The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1891-09-09
STRANGE COLLECTION.
A Dealer Who Has Samples OF the Tin
Soldiers OF History

Every one remembers the pathetic
ballad of the little tin soldier-'and
one little leg had he." Gounod's
March of the Marionettes' is in reality
the march of a tin soldier brigade.
They are very important folk.
A State street toy-man, says the CHI
edgo Tribune, is a connoisseur in tin
soldiers and has the. history down pat.
IF you'll come over TO the house
some night" he remarked, 'Tu show
you the finest collection of tin soldiers
in this country. In fact there is only
one collection in existence that is more
complete; that is the famous one in the
Trades Hall in Nurem berg"
The newspaper man had heard of
any number of old collections-collec-
tions of shoes, and hairpins, postage
weakness for old china-but this struck
him as about the most whimsical of all.
So one evening he went out to Oak
street and saw three hundred odd little
tin soldiers in glass case. The gem
of the collection was a squat little fell
low in a jerkin that had once been buff
and breeches that had probably been
red. He has no name but his history
is fairly authentic.
He was made in Nuremberg and
dates from the days of military en-
thusiasm aroused by Frederick the
Greats exploits in the Seven Years
War. Then there were others. French
guardsmen, who owed their existence
to Napoleon's campaigns: Turks and
Paynims, little Italians. and red-shirted
Garibaldians, Austrians, and of coursa
I,aVs 0f
tricked out like the French and Ger
mans of 1870.
s'You see," said the collector, 'the
tin soldier of history is sort of war
thermometer. When bellicose affairs
are hot the tin soldier industry goes
up; when there is a cool, peaceful at
mosphere it goes down. tell you
there have been fortunes made by
shrewd men who looked ahead.
e'There was a man named Getzler in
Sonneberg who foresaw the last
Franco-German war and cornered the
tin soldier market. When the war
broke out the demand for tin soldiers
on the part of patriotic juvenile Ger
| mans was simply immense. Getzler
made his fortune. I'm afraid that his
confounded example has cost me
pretty penny. When our trouble with
Italy was threatening and it looked IS
though there were chance for war. !
placed heavy order for tin soldiers in
Nuremberg. They are drug in the
market now. All, well" he added, I'VE
must hope for the best"
Tin soldiers have been made for $50
years. The industry is altogether Ger
man. The best artists are hired to
furnish models for the soldiers, and
they are scrupulously careful to con-
form to the military costume of the
period and country to which the minia-
ture warriors are supposed to belong.
The designs are engraved upon
molds of slate or brass. Then the tin
is poured into the molds. and there you
are-or rather there the tin soldier is.
Of course he has to be painted. packed
in boxes. and-to achieve his ultimate
end. sold.
There are Lead soldiers. But the
toy-dealer does not think much of
them. He says that lead is low-down
sort of metal and has no military ar
dor. In addition it is poisonous.
The capital invested in this business
is, he asserted, over 81. 600, 900. By
the way, another fact: The workmen
who make lead soldiers all die of con-
sumption; the men who make tin sol-
| diers don't.