Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-12-19

How They are Made for the Worlds
Chief Markets..

VI
Chief Markets.
To chiltlren's ears the tinkle of the bells on
Santa Claus sleigh are already sounding in the
air. Their eyes sparkle with delight as they
anticipate the many treasures he will bring
them. Their hearts by day are buoyant with
hope and expectation, and in their dreams by
night they span the interval separating them
from the longed-for day. while in their sleep
they enjoy its many pleasures. Naturally their
elders are made conidants in the dreams and
hopes which stir their youthful hearts. and
they, too. forced to let their thoughts wander
into speculation concerning Santa Claus spraI
sleigh and its mysterious freight. In the same
vein writer for our New York namesake thus
speculates:
That good old Saint. whose well-known
geniality has singled him out from the fraternity
OF the beatihed as the only one with whose
name uncanoniZed mOrtals dare assume the
familiarity of Authorization. possesses such a
wealth and variety of gifts with which to glad
den the hearts of the children need not be
cause OF wonder. Even were he lacking in in
Venti0n and ingenuity-aS surely he is not-he
would need only to walk through our streets
and avenues, in order to find in their shop
windows bewildering variety of models
from which to copy thousand and one novel
ties with which to surprise his Youthful
friends. 1t may even be that the good
old Saint at times does adopt an idea from
the cunning of men. for it has been noted by
some OF the keen eyes that so carefully inspect
ms gifts, that many of them bear resemblance
10 TOYS they have seen i'm the windows and on
the counters of stores. Before limiting at such
a crime as plagiarism. it might te well to give
Thought TO the suggestion that instead of being
a copyist he may be the originator of the many
ingenious novelties i'm the toy world. and that
though conceived in human brains and fash
hn in f,rrfI
inspired the Inventive thought i'm the work
mans mind cell. and guided his hand as he
wrought the idea into shape.
be that as it may. whoever walks abroad can
not 1all to be struck by the variety and abun-
dance OF toys to be found on every hand and
ne is also apt to find himself wondering where
they all come FROM If his inquisitiveness re-
solves itself into inquiry he will learn that the
greatest portion of toys he sees come from
across the deep blue seas The two great toy
markets of the world are Nuremberg and Son.
hehDer@ In Germany. In the old town OF Nu-
remberg the great majority of the inhabitants
are engaged in the manufacture and sale of
toys. There are factories there where TOYS are
made IN large quantities. but still larger amounts
are made In the houses of tOwnsmen.
Entering one of those houses the visitor will
ma the entire family grayely and busily engaged
IN fashloning wooden soldiers cows goats.
horses. dogs and cats acting as coiffeurs and
nioolstes Tor dolls, or fashOning miniature
TIN. The husband. the WIFE the children down
TO the little three-year-old toodes each has an
allotted task and at it they faithfully toll.
FOR miles around SOnnenberg the inhabitants
are engaged in the same occupation. Unlike
the Nurembergers, the rooms III which they
work are not in the cramped atmosphere of the
town. but in the pleasant valleys at the foot of
the Thurin~wald Mountains or on the sloping
sides OF the mountains themselves. There the
peasants have their simple cottages surrounded
tl iol,
vegetables they consume and there as in Nu-
fembefg. model men and animals, but i'm such
manner as to carefully avoid breaking the com
mandinent which furijids mortals to make to
themselves the likeness OF any living thing
Inc Traveller who visits Sonuenber% and strolIs
along any of the roads leading from the CITY
VIII meet those toy makers-nen and women
slowly trudging downward. with huge baskets
OF toys upon their backs. Many OF them have
several miles TO travel with their burdens In
Sonnenberg they sell their wares to commission
merchants, who box and pack the TOYS. and
thence those we see in the stores are shipped to
this country
In the Tyrol the peasants also make great
many toys. nearly all of them being Of wood
From Paris come the greater portion of the
most expensive dolls and a great number of
other toys. as well as the miniature toilet sets
china ware for dolls tables. dolls iewelry and
other fancy knicknacks. of which such large
quantities are imported.
SOLO here. sucil as stove. pots, kettles savings
banks and other articles OF like nature All the
larger toys, sleds, hobby -hOEses, tricycles and
veiocIredes are also made here, principally in
New York. Jersey City and Brooklyn, although
there are factories in other portions of the
country. To Yankee ingenuity is only due the
greater portion of the mechanical TOYS sold in
TINS country. and inventors are always busy at
work devising new ingenuities for the amtlse-
ment of the children. Nearly all such inyen-
lions are patented and from many of them have
been derived large sums Ct money A clever
idea when APPLY applied to the construction of a
new toy is always certain to insure large sale
The profits to dealers in toys are large. the
primal cost OF atOy when purchased in Germany
for instance. representing but small portion of
the price charged to the customer who purcha-
ses 1t from the retail dealer.
The quantity Of toys sold throughout the
country each year is very large. OF the whole
quantity sold about three-quarters are imported
the remaining quarter being of home manufac-
ture. The toy manufacture in this country is
yearly increasing. and bids fair to lessen the pro-
portion of imported toys The bulk of the toy
trade in the United States is transacted in this
City, but in other cities there are also several
houses which import direct.
Tl,ns