Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-08-18
About Dolls.

noll. the name of an initiative babv
.,aa as a toy for girls, is said to be- =
u pss,,traction of Dorothy, the diminutive
81 which is Dolly. Todd says the word
.nov have been adopted from the old
i,.cnch dol, trumpery, a trick; or it may
:, an Authorization of idol. Another
a,,tl,or says that perhaps it came from
.hs Dutch dol, stupid, senseless. Dolls.
a. cbildren's p%laythings, are of greater
"~ntiouitv than many may imagine.
T y, are traced back to their .sproba-
h1a* first appearance in puppet shows.
Whether in the torrid. the temperate, or
The frigid zone, equally among Africans
and Esquimaux, the doll has long been
. plaything. The practice of sending
,hem from France to foreign countries
vas of very early date. In the royal ex-
ncnses for 1891 figure so many ..iiyres''
lara doll sent to the Queen of England:
in 1906, another sent to the Queen of
Snain. and in 1877, q third to the
Dluchess of Bavaria. Henry ~. writes
in 1900. before his marriage to Marie de
Medicis: "Frontenac tells me that you
desire patterns of our fashions in dress.
send YOU therefore some model dolls"
The majority of women remember in
their childhood Of cuddling and comforts
inc a doll, and unconsciously learned to
make and manage the dresses of their
nets, and often prescribed medicines for
fear their dolls would be liable to colds.
At one period the manufacture of
dolls was almost limited to the Neither
lands. These old Dutch babies, as thew
were called, were made of wood, with
faces Of plaster of paris, rudely painted,
the cheaper kind haying arms and legs
of wood. Within the last forty a
the manufacture has greatly improved,
and large numbers of dolls are made in
the United States. Still there are LARGE
importations from France, Germany,
Switzerland and the Tyrol. There are
many sorts of dolls-wooden, gutta-
percha. sewed, waxen, etc. The prices
range according to these classes, the
first being by far the cheapest. as also
the most ordinary. In fact, the price
can easily be run up to almost any ex-
tent. A few years ago q doll was for
sale in New York, dressed in white silk
the cost Of the robe being fifteen dol
lars. 1t had on a corset and a hustle.
and three embroidered skirts. 1t had
stockings of silk and exquisite shoes. 1t
had a shawl worth twenty-five dollars,
8 handkerchief worth two dollars, a fan
that was a miracle Of elegance, a lace
covered parasol, and a gold chain about
its neck. The eyes would move and
wink at pleasure. The price was one
hundred and fifty dollars.
A vast number of gutta percha and
India rubber dolls are made in the
United States. Some of these, preserv-
ing the natural dark color, are in con-
siderable request among girls ''of Afri-
can descent" but the great number of
these gum dolls are painted.
Dolls eyes constitute a curious and
difficult department Of doll-making.
They are two kinds-the cheap and the
costly. The cheaper dolls eyes are
simply small hollow glass beads or
spheres, made of white enamel, and
colored black or blue, without any at
tempt at variety or effect. The bet
ter kind of eyes, called 'snatural
eyes, by the makers, are made in the
y manner, so far as concerns the
\ glass or enamel. but the iris is repre-
snted by a painted or stained ring. The
Introduction of wires and mechanism to
make the eyes move and wink was q
great improvement.
A speaking doll was invented by a
London workman, who, after nine years
of experimental trial and failure, sue
ceeded in making his doll utter two
favoritc words, mamma and ''papa."
One of these dolls was sent to St. Peters
burg, where there is q sort Of mania for
mechanical curiosities. When the doll
arrived at st. Petersburg it was discov-
cred that. having been injured on the
way, it had lost it's speech. 1t was
placed in the hands of an ingenious
Russian doll-maker, but it was beyond
his powers to make it speak. So, at
enormous expense, the English inventor
was engaged to proceed to st. Peters,
burg and repair his work.
In the worlds fair of 1851, held in
London, there were several doll stalls.
Madame Montaniri eclipsed all compet-
itors. and was specially mentioned by
the jury as follows: at consists of a
series of dolls, representing all ages,
from infancy to womanhood, arranged
IN several family groups, with suitable
and elegant model furniture. These
dolls have the hair, eye-lashes and eye
lids separately inserted in the wax, and
are IN other respects modelled with life
like truthfulness. Much skill is also
eylnced in the variety of expression
which is given to the figures, in regard
TO the ages and stations which they are
Intended to represent. Troy Daily
Times.