The Dakota chief. (Gann Valley, Buffalo County, S.D.) 18??-1913, 1895-12-26
THE WARES OF SANTA CLAUS
Most Of the Christmas Toys Are Made
in Far Germany.

Most of the Christmas Toys Are Made
in Far Away Germany.
Have you ever wondered where the
toys hat delight the hearts Vi the chill
dren are made? The Thousand and one
devices for the amusement Of the juven-
lie mind come from all parts Of the civil
ICED world, and q toy store CONTAINS the
products Of many countrie.
OF all the toys sold in America nine-
tenths come from Germany. OF these Il
large proportion are made in one little
place, Sonneberg, a own Of about 10000
Inhabitants, In Tburingen. Almost the
entire industry Of this place IL confined
to the manufacture of dolls The inhab-
itants are very pool people, and are
brought up to do~ll-mskiny. Before it is
completed Il 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 cloth
ing is made by another person, and the
dresses are put on by still another.
To this town of SOnneberg there come
every year a large number Of buyers from
all over the world. There are at least
800 different kinds Of dolls and the ware
fly il remarkable. The brench invent
many of the most attractive, but the Coz
mans copy them so cheapiy that the
worlds buye-s go to the latter chiefly for
their stock. For the manufacture Of fine
dress dolls the Frepch still hold the lead
by long odds. 1t IS only il me cheaper
goods the Germans Outspccd theun. En-
gland furnishes very few dolls and "" can
now recall only one kind that - distinctly
English-the English rag dol, mal" Who'll
ly of rags.
There are French walking dolls, snlok-
ing men and other automatic figures, tut
they are mechanical and too intricate TO
be classed as mere dolls. OF the rubber
dolls fully one-half are made in America.
where anything that is machine made
prospers to the exclusion OF the imported
stuffs. The prices of dolls range from l
cent TO $50, but the most popular, OF
course. are those that sell for 20, 90 cents
and 81, although there has recently been
u great run on 5 and 10 cent dolls. AS
with dolls SO it is with others toys. The
most of them come from Germany, whore
they are made so cheapiy. The same
town of Sonneberg furnishes many of
them. but more come from Nuremberg
and small towns III It's vicinity.
1t is in this district that magnetic toys.
swords. guns. trulnpctS, horns, wUoiiy
sheep, jumping jacks. monkeys Oh sticks.
jacks in the box ana ingenious mechanical
toys are made. The carved wooden toys
come chiefly from the Bavarian High
lands, but they are brought 10 Nuremberg
to be sold. The cheaper grades Of wooden
toys are made in poorer SaXony, and com
prise cheap arks and sets of furniture.
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
10 be had. The reason that America has
not taken the lead in the manufacture of
rubber 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. OF the
standard games the best chessmen come
from England; backgammon and check
ers are made altogether in America; bone
dominoes, dice and the cheaper grades of
chessmen coine from France; toy print-
ing presses, locomotives and all that line
of goods are domestic.