Giraffes

The Schoenhut Giraffes The giraffe made his first appearance in the Humpty Dumpty circus in 1906. It was very popular and continued in production probably until the company stopped business. There are seven head designs known from the early glass eyed to the final decal eyes of the reduced size. The body designs didn't change much except for the pattern of the spots. Sometimes the spots went all around the neck and sometimes the underside of the neck is spotless. Here are some photos of these varieties.
Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed Giraffes stand out in the Humpty Dumpty circus. On the left is an early closed mouth glass eyes style. Beside it is the molded head painted eye style made about 20 years later. Note that the spot paint of the left one is dark brown while the one on the right is a much lighter brown - sometimes called the "honey colored" giraffe.	Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed Here the size of the GE giraffe is compared to the reduced size giraffe. In both styles, the front legs are longer than the hind legs and the tails are made from woven cord. A regular size giraffe is about 7 inches to the withers and 11 inches to the top of his head. The reduced size is about 5.25 inches to the withers and 7.5 inches to the top of his head.
Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Kramer Open mouth, glass eyes The open mouth, glass eyes giraffe is very popular with collectors. It may be the very earliest style. The glass eyes, wooden dowel horns, and leather ears were applied. The nostrils and mouth were hand cut. Keller Style I - Very Scarce Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Kramer Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Susan Turner	Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Kramer Closed mouth, glass eyes The glass eyes giraffe was also made with a closed mouth. Keller Style II - Scarce Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Kramer Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Susan Turner
Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Kramer Closed mouth, painted eyes When the supply of glass eyes ran out, the eyes were painted as shown here. Slits were still hand cut to make the nostrils and the mouth. No open mouth version of the PE giraffe is known. Keller Style III - Scarce Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Kramer	Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed Closed mouth, molded head, painted eyes To reduce production costs, the head was finally changed to a molded wood composition. The eyes, nose, and mouth were all hand painted. No deep nose slits are evident. The horns were still made with inserted dowels. This style has a most primitive, folk-art look. Keller Style IV - Scarce Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Susan Turner

Closed mouth, molded head, decal eyes This may be the rarest of all of the giraffes. It was probably the last regular size made. Its head was designed for the lowest production cost. The eyes were made with applied decals. The head, including the horns, was molded from composition wood material. The nose slits and the month were painted. The ears were still made with leather (replaced here).	(need photo) Reduced size, painted eyes
Photo by Jim Sneed A regular PE, molded head giraffe over a DE reduced giraffe.	Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed Reduced size, decal eyes The reduced giraffe made his entry in the 1920s. This example is the decal eyes version. Its head is probably molded, his ears leather, and his horns are dowels. The tail is woven cord.
Notice the dark painted horns in this decal eyes example.	Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Vicki and Mike Smith Wrap - around spots Most giraffes have an open space, void of spots, along the underside of their necks and down their bellies. This example has spots on its belly and around its neck. This is an unusual spot pattern.