Evening star., 1893-11-07
TOYS MADE IN GERMANY.
Nfne-Tenths of All We Buy Com
From There.

From There.
Have you ever wondered where the toys
that delight the hearts of children are
made? The thousand and one devices for
the amusement of the juvenile mind come
from all parts Of the civilized world, and
toy store contains the products of many
countries. A description Of the origin of
the most prominent varieties of toys may
be found interesting
''Of all the toys sold in America" said
prominent wholesale dealer in toys, nine
tenths come from Germany. OF these a
large proportion are made in one little
place, Sonneberg, a town of about 1000 in
habitants in Thuringen. Almost the en-
tire industry Of this Place is confined to the
manufacture of dolls. The inhabitants are
very poor people, and are brought up to
doll making. Before it is completed a doll
passes through many hands. The head.
hands and feet are made by one person. the
body by another. the hair is fixed on by
another and the face is painted by two
other different people, one doing the rough
work and the second the finishing touches.
The clothing Is made by another person and
the dresses are put on by still another.
''All this work is done at such starvation
prices that Americans cannot compete in
the manufacture, although the duty is IS
per cent. To this town of Sonneberg there
comes every year a large number of buyers
fIom al. over the world. i go there myself,
and never Iall 10 meet a score or 50 or
Americans engaged in the same business
lnere are at least 5VO different KINDS Oh
dolls, and the variety is remarkable. The
French invent many of the most attractive,
but the Germans copy them 50 eheapiy
tnat the worlds buyers go to the latter
cnletiy Tor their STOCK. For the manufac-
ture of tine dress dolls the French still hold
the lead by long odds. 1t is only In the
cheaper goods the Germans outspeed them.
Eng.and furnishes very Few dolls, and
can now recall only one kind that is dis
tinctly English-the English rag DOLL made
wholly OF rags.
There are French walking dolls, smok-
Ing men and other automatic figures, but
they are mechanical and too intricate to be
classed as mere dolls. OF the rubber dolls
fully one-half are made in America, where
everything that is machine made prospers
to the exclusion of the imported stuffs.
The prices Of dolls range from cent to $780,
but the most popular, of course, are those
that sell for ~. SO cents and 81, although
there has recently been a great run on 3
and lo-cent dolls. AS with dolls SO 1t Is
with other toys The most Of them come
from Germany, where they are made SO
cheaply. The same town of Sonneberg fur
nishes many OF them, but more come from
Nuremberg and small towns in It's vicinity.
TT is in this district that magnetic toys.
swords. guns. trumpets. horns, woolly
sheep. jumping jacks, monkeys on sticks.
jack In the box and ingenious mechanical
come chiefly from the Bavarian highlands,
but they are brought to Nuremberg to be
sold The cheaper grades of wooden toys
are made In poorer Saxony. and comprise
cheap arks and sets Of furniture. How
cheaply these things are made you may
judge from this instance: Here is a toy set
consisting of three chairs, q bureau, a
table. a sofa and a mirror, carefully done
a rd
after having paid % per cent duty. and hav-
ing allowed 20 per cent for freight and
other expenses. we sell such furniture sets
at 70 cents a dozen and make a reasonable
profit. Think of that You can figure out
the original cost IL you choose. f'o
Porcelain toys-tea sets and things Of
that sort-are also made very cheaply. the
waste places in the potteries being filled up
with their molds without much cost. Toy
horses, cows, elephants cats. dogs, lions.
tigers and al kinds of animals are made
chiefly in German prisons. Many of these
are ingenious novelties, being so con-
structed as to be able to move heads and
emit noise resembling more or less the
natural cries of each animal The retail
price of these toys run from so cents to $50.
OF the wooden toys, fully one-haf are made
in America. They include A, r. c blocks,
building blocks and games, and are easily
turned out by machinery. Iron toys are
also made largely here. and so are tin toys.
The tin for the latter is imported from
Europe. and when the toys are finished
they are exported for the European market
.The majority of rubber toys come from
France. mostly from Paris, although the
manufacture of this line of plaything Is
constantly increasing in America. and the
American rubber toys are really the best to
be had. The reason that America has not
taken the lead in the manufacture of rub
ber toys is found in the fact that the great
demand for other goods shuts out the toys
Toy watches are remarkably cheap and are
made in France. We sell watches with
chains. charms and movable hands for 25
cents dozen. after having allowed for
duty and freight. OF the standard games
the best chessmen come from England;
backgammon and checkers are made alto
gether In America: bone dominoes. dice and
the cheaper grades Of chessmen come from
France; toy printing presses. locomotives
and all that line of goods are domestic
TOY Drfnting presses were formerly al
most wholly furnished by the Germans
but latterly the Americans have superseded
their Teutonic brethren. In educational
toys America leads the world and exports
large Quantities. So II does also In the
manufacture of the necessary articles for
outdoor games" -r
-p-a