Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1879-11-27
New York's Wooden Stntues


OF the wooden figures which form liter
ly II standing advertisement ofthe me-
tropolitan tobacconist is familiar, have
the rcmotest conception of the number
OF them that exist. There are over two
thousand cigar shops in this city. II Is
safe to assume that nine e-tcnths OF these
possess dummies. The number includes
whole tribes OF Indians, companies of
soldiers, ships crews Of sailors, and
baseball mines. with lavish sprinkling
of fops, whose glorics of attire pale those
of Dundreary, society bellies, Turks,
fircmen. goddcsscs OF liberty, female
walkers, and so on. There are quite Il
number of Punches and Of Sir Walter
Ralcghs. Grim Highandcrs, clutching
big snuff boxes or bundles of cigars. are
common. Fairy queens, beautiful Cir
cassians. colorcd dndics. miners,
BLACK Crook Amazons and Calcdon-
ian lassics lend an agreeable variety To
the collection. The bulk of the figures
are those of Indians and squaws, with
pappooscs and without. The Highland
crs and the dandies. once so common,
are now in II vast minority, and are
growing fewer every year. They don't
draw custom no moTc.h said a tobacCon-
ist To a reporter. People want gaycr
things to look at now. had Scotch
man here for eight years, and business
got awfully run down. Then | bought
that BLACK Crook figure. and I've
been doing first rate ever since
The origin OF tobacconists' dummies
is involved in ohscurity. Figures of
IlighlandUrs were the accepted signs Of
London snutl-shop- in the last century.
In Boston there i II wooden midship-
man marking sailors tobacco shop
and bccr-room which is sevcnty-iour
years old. Tie Oldest one in New York
il probably Mrs. Millcr's Highlander
Ii is more than half II century old. II
was originally SGT IN far down town, in
the vicinity of City Hall Park. Then it
moved further up Broadway, till, alter
various stoppagcs, it found its present
post o! duty under the st. Nicholas IIo-
tel. The business it does duty for is one
of the oldest ofthc kind in the country.
The first dummy figures in London
were those of llighiandcrs. In those
days sign painting had not yet been
made IA fine art Of. symbols of various
sorts were used 10 point out the shops.
People had little use for tobacco then,
save in the form Of snuff. which was
favoritc luxury with both sexes. Thc
Highlander with his snufi-horn, be-
came, therefore. universal symbol.
The few that existed in this country,
previous to the revolution, were all
sent from London.
After while local ship-carvcrs be-
gan trying their hands at it. As pco-
pie here smoked and Chcwcd more to-
hacco than they used in the form Of
snuff. the Highlander was voted not eK.
prcssivc enough. The figure of plan
tation negro became the popular sign.
From this fact tho wooden images came
To possess the technical name which is
applied 10 them to-day without regard
to their character. They are called
" Pompcys.' Aftcr a while the Indian.
with his bunch Of tobacco leaves. crcpt
into favor. Then. tobaCConists. who
catered to special classes Of customers.
began 10 have "Pompeys " carved To
suit their trade. So. one finds along the
watCr-side that images of sailors pre-
dominate. while others have dummy
cmlgrtnts Of all nationaiitics. The al
vent Of many Cuban tobacconists dur
ing the revolution in the cyer-f faithful
isle, created quite gallery Of Cuban
planters, poems and patriot soldiers
The baseball fever gave birth 10 nu-
mcrous wooden cfligi-s in white caps
and knickcrboCkers. So tho very
latest pedestrian craze has been the
father of progeny Of walkers. male and
female. nearly as extensive in number "a
the maniar= who are now bliste.ing
their feet all over the country In order
to mako gatc-moncy for some body else
The orthodox Indian warrior and aho-
riginal maidcns still hold their own.
however. against Nil rivals, and form
the vast bulk Of our army Of cfiigics
The business Of Pompcy making il
principally carried on in Canal street
where many OF the wood-carycrs nrc.
and along tho watCr-Sidc. Formerly the
dummy makers used TO keep stocks on
hand. from which n customer could
choose his favoritc. Very little Of this
il done nowadays. II one wants a
Pompcy," one orders and pays for it.
Besides the regular wooden figure
makers, the ship-carvcrs all make dunn
mics TO order. The figures are made Of
seasoned pine. One big block il made to
serve for the figure. To this the arms
and other projections are joined with
OGDEN pins. "Pompey makers work
on recumbcnt block. The timber il laid
on n trestlc. and they assault 1t with n
feTocious- looking steel instrument like a
ship-carpcnter's chiscl Ancr rough
shaping 1t they finish 1t up with less
savage tools. Then it is painted.
Ten years ago the wooden Ponpcy "
makers began TO experience change in
their business. Up to that time they
had had pretty much their own way.
and had got prices 10 suit themselves
for their work. But suddenly metal
figures began TO make their way into
use. They were cast in zinc. on really
good models furnished by artists. and
were altogether an improvement. in an
artistic sense. on their predecessors. Be
sides. they hal the advantage Of dura-
bility. Five years exposure to the
sun and rain will so split and warp a
wooden figure tha: 1t will have 10 be re-
paired. and once you commence to mend
a dummy II is like patching n shoe. 1t
has to be kept up. The metal figures,
on the contrary, last forever. Their
only necessity is the very humane one of
wanting n new coat once in while.
The price of zinc figures is. of course.
higher than that of wooden ones. Pine
"Pompeys range from $40 UP to 500,