, 1889-11-27
The New Speaking Dolls.

Speaking dolls are not such very great
novelties. Some years ago there was Il
uOted toy shop in the Rue Niyienne, Paris,
and in the centre of the window was eX.
aib;ied Il very large and splrldidly-dresS-
ID wax doll with very pink chubby
cheeks, AID roasu b'ue eyes, and ali abun-
dance OF faXen r.ngletS. On the BREAST OF
the puppet was the following inscription :
''Fo@ CeG francs | move my eyes; for nj
.een francs l turn my head for twenty
t}ancs | say 'Papa' and Mama" Thtt
iolj and all Aa- tle.t sEors in tbs s.t
naking wo.4,. II. low ne f'. - ,*No
back seats. The toy kingdom is menaOed
with entire subverSion and re0onstruction
by an association duly organised at Bos-
ton, Massachusetts, uuder the narle OF the
Ediaou Photograph Toy Manufacturing
Company, which has a working capital OF
no less than two hundred thousand
rounds. Tie function OF this remarkable
enterprise il 10 manufacture talking dolls,
ami the company, under divers contracts,
has acquired the exclusive right to use
in dolls AMI toy figures IN all countries IN
the world, ana tot al iime-'all time" is
guod-ll of MIR. Edisou's inventions,
whether hitherto made or to be made dur
inc t~hp~comiug five years nom the date 0t
lar contract. MIR. Edison has built amt
equipped a factOfy now capable OF turning
gu! five hundred complete me0hanlSm5
per day suitable to be placed III dolls, and
THIS capacity, it Is stated, can readily DC
extended up to three thousand per diem.
The c0maauy have secured the services
Of a gentleman thoroughly oonver6ant
with the doll business Of this country, and
this cxpar, is now IN Europe purchasing
dolls suitable to contain the toy plOno"
graphs. The last item Of int hgence
affords food for serious reflection. Tn
mouth of an ordinary dol is a small mat
Ter; tle upper lin should have the form of
p Cupi,Is bow tbs under lip should be
slightly pOu;iuE, aS though "8ome Geo had
sung it newly; and the entire arrange
mrnt should present an em)n"nt'E klSSa-
hle aspect. Such a pair Of lips, by a not
very complicated mechanism, can be made
to aricuiatr Suudsy S%QuraKln& or baylng
sounds, which, 10y Il very slight Stretch II
the inagination, could be construed
into nPapl' and "Hama'; but a pUonOEra-
pine doll, it NIGH be argued, should have
i mouth ~ widr.Strr,ohod IA that of the
"ploS0pa," in the Greek thratge-a mask
grinaing in he ghastlieSt mtnler-ThlI",
perhaps. she very best torn of this feature
tn suit the working Of the photographic
mechanism would be the Roman a~nteiXa
or the Gothic ~garg0yle. All OF these
might be efficient, but they WOald scarce
ly he pretty.
The idea IF n photographic dol is Ger.
tainlv m ingenious one. The 4y,l, Te
apprehend, is latutully to ra2ro-.ct, in
tone, pitch, aud time, The utterances of a
person who has spoken into the instru-
ment the impressions received are con-
veyed to a cylinder of wax, Il thus a
permanent record may be kept of what
has been said. When it is desired to re-
produce the voice, the wax cylinder must
be placed in the body of the doll and made
to revolve at a certain rate the MARKS on
the wax of course set a needle III motion
which conveys its movements to q MEM
brane which, by its vibration, causes the
vocal sounds. Now having started With
this postulate. the two great questions to
decide are obviously who is to speak into
the dolls which are to talk, and b man
ner of speech is to be eHshriHed IN their
small stOmachS. Boston, Massachusetts,
is. we all know. the "hub of the universe
and is the home of the most redned culture
sometimes pronounced "cultchaw" still.
English as it is pronounced in New Eng
land differs considerably from the Eng.
lish Of the Southern States, OF the Ia
West, OF the Dominion Of Canada, and
even OF cosmopolitan New York; while
to that abandoned AMI altogether hope
less PERSON the London COckney all and
every kind of AmericAneSs hAa decides