steiff bears, he has 5 claws on his paws and feet, and an unusual
head seam from ear to ear , a characteristic for the rod bear series. His
arms are long and curved, allowing him to stand on all fours, and he is rod-jointed
and hard stuffed with woodwool and kapok. Made
of gold mohair plush, this dear rod bear is now threadbare through years of having
been loved and played with. His vintage
doll's shirt is a later addition. |
When
this dear bear first arrived in Singapore into my care, I decided to verify that
he was indeed a rod-jointed bear. I made an appointment to see a Radiologist to
have the bear X-rayed. When I walked into the consultation room, the Radiologist
asked which Xray I wanted done on myself, and you can well imagine his bewildered
expression when I told him that I was not the patient, "thank you very much
", but that I needed an X-ray done for this old threadbare teddy, whom I
proceeded to pull out from my bag. To the Radiologist's credit, he quickly regained
his composure and proceeded to treat Rod Bear with the utmost respect, placing
him carefully on the xray table and positioning him. He decided to xray the bear
as he would a leg, but soon returned with apologies as the exposure was too much
and the view was inadequate. "So sorry", he said, "You see, I've
never xrayed a teddy bear before". He then Xrayed the Rod Bear again, this
time using the amount of xrays as he would a human arm... BINGO !
The Xray turned out beautifully, as you can see above.I thought
the Radiologist was truly professional ! Not once did he laugh at my unusual request
! | |
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