Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1889-04-16
WHERE TOYS COME FROM
Most Of Them the Product Of
Cheap German Labor.
why the United States Can Not Make the
Cheaper Kinds OfPlaythings-AnA About
Dolls, Toy LOCOMOTIVES, Ten-Cent
Watches and Other Trifes.

Watches and Other Tri1es.
"Of the dolls sold in America" said a
prominent wholesale dealer in TOYS to a
New York Times man, "nine-tenths come
from Germany. OF these a large propor
ton are made in one little place, Some
berg, town of about ten thousand inhabit-
ants in Thuringen. Almost the entire in
dustry of this place is confined to the man.
ufacture of dolls The inhabitants are very
poor people and are brought up to doll-maz-
ing
"Before it is completed q doll passes
through many hands. The heads, hands
and feet are made by one person, the body
by another, the hair is fixed on by another,
and the face is painted by two other differ
ent people, one doing the rough work and
the second the finishing touches. The cloth
ing is made by another person and the
dresses are put on by still another. All
this labor is done at such starvation prices
that Americans can not compete in the man
ufacture, although the duty for importation
is thirty-ive per cent.
"To this town of Sonneberg there come
every year large number of buyers from
all over the world. l 20 there myself and
never fail to meet at least a score of Ameri-
cans engaged in the same business There
are at least 500 different kinds of dolls, and
the variety is remarkable. The French in
vent many of the most attractive, but the
Germans copy them so cheaply that the
worlds buyers go to the latter for their
stock. For the manufacture of fine dress
dolls the French still hold the lead by long
odds. Itis only in the cheaper goods that
the Germans outspeed them. England fur
nishes very few dolls, and can now recall
only one kind that is distinctly English-the
English rag doll, which is made wholly of
rags, even to the face, the eyes being sewed
on. There are French walking dolls, smok-
ing men and other automatic figures, but
these do not really belong to the family of
dolls They are mechanical figures, too in
tricate in their mechanism to be classed as
mere dolls. OF the rubber dolls fully one
half are made in America, where any thing
that is machine made prospers to the ex-
clusion of imported stuffs.
"The price of dolls ranges from 1 cent to
$50, but the most popular are those that sell
for 25 cents, so cents and 81, although
there has been a great run recently on 8
cent and 10-cent dolls.
GAS with dolls, so it is with other toys.
The most of them come from Germany,
where they are made very cheaply. This
same town of Sonneberg furnishes many of
them, but more come from Nuremberg and
small towns in its vicinity, 1t Is in this dis
trict that magnetic toys, swords, guns,
trumpets, horns, woolly sheep, Jumping
jacks, monkeys on sticks, jacks in the box
and ingenious mechanical toys are made
The carved wooden toys come principally
from the Bavarian highlands, but they are
brought to Nuremberg to be sold. The
cheaper grades of wooden toys are made in
poorer Saxony and comprise cheap arks and
sets ef furniture.
"How heaply they make these things you
can judge from this instance. Here is a
toy of furniture consisting of three chairs,
q bureau, a table, a sofa and mirror, care
fully done up in a substantial pasteboard
box. Now, after having paid 35 per cent.
duty and having allowed 20 per cent. for
freight and other expenses, we sell such
furniture sets at rs cents per dozen and
make a reasonable profit. You can hgure
out the original cost if you choose.
Porcelain toys-tea sets and things OF
that sort-are also made very cheaply, the
waste places in the potteries being filled up
with their molds without mucn additional
cost Toy horses, cows, elephants, cats
dogs, lions, tigers and all kinds OF animals
are made largely in the German prisons |
30 constructed as to be able to move heads
and emit a noise resembling more or less
the natural cries of each animal. The retail
price of these TOYS runs from 80 cents to $50, |
to size and perfection. We sold
toy horse the other day for $50 about the
same time real racer was disposed OF at
auction uptown for much less sum.
'Of the wooden toys fully one-half are
made in America. They include A q
blocks, building blocks and games, and are
easily turned out by machinery. Iron toys |
are also made largely here, and so are tin |
tovs. The tin for the latter is imported |
from Europe, and when the toys are finished
thew are exported for the European market
The majority of the rubber toys come from
France, chiefly from Paris, although the |
of this line of playthings is
increasing in America, and the
American rubber toys are really the best TO
be had. The reason that America has not
taken the lead in the manufacture OF rubber
TOYS is found in the fact that the demand
for other rubber goods is so great as to
shut out toys. Toy watches are largely
made in France and are remarkably cheap. |
We sell watches with chains, charms and
movable hands for 80 cents per dozen, after
having allowed for duty and freight.
"Of the standard games the best chess
men come from England; backgammon and
checkers are made almost altogether In
America; bone dominos, dice and the
cheaper grades Of chess come from France
toy printing presses, locomotives and all
that line of goods are domestic. Toy print
ing presses were furnished formerly al
most wholly by the Germans, but latterly
the Americans have superseded their Teu-
tonic brethren in this industry. In educa-
tional toys America leads the world, and ex-
ports large quantities. So it does also in
the manufacture of outdoor games, lawn
tennis. croouet, baseball, etc"