The New York herald., 1879-12-25

Interesting Secrets About the Man.
ufacture Of Toys
SONNEBERG AND ITS INDUSTRIES.
Baby Dolls from the Beginning
to the Nursery.
ART FOR THE CHILDREN.

ART FOR THE CHILDREN.
a...,- III. SoSSEDERs. Thuringia. Dec. 4. 1879.
l! Sonneborg. the charming httls town In the duchy
,of Meiningsn. must be of great interest at this
season of the year. Itds known as the homo Of the
dolls for 10 this busy little place. nesting at the
foot OF the Thuringsn hills are made vast NUM-
Dor of the and wooden babies that are annually
sent to all parts Of the world. Nuremberg has
reputation than sonncberg for its toys. but
this place has greater interest at Christmastde
to Americans. Sonpeberg exports all sorts OF toys
trumpes and flutes, color boxes and dddles. drums
aud harlequius. dolls' arms and legs. besides the
completed article. musical boxas aud stands, toy
carts and horses. figures and animals on musical
boxes and on bellows toy birds aud bird cages.
animals aud Noah's srxs. toy stables and Kitchens
with appurtenances. woolly lambs and piping bull
Hnches booths and shops. mechanical figures and
regiments Of soldiers fcsthsred poultry and puppst
show figures. bebe-dols aud glass eyes, marbles and
dolls' voices--in fact. everything that can amuse
and instruct the young people Of . well conducted
nursefy.
ORIGIN on THE INDUSTRY.
This Sonneberg toy industry is OF great antiquity.
1t arose in the southwestern part Of the Thuringian
forest belonging to the dukedom of Saxe-Meiningen.
In tho thirteenth century. II commenced with the
manufacture Of such common articles as wooden
shingles. wooden household utensils. which tho in
habitants Of the mountain villages. mostly wood
cutters and charcoal burners, used to produce In
their leisure hours. their houses being SUR
rounded by splendid groves Of maple and beech.
by fir and pine woods. Some of these poor noun
taineers as soon the stock Of their indu:-
trial labor had grown to mans load, carried II
away down to the lowlands OF Franconia. return
ing to their homes only when the last article had
been disposed OF exchanged for meal -four. wool.
cloth or whatever they in want Of This tedious
mode Of dealing was In those days rather danger
ous ona. for it frequently happened that tho poor
laborers never reached their homes again. II their
lives had been spared by tho highwaymen. they re-
turned with empty pockets to their miserable cot
tages and wretched families. But In course OF tme
the Thuringian forest crossed by highroad
leading from Augsburg to Leipzig and Dresden.
Caravans Of Augsburg and Nuremberg merchants
this way conducting their goods to the north Of
Germany, and bringing back other productions from
there. The merchants noticed the diligence and
Ingenuity Of tho poor inhabitants Of Indenbach
Sonneperg. They bought thoir manufactures ana
urged them to produce more. teaching them from
models which they brought from Berchtesgaden how
TO improve their goods and how to decorate and to
paint them. The merchants gave the poor people
money in advance for their manufactures and when
they returned they packed them up and exported
them to all parts Of the world. es
NUREMBERG STILL rLouRrsHxs.
This was the origin OF the TOY manufacture in che
villages around Sonneberg. Nuremberg was then
the great city for toys. andfor centuries the peo
pie Of Thuringia looked upon the Nuremberg mer-
chants their benefactors. The Nurembergers
saved them the trouble OF hawking. their fore
fathers had to do their productions about the coun
try. Soon, ,.hswever. native merchants sprang up.
and acquired sufficient degree Of wealth to COM
mand the local trade. Soon the demand proved
greater than the production. whereupon the neigh
boring villages no longer resisted tho temptation
OF earning much money as the Judenbachsrs by
industry for which they all proved to poasess the
necessary skill.
THE TRADE McREAsEs.
Thus It came to pass that at the end Of the seven
teenth century, Sonncberg. very small place then
OF not moro than seven hundred inhabitants. about
four miles from Indenbach. became the centre OF
the district Of the manufacture OF wooden articles
and toys. Sonneberg rapidly increased in size and
became the centre for all the productions of the
'.highlands" Of tho duchy of Saxe-Meningen.
Indeed, this Thuringian Oberland was from the be-
ginning Of tho sixteenth century considered
throughout the Continent as an Eldorado. There
were gold mines in Stenheide. gold washing ut
GrHmpen. iron stones and iron furnaces, the
though Of . later date. for the manufacture
Of china. all within ten or twelve miles from
woods and forests-were thon not considered SO
highly as the wealth under the ground. "gold and
inhabitants found that their ..eoid and mineral
wealth" delusive. Wages hnd become too high
for the digging and washing Of the precious metal.
and places formerly prosperous were loft to poverty
aud neglect No attention was paid during the
mineral fever to the manufacture Of wooden ware.
No saving of wood was thought Of. as there ap-
peared plenty for centuries to come. Indeed the
Meiningen highlands, about fvo German square
miles. was and still is q wonderfu spot in tho very
centre of Germany, created for industry of every
description. There were wood, Goals. slate,
for marbles. tophus chalk. the brightest gold ochro.
the famous whetstones aud touchstones. No wonder.
then. that Sonneberg should have boen recognized
In early times the market for tho manufacture
and export OF toys.
pEvELorIxo THE roy INDUSTRY.
In 1898 the riches of the woods aud around
Sonneberg attracted two Bohemans to which soon
Schwabe (Wnrtoin bcrRerI sssocicted. Muller, B5hm
they produced drinking glssses and bull s-eye window
glasses. The defendants of these threo families
by the fathers to establish more glass hns
In different parts Of the country. These three fam
lily names arc stili prevalent In the glass and china
the middle OF the eighteenth century 1t happened
that owing to religious prosecutions and troubles In
ionged that time. party Of wood carvers. turner's
and painters oamo to settle in the mountains
running from south to North dermany. in skill
they cxceed all the native makers. and they were
very goodnaturcd people the Thuringians prsnted
good deal In the manufacture and painting
Of toys. chipbpxes and chests OF drawers.
Those 'Bcrchtesgkden emigrants soon felt at hosns
In the Thuringian mountains. Tho people had mach
tho same manners and customs as themselves. Be-
sides. the birds in the Thuringian woods sang tho
songs their favoritcs In the Ssxburg Forests
Other emigrants came from tho Davaran highlands.
introducing tho manufacture of marbles. which be
gan in their country between Salxburg and
Bcrchesgadcn tho Untcrsbary). They did no:
discover q marble like that on The Untcrsbors. but
they found hard chalk stone, In pieces Of all Sizes
In tho fields west of sonneberg even more adsptcd
for marbles than tleir hard marble stone OF tho
Untersberg. On the Untcrsbcrg the rounding OF the
stones done by means OF Waterfalls. to which
tho square stones ARC exposed for GER
this method practised up TO the present day
Noar Sonncbcrg there arc waterfalls
OF sufficient height. so another system OF shaping