Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-12-15

cabs, dump carts. milk wagons. hotel coach.
nre engine, hose carriage. menagerie wagon and
locomotives, in all sizes from four inches to
thirty. Watering carts, made to carry and de-
liver water. were Of various sizes. and. however
delightful to the fancy Of q child. must be q ter
TOR to its housekeeping mother, brewery wagons
laden with beer barrels and drawn by four
horses. made brave display. An imposing toy
was United States artillery wagon, drawn by
four horses with gun. caisson and mounted
men. An elevated railroad train, wound up and
running around circular track at full speed,
would have caught the attention Of any sensi-
tive boy. One magnificent toy was a Taiiy-ho
coach and four horses. covering lineal space of
forty-two inches, with two stylish and impress
sive swells sitting bolt upright on the box seat
ana a dozen others on the seats behind. A stage
caleu George washington, with a dozen sus-
p'cions looking characters seated inside and
bound on target excursion, was a conspicuous
object
AN ODD LOT OF INVENTIONS.
Among the mechanical toys was what was
called Santa Claus musical sleigh Santa
Clans, clad In fur. was represented standing up
right In the sleigh beside Christmas tree and
looking out over the heads of a pair of antlered
deer, while behind him in locker was lot of
miscellaneous toys. This toy when wound up
started rapidly over the floor playing Yankee
Doodle" the legs of the deer moving I'D and
down I'm a natural kind of way toy of that
sort retails for SO. OF other mechanical TOYS
Which are wound up and run from five to ten
minutes were a clown dancing on the top of a
barrel. two negro lassies dancing breakdown
very comical affair-a girl with a skipping
rope, an acrobat on q crossbar. and coiored
washerwoman scrubbing clothes for dear life
One beautiful toy exhibited three couples
dancing waltz on O carpet of crimson velvet.
under canopy of green and gold. gorgeously
clad In the costume of the reign OF Louis Quar-
torZe and moving around with all the grace of
expert dancers. Next came q revolving race
course for trotters and yel0cipedes, a ball and
malet game with two figures Of men standing
at one end and a lady seated at the other. who
returned to the players the balls they needed to
play with.
MAGIC LANTERNS.
The magic lantern has a peculiar fasc;na
ton for boys and girls and is favoritc toy at
Christmas time. Magic lanterns retail from
twenty-five cents to $40. according to size. but
one lately patented and introduced this year for
the first time sells as high as $50 and 500 This
lantern is automatic, the spring running for
eight days. In other respects it is the same as
the old style of lantern, except that in place OF
having sliding pictures there Is circle or rather
ring. containing from twenty to fifty pictures
inside the lantern. which is revolved by the ma
at each turn of the movement. This lantern
can be wound up TO show pictures for eight con-
secutiye days without any attention beyond
supplying the machinery every twelve hours
with little oil. The most remarkable toy i'm
the collection. not alone for its size but its in
genuity, was the race course.
MINIATURE RACE COURSE.
This was incosed within an ornamental board
fence six feet long and six feet wide. Seven
horses larn hon ba toy
were entered for the race and came to the start
ing post in an even line They were saddled
and bridled and mounted by jockeys, whose
suits were painted to correspond exactly with
those worn at Jerome Park. The machinery of
this toy was down below and hidden out of
sight. 1t was worked by crank, and when
started the horses broke away and scattered
over the course as naturally as ever was seen on
an actual race track. They also came unevenly
to the winning post, and the speed at which
they ran was quite equal to that on the average
race course. Most of the toys here mentioned
are monOpOlized by boys, but there is wide
field, nevertheless, left to the girls. There is
the great world Of dOlldom of wax dolls bisque
dolls. papier-mache dolls, china dolls. rag dolls,
wooden dolls. and all sorts of dolls. Then there
is the britannia tea and coffee and dinner sets,
and the queensware baby sets, and the baby fur
niture, and the miniature kitchens, SO that the
girls are by no means neglected.
BRITANNIA TEA SETS AND DOLLS.
The britannia tea sets are made out of pewter,
which is mixture of lead and tin. The process
of manufacture is quite interesting. man dips
ladle into a caldron of metal and pours a GER
tain quantity into mould which is designed for
teapot or sugar bowl and In few minutes
the metal has so.idilied and the teapot or sugar
bowl is made. 1t is then sent to be trimmed
and planed. and I'm very short time it comes
out of the hands of the workmen with a luster
as dazzling diamond. A regular tea set
consists of teapot. sugar bowl, cream pitcher
Stop bowl and six cups six saucers six spoons
and sugar tongs. all packed in box and re-
tailed at from five cents box to ST. while
a tea set along with tray retails from twenty
five cents to 81. From the pewter that makes the
tea sets whole armies of soldiers are created The
Seventh regiment I'm pewter. with Colonel En-
mons Clark in full uniform thrown in. NAV be
had for 81. Here are trays full OF soldiers, rep
resenting all arms of the military service. The
cavalry must have particular charm for the
boysh eye as they are made to wear a very
dashing and heroic look the horses paving the
air with their fore feet. and the troopers waving
their swords and looking ferocious as sayages
The SiXty-ninth regiment, with Colonel Jim
Cayanagh thrown in, sells for the same price as
the seventh fSl). On the superintendents at
tention being drawn to the anomaly OF having
so pronounced Celtic regiment as the Sixty
ninth, dressed in red coats and blue pants he
said that particular lot of soldiers was intended
for the English market and the uniforms were
accordingly made to harmonic with their des-
tinaton.
1t appears that the day of the wax doll is
over and that it will never again reign supreme
in the nursery. This is pity. The wax doll
was a harmless poor thing, with its fale pink
cheeks, indigo eyes and light blonde hair. but
this is utilitarian age, and believes in the doc
trine of the survival of the fittest. The papier-
mache doll. which is comparatively indestructi-
ble has crowded the wax doll to the wall and
ruined its prospects forever The papier-mache
doll is of different type of face from the other
and Is universally conceded to be much more
handsome. 1t has none Of the dull. inane and
foolish expression of the wax doll but bright.
winning. intelligent look that progresses at
first glance. Then it is hardy. robust doll
that can hold Its own in any kind of nursery,
and not submit to having its nose broken or its
eye poked out with bodkin by a reckless and
sanguinary baby. There are twelve sizes in the
paper-mache dolls. the largest having face as
large as young woman's. They wear black
and blonde wayy hair, have round. rosy cheeks
and are very much more healthy looking than
the wax dolls. Papier-mache is composed prin-
cipally of paper mixed with flour and cement
The mOulds for the dolls heads are made of cast
steel. First head is made from plaster of