The Opelousas courier., 1901-02-16
BUILDING NOAH'S ARKS.
fHE UNIVERSAL TOY OF CHILDHOOD
HAS MANY FORMS

HAS MANY FORMS
IS Sale is Worldwide and it Comes Mostly
From Saxony, Csrmany-WhoIe Families
Take Part in the Work-Why the Toy is
So Cheap.
Eoah's ark, that universal toy OF
childhood, is made mostly in Saxony,
Germany, and it and all its inmates
are made by hand, in the homes OF
people who work in the fields in sum-
mer and who, whole families together,
old and young, devote their time in
winter to the production Of these
toys. Both arks and animals are not,
however, produced under the same
roof. Some families make nothing but
the arks while others make only ami
mails. Arks and animals are subse-
Quently assembled in the establish
ment Of some toy manufacturer, who
supplies the people with many II not
all of the materials used in making
the toys, who buys the finished prod
acts and who sorts and packs them and
makes them ready for market.
1t may be that q family for success
sive generations has been engaged In
making ark animals from models
handed down from father to son. The
whole family takes part in the work,
father, mother and all the children.
Every one does something, what he
can; and so a single family brings to
bear q considerable amount of labor.
It is really a little domestic factory,
employing, all told, say half a dozen
industrious pairs Of hands; and they
turn out a great number Of finished
animals.
The wood from which the animals
are to be made is first cut into a block
Of such dimensions that animals Of the
kind and size required CAN be cut
from cross sections Of 1t. Such a block
might be for instance six inches long,
an inch and a quarter wide and an
inch high. Suppose there were to be
made from this block cows. The solid
block is dug out and gouged out length
wise and uniformly from end to end,
in such a manner that looking now at
the end there is seen there the outlines
Of q cow; q slice Of the right thick
ness cut from the block will be a cow
in the rough; the next slice would be
just the same; and SO from the block
there would be sliced of cows until 1t
was used up. The same method would
be followed in making horses, goats,
pigs and SO on.
Then these little animals In the
rough get a touch or two with a knife
to fashion them further into the like
ness of the animal they are made to
resemble. Then they are painted and
perhaps vanished, and once, or may
be, twice a week. the finished product
Of the family is taken to the establish
ment Of the manufacturer, where the
workers get for the animals cash on
delivery.
Noah's arks thus made are produced
with marvellous cheapness; there are,
in fact, not many things made in the
world which, considering the labor in
volved, are sold SO cheaply as this toy
Of worldwide use. There can be
bought at wholesale in Germany an
ark, six or seven inches in length and
containing ten or a dozen animals, for
less than a cent and a half. But ven
the statement of that price must on
vey to one unfamiliar with NOah's.
arks only a faint notion of how cheap
that price really is. There are arks
with animals complete that can be
bought still cheaper, but the animals
in these are all alike and rather
nondescript in form besides. But the
price named is for a good ark with
good animals, all different and all well
finished.
The boat and house of this outfit are
trinity painted in at least three colors.
The house has a gabled roof, with n
side hinged so that the roof can be
opened to take the animals out and put
them back. The animals are all paint |
ed in their natural colors, many of
them in two colors, as for example, il
an animal is spotted, and then every
one is vanished. In many Of these low
priced arks the animals are very good.
They are small, Of course, and by no
means carefully finished, but decidedly
lifelike.
The expense Of bringing such arks
across the ocean and putting them on
the market here, including the freights
and duties and carriage, amounts to
about as much as the original cost.
Such arks cost the importer in stock
here in the neighborhood of thirty
cents a dozen, but that permits re-
tailers to sell them at five cents. II
would be difficult to find many things
much cheaper than this.
But while this ark as an example 10
thus remarkable for it's cheapness and
other qualities, there are, of course,
many other kinds of Noah's arks, in
Guiding a greater variety than one
might imagine. There are many Of
larger sizes and considerably more ex-
p~ensive, containing mor and larger
and more deliberately carved and fin
ished animals. There are arks that
are mounted not on fiat boards, point
ed at the ends for boats, but on regular
beats, and SO on. @Noah's arks are i'm
ported in great variety; but, perhaps, |
the only people that ever see Noah's
arks in the greatest variety in which
they are anywhere brought together