Adorable STEIFF Tiger Hand puppet.
Very sweet expression with glass eyes.
Rare puppet made in Germany from 1949-54.
Quality mohair plush with nice airbrushing.
Embroidered nose and claws. Steiff button in ear.
Excelsior stuffed head with cardboard finger tube.
Naturally "crooked" face giving it a particular look.
Small stain on the right bottom of the body.
Note the colors have faded with age and use.
A well loved vintage puppet with signs of wear.
On April 5, 1954, Daniel Tiger appeared for the first time on the first episode of “The Children’s Corner.” Originally, a bird was supposed to come out of the cuckoo clock that was drawn on the set wall. At the program’s launch party the night before, WQED Station Manager Dorothy Daniel presented Fred Rogers with a tiger puppet as a gift. He decided to use the tiger puppet instead of the bird, and named the puppet Daniel after the person who gave him the gift. So it was a tiger who emerged out of a cuckoo clock! Few people know that the puppet used on that very early show was a Steiff Tiger Hand Puppet similar to this one!