Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1866-10-23

The manufacture Of toys IN "playth;ngs,'.
until within few years, has been almost
holly confined TO Europe. The German
AID Swiss have furnished the rising genera
ton with the most Of those necessary ad-
juncts to the pleasures Of childhood. But
lately the facilities Of the patent office have
stimulated production in this direction nnd
now Cur mos. amusing toys are those Of
American manufacture. Aud tits pfeilta
bic direction for inventive genius.
Everybody has seen the conical dancing
Ethiopian, cruelty impalcd upon wire, AID
forced TO respond. with every Joint IA MS
supple body. to the rattle q the fingers on
his Iivosod platform. tbs ridiculous de-
vice, being painted, has brought ITS propiie-
tor a fortune. Then there is the Growing
cock, his ibtesiines tin whistle. able to
excite the envy Of the monarch Of the barns
yard BIZ his clear, shrili, and natural cha'-
ienee This, also, is n paying Investment.
The Der,ishes and Zouavts, Enthusiastically
dressed, suspended by an elastic cord. per-
form .eats Of leaping which put to shame
the Buislays and Hanlons. On the same
principle ~ the return ball, which, like the
Australian boomerang, comes back to the
hand that projected Il. A top Of thin metal,
hollow. aud gayly lacquercd, when started
by means OF the cooled spring in the handle,
will continue its revolutions for ten minutes
Al stretch. The flying top ia good Illus
tration Of the propeller screw. Released
from the shaft on which it is made to res
volvc, il flies whisling At an angle through
the cir until its momentum is lost, when
hack il comes. returning to the operator for
| new start We saw tho other day, a whis-
tie, mere gland Of kid or thin leather, of
| crescent form, holding, stretched between
| the two horns, thin membrane. by the vi.
brations Of which, aided by the operators
| tongue, n grea. variety o. sounds could be
| produced The grrnt aud squcal oil the pig,
The warhling of the canary, the whist u
the quail the piping Of the curlew, and
many o,hcr calls Of animated nature, can be
perfectly reproduced This is al useful i'm
| element for the sportsman, and affords un-
limited delight to incipicnt manhood
| Almost all these can be used us ,llustra-
tons Of natural Laws. Philosophy may ,ct
bc taught in our schools by toys. The won
terful resemblance to lite Of our American
toys in many ms ances, makes broad dis
tinction between them aud those heretofore
furnished from Europe. These last are usu-
ally caricatures. and are misleading to the
young mind, which receives ideas through
objects and not through words manly
Take our rubber toys. Some Of them are
worthy to rank with the productions Of the
artist They are marvels oil beau and nat.
ural expression. Tho dolls made here Of
this material do not wear that appearance
Of corpse-lkc waxiness, or inanity which
the traditional doll from tiinc ilnmemoria
has borne. They are pleasing to look at and
wonderful in endurance Some by bidder
machinery can walk, Others cry and NOV,
their evcs, but none are hideous and repu
sve in expression.
| This toy business may be considered by
some 40 unworthy Of notice by scientiti,
journalists; but Us we are more or less edu
Gated by our surroundings, and ~ the toy
of the child are prolific source Of idea
which will cling 10 him through life, il i
! important that hey do not convey false i'm
pressons. These improvements in ou
chldrcn's playthings arc additional he o.
towards their education, and while their pro
jcctois realize fortunes from III ir introduce
ton, young humanity and the word nj large
are pleased ard benefited