The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-09-12
MAKING WAX FIGURES.
Skilled WOrkmcn Kept Busy sup
plying the Demand

Although wax works" have been q
! synonym for uncoUthuess and augularity
/ ever since the days Of Mrs farley, the
men who make them nowadays are some
what trained in art and in the intervals
/ Of their work sometimes turn out statu-
| cites or decorative pieces of decided merit
/ So far as the designer is concerned, fl
really matters little whether his compo-
/ sition is finally to take shape in marble
bronze or wax.
He first makes rough miniature sketch
in modelling wax. then a fUll-siZed statue
! in clay from which a plaster mold Is
taken. and the workmen do the rest The
hot wax is poured inside the mold to the
thickness of a quarter of an inch or 50,
backed up with the remelted wax from
old disused figures. The body is Of hollow
paPiermache, and the limbs, if they are
to be movable, Of wood if not. Of paper,
or, if they are to show when the figure is
dressed, Of wax.
Finishing the face is the most delicate
work. The eyes, Of course, are Of glass,
and the Iashes around them are planted
one at a time with forceps- The teeth,
when the lips are to be opened, are exact
/ ~ the same as those used by dentists 70
replace the natural ones. Human hair is
so cheap just now that it no longer pays
to use angora or any Of the other substi-
tUtes once employed.
The cheap grades of real hair" it is
interesting TO note, come from China. and
are genuine 'pigtails." in fact. The hair
is all black and straight as a yardstick at
first, but II is bleached and dyed in any
tint desired, and can be crimpcd more or
less, though artists have never succeeded
IN making II look naturally wavy.
Z. 90. frrg4FFF F.r
tween the figures used for displays and
advertising and those used for other pur-
poses. museums, for instances. When
YOU work for advertising" said one the
more beautiful and the less like nature
YOU get IT, the better IT Is But for Z.
/ museum they like IL better the less beru-
tiIul and the more ike nature II is
- ne regular museums have mDQelCrs Of
their own, SO outside houses get only Oc-
casiOnal jobs. Models OF freaks" such
as two-headed boys. aTmlCsS and leEicsS
men, OF plnk-eyed albinos, are among the
| most common articles made to order. The
! races OF public men are sometimes want
ca, TOO As a rule this class Of business
Is looked down upon Dime museums
pay dime prices and they get dime work %
said a veteran designer.
The dealers are kept at work making
new designs as fast as the old ones can
be initiated One house sent Our fifty
new models in the past season In for
mtr years third or a fourth Of that
number would suffice. as 500 or 1000 copies
mold, and sent out TO cities in different
parts Of the country.
II IS not always dime museums how
ever Jhat try TO get something for moth
ing Advertisers often order special fig
urrs or groups, agreeing to rent them for
certain length or time but leaving them
aIteTWard for the maker to pay for by
renting them again, II ne can. 4 group
showing Faust Marguerite, and Mephfs-
lppheles was once made for a linen house
At cost Of $500 or more The first
month rental was $3.50. The owner kept
II seven years, and then. deSpaiTing Of
ever hndinE any one else who wanted the
group, broke II TO pieces. \ most eIabo-
rate nan lue-atze group representing Al
Iordr Goddess OF Morning. IN her chariot
was made some years age under a similar
contract. and IS 10 be- had now on easv
terms Another manufacturer has on hiE
haHds a mammoth mechanical wate--IfIy
winch IS supposed 10 open and shut at in
terVaIs by electricity, revealing a beauti-
Lul female within. This has been rented
!gur times, but II always broke down
New York Evening Post