The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1899-02-18
THE TOY TRADE.
Is Very Largely supplied by Hopla
Manufacture - rhe ForetRn
supply.

supply.
There are $50 manufactures Of TOYS
in the United States having q tut,ll
capital of S. 900. They turn ont IA
a year about $3,OOOOOO worth Of toy 5,
the material used IN their construction
being worth about ouc-half that sum-
The importation of toys from other
countries amounts in "a year d about
So, 100000, so that il may be said gcr =
orally that the entire output Of furriE1I
and domestic toys for the American
market reaches the value OF about sd+
100000 a year, though the selling prtu'
at retail of such articles IS, Of course,
considerably more.
BY the federal census Of l,10 Their.
were in the United States at that time
Is, $500, 900 persons between tn agr~ or
five and seventies. and taking the ugrf
of children between E e aud twelve fbt
number was about l~2.UUO,uGO. The
would give the average expense for 'ha
children of the United States az so
, cents each a year for toys. though 70 BE-
an average not impartiaiIy distributed
and not uniform in any state. The
higher grade of toys. the more iutri-
cate mechanical toys, suCh a. talking
dolls, automatic soldiers. steam rar=
boats and animal groups. are impoTtrt
from abroad. and the chief country OF
supply is Germany, from which the 'm
portations in 1897 were 81 0uO uf The
So 200. 600 OF all countries.
Carp,nrv- b,H r.4,Fr.l TO- wua-- $50
this peculiar distinction Of furrisLiur
toys for the children Of cvcrT country
and il has suffered Of late years Zee
diminution of the trade. The center a.
the toy interest Of Germany is the tow "a
of Nuremberg. and the chief market 81
expectation is the city Of Hamburg.
Following Germany as an exporter -
toys is France with a total In n wear of
about $500, 600 worth. an almost iusil
nificant figure when compared with %
export of Germany, but which Won .
be even smaller but for the fact fh
what are known 10 thc toy trade g
"Paris dolls" are @ duplicated sp-
c~cssfulIy elsewhere. and Ia the .
Etruction of them the French M
chanics seem 20 ,Nccl. To % small D.
tent the Italian doll makers rival r.s
French. but the total importation e
TOYS in 1897 from all European rHun.
tries. Germany and Franc, excepted
was less than $i0U. 100, and from e.u
tries not in Europe Joss than Sf-..H
The Germans rave a peculiar k.H b
for toy making. and another ad,auf- 20
which they enjoy in the Ba,araa O. %
Saxon provinces, from which yhi. ~
toys come, is tn chrapu,ss OF .auHr
the artists and designers receiving rs
to SIS a week each. while the pay ul the
girls who do the mechanical work ut
preparing the toys for market wares
from rs to 50 cents a day.
For the cheaper grades Of toys, that
is toys in which the chief article is
wood, the American home supply is a Ic-
quate. The toy-mdkiHg business here
gives employment 20 about 4.OOg Ter
sons, OF whom nearly one-third ar, IN
the state Of New York. TOYS are $50
made in Massachusetts, p~eunsyINu Ia
and New Jersey. bot very few in Con
neCticut, fewer n the west. and pnac-
tically none al all in the south. tho tgh
there is one toy factory in the stat 81
Kentucky. Whatever be the condition.
of the toy business for manufacturing.
it is one which allows Of large profts.
and which entails, sometimes, large
losses to the retailer.
As articles of merchandise. toys are
very perishable. They break easily;
the fashion changes in them often;
they are salable only az certain times
in the year. and then only iu certain
grades, and the carrying Of "a large
stock" entails obligations upon a dealer
which he finds il sometimes difficult 20
meet. But in holiday season, uu,er a
normal demand, the E~erceufag, Of
profit is large. II Is lpTgest or for .gn-
made toys, a fact which may acrIuu'
for the big importation. one-haIf of'he
total supply.-N. Y. sun.