The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-06-05
THE DOLLS OF 9HURINGIA
Consul Hughes, at Coburg, Tells
How the Toys Are Made.
Hundreds of Men Employed In the
Corsets Sold In England Ten Times
as Great as Of Those Sent To the
United states-A Colombian Decree.

Oliver J. d. Hughes, Consul of the Uni
ted States at Coburg. has sent to the State
Department an interesting report about the
manufacture Of dolls in Thuringia, the
trade in which. he says, has become extern
sive. Mr.. Hughes writes:
THE toy trade may be traced back in
Thuringia to the Middle Ages; it is the
predecessor of the doll trade, whi,h is of
a much later date, the fist doll having
benn manufactured about forty OF k.ty
years ago.
Simple as a doll may appear at first
sight, the work needed for its completion is
complicated
THE commonest kind Of doll now in the
market is the enc which goes under the
Lame Of wax DOLL Its trank is made Of
cheap shifting, stuffed with sawdust or
excelsior; its legs and arms and head are
usually OF papier-mache, the last having
a thin wax covering; coarse shirt COM
pletes this very poor and simple type of
doll. and yet many hands have been en-
gagged in getting 1t ready. Certain wo-kmen
make the arms and legs. either by cutting
them out OF wood or by molding them of
papier-mache; others arrange the limbs IN
fiat wooden boxes, which are put near the
stove or in the sun to dry; others dip the
arms and legs into a basin containing red
dye, to give thine heshlike appearance;
others sew, cover. and stun the dol; 9TH
ers paint the eyebrows, lips, and hair; il
this last be not merely indicated by paint,
mohair is glued CT.
The manufacture OF the glass eyes, as
well as the fixing Of the same in the head
is again done by different people; and all
the parts are put together by a small nan
ufaeturers, who usually lives IN town end
10 whom the workmen engaged in the man
ufacture Of parts of dolls carry the prod act
OF their weekly toll.
Model dolls are quite similar 70 the
wax dolls, with the exception that they
are provided with heads made entirely of
wax.
In the manufacture of mat dolls. the
limbs and heads are dipped into a solution
which is supposed TO make them washable
The making Of fine doll wigs must be
considered an art by itself Mohair. which
is imported in large quantities from Eng
land, is used in Chis manufacture some
times human hair is employed, but the
latter material being expensive. its use
will always be limited
The consumption OF China bisque heads
is very large, and about dozen factories
are engaged exclusively in manufacturins
them, two new ones now being built in
this district
The mass out Of which china heads are
made consists OF china clay, quartz sand
/ feldsper, and kaoiin- These materials are
! put into iron drums and mixed, ground
/ between flint stones and wetted
/ The mixture is filed into hollow gypsum
/ forms. and remains long enough to allow
part OF the mass to settle on the inner
/ surface OF the mold and become firm The
/ remainder is poured out AGAR and the
I gypsum forms. which consist of two parts
are removed so that the china heads in
their unfinished state are left Before
they have become quite hard, all rough
ness is removed from the surface, and the
I spaces for the mouths and eyes are cut
! out. Next, the heads are exposed in
/ ovens 10 an intense heat for about three
/ days they are then painted and placed
+ for few hours into another kind of oven
/ so that the paint is burned in
The glass eyes are blown out Of tubes
/ held over strong gas fame; they are
connected by wire, and II ii is desired to
make them movable, a lead weight is fas-
B tened to the wire.
The dressing Of dolls is also an extern
: sive industry. Manufacturers employ up
to 200 or 300 hands. mostly girls OF re-
4 cent years dolls are brought out dressed
in uniforms to represent some we'll known
/ character. Dolls dressed il khaki are now
being put on the English market In this
I district cheap goods are mostly manu-
! Brsinard H. Warner, jr.. Consul at i,eip-
zig, Informs the State Department that
! there are 125 corset factories in Germany,
/ most OF which are located in tire Rhine
/ provinces. and which employ from 20 600
. TO $4,000 women. The corset trade during
I the last year. he writes. showed a large
/ increase of exports, particularly 20 Eng
land, Holland, and Switzerland. The value
I CT German made corsets sold in England
Ia 81 ton Tf-s,e
/ that Of the same class of goods sent 10
/ the United States.
/ Consul Shaw. Of Barranqui,'a. under
! date Of April %. 1900 reports that. &C
/ eording TO decree promulgated by the
Minister of Finance April .. 1900 port
/ charges. which have heretofore been col
/ lected in Colombian currency, are now 10
be collected in the gold coin OF the coun-
| try to which the vessel may halong. This
materially increases the expenses # YES
/ sells entering and clearing at Colombian
/ ports.