The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1892-01-01

eiecD lhe c!mDaiS are mau3 OF cast OFF
pieces Of sheet iron, covered with special
preparation to give them luster. Thus, by
using waste material alone this popular
/ toy can be manufactured and retaied at
thirteen cents. At Wholesale they cost
| ninety cents dozcn. Over 40. 900 of these
+, playt,ngs are sold each year by peddlers
and toy dealers
Now where do all the toys come from9
Who makes them? Where are they madep
During the Christmas and New Years sen.
son 1t is estimated that establishments like
! the Bon Marche aud the Louvre sell each
S2SO,CGO worth of toys, and the chairman of
the Parisian syndicate of toy manufactur-
! ers estimates that the total sales during
the holiday season arg not far from $1,000.
600.
According to recent statistics there are
| in Paris alone nearly 800 manufactures OF
toys, mostly situated in the districts of the
Marais, the Temple and the Archives. The
number of persons employed regularly in
the toy Industry from years end to years
| end is about 10000.
The Manufacture of toys and playthings
| had not achieved any considerable degree
| of development in France before the year
| 1867, when for the first time it obtained a
| special classification at the Paris universal
exhibition, twenty-five French exhibitors
| having been admitted. In 1873, at the
Paris exhibition, class AZ, toys, numbered
l34 exhibitors, which alone suffices to show
the progress made during ten years. As
for the statistics OF the trade at the pres
ent day the custom house returns show
| the exports to have risen to $4,000, 900.
while the imports are only 81, 100000. In
these returns, however, are included cer
tain fancy f-ppsls xybirb
| toys.
The toy manufacturers each have their
specalties, and generally deal only in that
speciality Arms, armor and military
equipments for children were manufac-
tured by forty-one houses in 1873. The
workmen earn from five to seven francs a
day, and the women from two to three
francs, This branch of the industry has
increased greatly since the war of 1ST0-l,
and the French have now beaten all their
competitors, both in the cheapness and ex-
ceilence OF their wares, although for a long
time they were closely pressed and even
beaten by the manufacturers of Nurem-
berg ana Belgium, particularly in the ar.
ticle of tin soldiers. These tin soldiers are
mado in the Marais quarter, where over
o,0Oo,0Oo are turned out each year, that is
to say, as many rs all the European armies
united. One manufacturer alone at Belle
vile employs 200 men and women, who
make nothing but tin soldiers.
Ten years ago nearly all the high priced
doll babies used to come from Germany.
They We're stiff in form and hideous in
color. One day Partisan lady had the
idea OF dressing one of these miniature ba-
bles with all the elegance she bestowed
upon her own person. Since that time the
full dressed Parisian doll baby has crowded
all the lobster red Gretchens out Of the
market. The Germans themselves are now
Obliged to buy their stock of porcelain
heads from the ceramic establishments at
Montreuil aud st. Maurice, where tai
ented designers and skllful modelsrs are
constantly employed. Some OF the most
celebrated sculptors do not disdain to
model heads for the leading firms. Paris
Is still center for cheap dolls, made by
workwomen who earn only twenty or thir.
ty cents day.
OF metal toys-watchcs, kitchen utensils
and similar objects-there were seventy
nine manufacturers In 1878. The nav of
the men is six to eight francs "A day and of
the women two to three francs. More than
LOO workmen are employed In this de-
partment Of the industry, which was for.
merly the monopoly Of Germany. The
manufacture OF these objects in France be-
gan about lS40 In 1867 the trade iS these
articles reached l,300,0O0 francs and em-
ployed 400 workmen. At present the trade
exceeds 100000 OF francs per annum The
chiet article in this section Is the nine cent
toy watch and chain, invented by camelot
named Herbaut about 1855. This Herbaut
now lives comfortably us n retired trades.
man at Belleville, enjoying an income OF
$1,000 year gained by selling these
watches. This nine cent watch is now
popular all over the world, and its price
has been reduced even TO one cent. nj.
though it passes through twenty eight
pairs Of hands before it reaches the Gus.
TONER'S. One manufacturer OF toy watches
at Paris employs $50 persons, and his busi.
ness amounts to $1OO,0U II year, which is
equivalent to saying that he turns out
25,UO watches day at prices varying from
four cents to three dollars dozen.
Besides the worEmen who try during
their idle hours 10 invent some toy that
will have run during the holiday season,
there are kind hearted men like Murger's
hero, Schaunard, who are continually
seeking to find some new knickknack for
the amusement Of children. There is a
hale old gentleman in the Temple quarter
~ loo Spehb iilc Ill tuNtntl0X TOYS,
and particularly those of noisy kind.
which. as we all know, are In high favor
with children. This amiable old gentleman
is also the author Of the double sided COB.
let, in which you think you drink when you
don't, rubber Lizards and slugs, which
youngsters and Others can surreptitiously
slip into the salad bowl, etc. All inventors
try tc produce an article that will have an
immense vogue, that will be the toy of the
| season, but while we find each year an in
| finite variety OF curious objects, it Is rare
| that any Of them strike universal attention.
In looking back for the last thirty years
| there are only two that had an immediate
and prodigions -Pharoah's Ser
pents and the Roman Question. The idea
| of the serpent came in simple and unex-
| pected manner one day to a young chem
| cal student while he was watching the
| combustion OF product in the laboratory
THAT would please the boys" he said to
| himself, as he saw the fantastical turns
made by the burning product. He mod
eled some little pyramids, which only
| needed to he lighted to start off on their
L a,,tt, a..1 IL i