The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-01-15
WHERE TOYS ARE MADE.
Germany Furnishes Dolls, Noah's Arks
Magic Lanterns and China Tea Sets.
From fhe Roston Globe

Germany Furnishes Dolls, Noah's Arks,
magic Lanterns and China Tea Sets.
From the Boston Globe.
lis an open secret that Santa Claus
brings the greater part of his vast stock of
Christmas toys from Europe, Germany be-
ing his favorite collecting ground. But he
encourages American industry in a few di-
rectlHns, notably in cheap mechanical toys
The tin railway trains aud the horses and
steamboats, that run when wound up with a
key are made in Brooklyn, and the cast
iron toys Of the same description are made
principally in New York. When he desires
an expensive mechanical toy. howaver, he
goes to France for it; to Saxony for all his
NOah's arks and all the other carved wooden
toys; to Nuremberg for his toys, tin trum-
PETS, aud magic lanterns, and to Thur
| inRia for his china tea SETS
Far more important than all other TOYS
are the dolls, and nine dolls out Of every
ten are little German girls. In whole dis
tricts in Germany the country people spend
the winter 10 making dolls, filling their
fields in the summer. The cheap wax dolls,
commercially known as composition wax. "
such as may be bought at retail in this
country for % cents, furnishes perhaps the
best idea Of how dolls are made. A mod
| eler," who has nothing else to do with the
making of dolls makes plaster of paris
| models of the styles of heads and limbs
most in demand, and sells them singly OF in
sets to the peasants who make the dolls.
Throughout the winter father, mother and
all the larger children unite in making
papier mache casts from these models, eaen
cast being, of course, an exact counterpart
OF the models, but thin
and light, and gray In
color. The legs and arms are dipped in
tlesh-colored paint, and the painted shoes
are put on with brushes. These various
parts. together with the head are fastened
to cloth body stuffed with sawdust, and
dolly goes off to the factory, where thu more
artistic work is done. An expert workman
in the factory, holding dolly by the feet,
dips her head and shoulders for e moment
| in melted wax, and she emerges from the
bath the composition wax doll Of commerce.
When she is sufficiently dry she passes into
the hands of a girl operator, who quickly
paints the pink tinge upon her cheeks. An
| other girl adds the blue eyes; still another
the eyebrows and eyelashes; and 80 she goes
through the hands of a row of girls, one
girl for each tint, the whole process taking
about six hours, for there are delays while
the paints are drying.
In six hours six girls are expected to paint
ten gross, or nearly 1900 dolls, complete
| This requires rapid work and the girls re.
ceive about 81 IS a week each. Flowing
and dolly is ready to emigrate to America.
For the real wax doll, more expensive
article, the molds for the head are made IL
three parts-one back and two fronts. The
mold is filled with melted wax, which Ii
allowed to remain for minute or two, and
then all that is not hardened is poured out
But IL we do not make dolls to any extent
in this country we repair them at great
rate. About Christmas time IDOL hospi
tai" is established in all the big stores in
New York where toys are sold, and dolls
with eyes that should move but are fixed
with legs that insist upon being knock
kneed, with arms that are loose, with wigs
that fall off. or with joints that refuse &c
bend, are taken back to be repaired or ex.
changed. In some of the larger concerns
the doll hospital at such times contains
more patients than any real hospital in the
city.
The wooden stables, kitchens, groceries
butcher shops and the familiar Noah's arks
are all made by hand in Saxony. What
wages these simple carvers make may be
Judged from the fact that small Noaht
arks, containing more than score of carved
animals, can be bought at retail for S cents
or 10 cents. Even in cheap Saxony the
peasants could not live by the industry
alone. They have some other calling; and
on winter nights the whole family gather
round the blazing fire and carve out NINA
ture lions and elephants.