The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1895-12-25

When the heads are thoroughly
cooled they are conveyed to long
table at which scores of girls, all gaJly
dressed and all ohattering, are sitting.
They. range from thirteen years Of age
upward, the laws Of the land not per-,
mitting the employment of younger
children. The first girl takes the
head, and with deft movement of g
brush which she holds in her hands,
paints the eyebrows and then slips it
along to the next girl, who puts the
bushes on the dolls cheeks. A third
girl colors the hair, another the lips,
and then tie head is turned over to 8
more experienced girl, who is charged
with the duty of putting in the eyes.
She has before her a miniature NOR
tar box full of moist plaster Of paris
and scores of ewes of different sizes
and shapes When she has found q
pair that fits, she fastens them in,
chinking in the gaping spaces with
plaster Of paris. which is subsequent
.iy colored. For the t'go-to-sleep"
doll the eyes are attached by little
wires and operated by a simple weight
of lead. Long experience has made
all the girls extremely deft and rapid
in their work, and where they work by
the piece they sometimes make as.
high as fifty cents day. ia
The feet and hands of the dolls are.
nodded and baked just like the heads.
The cloth for the bodies is cut by Q
great machine, the knives Of which
are fashioned in the exact shape of the
pieces desired. The sewing is all done
by,girls, small place being left in
one end of the body for stufing. The
contents are sometimes cork, some
times sawdust and sometimes hay.
Papier mache dolls are pressed into
form by q hydraulic machine and
afterward baked and painted like 9TH
er dolls. The peasants in the suri
rounding country also make great
numbers of knit dolls of q hundred
shapes and hues, and they are sold for
q few marksa dozen to the factory
managers. The hair of dolls for the;
most part comes from England, where,
it is manufactured from u variety OF
fax known as mohair fax. Some Of
the more expensive dolls are provided
With real hair. (, z. 4
Most OF the ordinary wooden toys:
such as the animals for Noah's ark.
are whitfield ont by the boys and men
in the little mountain homes OF
Thuringis. The whole family often
works at the business, one member
always making an elephant, another 9
camel, another horse, year in and
year out. OF course they become
very expert, but the pay which they
receive is small. M
The ordinary papier-mache masks
sold by costumers are made IN molds
similar to those prepared for dolls,
and, while there has been some attempt
on the part of American manufactar-
ers to make them, the greatest number
still comes from over the water,
But the. Americans have driven out
all competitors in one branch Of the
toy trade. No artisans in the world
have been able to invent such wonder
full mechanical toys of iron and tin,
and the exports Of this class OF work
to Europe every year are exceedingly
large. All the clever devices sold by
street peddlers are the work of ingen-
ious Yankees.
Toy trumpets, musical tops and
many metal playthings are made IN
the quaint old city OF Nuremberg.
Shell goods come from England. Toy
dishes of china arc largely the WORK OF
the workmen in Bohemia. Thus the
artisans of almost the entire civilized
wo;ld are represented in every we'll
regulated nursery.