St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1899-03-22
gnr the 1gnunn folks.
A Visit to ToyIand.


Mrs Burton Harrison gives the readers
Il 81. Nicholas for March a charming
,rmnse of the village OF st. Ulrich, in the
Trrol where so many Of the quaint little
nooden toys that are played with-and
sroken-by the boys and girls of Christ
adam are carved from year to year.
'D "Except for fair collection OF Etrus-
-, relics taken from the tombs here
l ohout :" she says, speaking in the person
a ZANE Of her characters, land the decor.
o. .; Or of the carved figures for use in
sah.nrcbes,-of which, especially of patron
.n;nts. vast numbers are made there
s%nre Is nothing of greater Importance in
~. Ih valley than the construction of jump
attacks, Noah's arks, villages, rocking
h nn animals on rollers, and wooden
aols of every style and size. The art Of
'noL;nq these toys is hereditary-grand-
"h;ldren working in the wake oil their
arandsires-mothers, fathers, sons, and
5anohters all taking hand at it. What
r robs their work OF individuality, how
4 a U IS that one family will devote itself
erclusiyely to fabricating arms, another
70 Ices. another to heads or bodies.
When the dolls are finally put together
thew are passed on to artists who apply
.he outer coat of brilliant red, black,
white, blue, or grass-green paint required
70 complete the fascination OF the
cHarmer. With the final touch OF pair
& n white stockings with red carriers and
e Green or yellow slippers, the doll is sent
Fl eut upon the cold mercles of the buying
world And l forgot to tell you that
many Of the lay-fgures used in artists
+ studios are made in these workrooms of
St. Ulrich."
The description captivated the young
American college graduate, and he gladly
made one of a party to visit this Toy
Hand. Still lower down the mountain
Slopes were sprnkled with tiny hamlets,
I ;n which it was not difficult to recognize
Esthe originals of those German villdges-in-
sSs,oxes dear to children of all nationalities.
Here were the red roofs, the bright. green
Shutters, the clipped trees conical in
shape and guarding the front doors, the
Rarden.patches, messy in texture, bedight
'with gavest flowers and beehives ranged
In rows. Sitting at little tables out of
doors we're seen the peasants taking
fher ease over a jug OF beer, the good
kiyes knitting in the doorways, and all
bestowing friendly greeting upon the
bassers by.
F No less attractive OF aspect was the
Thriving town itself, the chief center of
b Ioyland for which these scattered
a dwellings had prepared the eye. Like
tberammergau in the Bavarian high
lands, and Interlaken and Brienz in
Switzerland, st. Ulrich has been for
nany long years the headquarters in
h southeastern Tyrol of skilled carvers in
Wood Here agricultural interests,
Except on the smallest and most neces-
barry scale, are superseded by the univer-
/ sal industry of making playthings. How
Different from any manufacturing town
n Claiborne had seen in England or
America was this assemblage of bright,
smart,looking and highly decorated
[bouses and churches. each having its
green yard and shade trees, and all
hvitingly placed against background
pf wooded hills, above the bed of a rush.
big mountain stream
As they passed through the CHIEF
Streets, Claiborne fancied himself one OIL
Those mortals whom the wave of a
iairys wand has transformed into
Bin PENSIONS suitable to the full enjoyment
0f things meant only for little folk
Every cottage bore some token of the
devotion of its inmates to miniature con.
|structions. A girl passed them, leading
"a donkey whose paniers contained
nothing but toy dogs, cut out of wood
and destitute Of paint. A boy bent
brward under a shoulder-pack full O
White. whiskered monkeys destined to bt
afixed to springs and to be shut up il
paper. covered boxes, there to be kept il
durancc by an insufficient hook. Another
basket revealed multitude. of toy Noah:
~enough, indeed, of those familiar
patriarchs in yellow gowns, with blu'
knobs in lieu of heads, to have saved
rom deluge the survivors of all thu
planets, as well as the elect of this ou
Own little world.