The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1890-07-17
DOLLS THAT TALK.
How They Are Made at Inventor Edtson'f
Factory.

Every little girl that reads SAYS the
\. Y. World will be interested TO know
how talking-dolIs are made in Mr.. Edi.
sons big factory.
In big room where there are a
dozen grea. steam hammers some OF
them weighing five tons. the tin Is
taken in long sheets. When the sheets
come from under the hammers they
are stamped and cut into the proper
shapes. Next they 90 into the solder
ing-room, where they are put together.
A little door in the back of each body
is swung on hinges and opens and
shuts. Through this aperture the
monograph is set in place so that il
can be taken out again when it hap
pens to get out of order, which is not
very often.
In other rooms the brass cylinders
are stamped out and the steel pinions
and needles, diaphragms and frame
works are fashioned and polished by
machinery.
In still another room, which is diyid-
ed into small apartments, there are SIX
biz machines that look like the COM
mon monographs. Inside of these CD
steel rod are strung fifty little doll
cylinders. At each of the machines
sits young woman, and next to the in
ventor whose genius devised the doll
and the agents who sell it, there is no
one about the factory whose work Is
more important than hers. She furn-
ishes the doll with its voice.
There is a biz funnel shaped like 6
letter V before her and as the cylinder
begins TO revolye she shouts into the
hole a verse from Mother Goose" She
must know exactly how loud to pitch
her voice and precisely how long tc
make her lines. A little clicking noise
tells her when the first cylinder has re-
ceived its message and then she begins
on the second one and so on until The
entire row is ended.
This is not easy work. The girls
voice must be clear and strong. and
she must know how to pronounce heI
words clearly and correctly. In Int
tie while she becomes tired, and then
another trained girl takes her place.
There are eighteen of these girls in the
factory and only six can work ut a
time. The other twelve relieve them
when they are tired.
After the cylinders on which these
verses have been cut by means of the
little indentations | have told you about
have been taken ont of the recording
machine they are given to skilful
machinist, who puts the little phono-
graph together, and then they are fitted
into the dolls.
Now comes the inspection. The in
spector tries each doll by itself ant
those that are faulty are rejected. Per.
haps the girls voice was little husky
and the doll talks as though it had {
bad cold, or maybe the girl pitched hel
voice too high and the doll squcaks out
its lines rs no well-manncred dolly ever
does in drawing-room.
The defective dolls are sent back and
new cylinders are put into them. Al
in all, about twenty men and girls dc
some piece of work on each doll before
it goes into the packing-room and is
put into box to be shipped to the
store-room in this city.
At first it was a knotty problem how
the dolls could be packed safely. The
superintendent tried many experiment;
before he hit upon the proper kind o
packing. After he had found what ht
thought he wanted he threw the DO.
with the doll inside from the roof tc
the ground. He found that the jar had
broken the doll but the phonograpl
was unharmed. Then he knew thai
the packing was perfect
The dolls are made in three STYLES
blonde, with blue eyes, blonde will
brown hair, and brunette with brown
eyes. The cylinders are made il
twelve STYLES. similar in shape, but
each having Il separate verse recorded
on its surface. Most of these verses
are taken from Mother Goose and
the dolls are called blue ewes, yellow
hair. Little Boy Blue" or blue eyes
brown hair, Mary Had Little Lamb, ~
dolls, as the case may. so far each
doll has only one cylinder which goes
with it. but some time in the future
there will be places in all large cities
where new cylinders can be put in, and
when little girl get tired OF hearing
her dolly say the same words over and
over again she can send it out and have
new verse put in.
The wonderful capabilities of the
talking doll are infinite. Not only can
spoken words be repeated, but songs as
well. Patti, for instance, could sing
into a recording machine and doll
would repeat her beautiful tones almost
the same rs they were originally sung.
MIR. Riley, or some other writer OF
nursery jinglcs, can be utilized and the
dolls would repeat the poets own voice
rs well rs his words. And when il
comes to animals and birds. there is nc
end to the variety. Little photographic
lions with real roars and bona fide
growls, and miniature tigers with ma
tural voices. would make a toy men.
agerie that would make Mr. Barnum
turn green with envy.