Smyrna times. [volume] (Smyrna, Del.) 1854-1987, 1904-04-06
MAKING WAX FORMS
SHOW FIGURES FOR SHOPKEEPERS
ARE COSTLY AFFAIRS.

Dressed ana t1n1sneu-Ihe hanOs
and Feet, as a Rule, Are Made of
Papier Mache In Imitation of Wax.
"Wax forms, or dummies" said the
dealer, "have iron feet. Why have
they iron feet? To weight them down,
so that they will stand erect"
He stood in his workshop, a room as
big as a concert hall. All around him
helpers were making legs, heads, hands,
trunks, feet. Floods of clear light from
the glazed roof fell upon heaps Of
limbs, upon rows of heads, upon mounds
of bodies. The place had a CHASTITY
look. 1t resembled the scene of a mas
sacre
THE art Of making show figures"
said the dealer, has improved" He
took up in his hand the head of young
girl. The red lips smiled, revealing
white teeth; the brown hair curled
gracefully; the eyes were bright; there
was a dimple in the cheek
"a head like this" he said, ''is worth
SIS. Heads range in price from 81 to
$50. They are made of wax; they are
hollow; the eyes are of glass, and the
hair is human hair. I'll tell you how
they are made.
"Wax-a great quantity of it's boil
ed in big kettle until it has the con-
sistency of water 1t is then poured
into a row of hollow mOlds, the mOlds
of heads, that stand awaiting it. The
mOlds are hung up and shaken about.
This process causes the wax to cool
and to adhere in crust to the mOld'S
inside. The agitation is kept up until
the crust of wax has reached the thick
ness that the operator requires, where
upon the hot wax, the surplus, is pour
ed back into the kettle. About the
mold, which is made in two halves, a
jacket is placed, and the contrivance is
put away to dry.
when the drying is complete the
mold is taken off, and man goes over
the wax head with a sharp instrument,
clearing out the nostrils and ears and
smoothing away the lines created here
and there by the junction Of the mOlds
halves. He also inserts, with q deft
movement, glass eyes in the empty eye
sockets.
Now the head passes to a girl,
girl with strange sort of needle, the
eye of which is open, or split, at the
top. The girl first puts on the eye
brows. She threads the needle with
hair, runs it through the wax and,
withdrawing it, leaves the hair behind
for the needles eye, that is open at the
top, makes it inevitable for the hair
to stay where 1t is put. The girl works
with great rapidity. In few minutes
she has the head adorned with a pair
of long and shaggy eyebrows.
Next she puts on the hair. For this
work she uses the same sort of needle,
the hair being in every case human.
For the cheaper heads, however, it is
Chinese hair. Il human, but very luster-
less, coarse variety. Beside her stands
a tiny spirit lamp. This she applies to
the wax when it becomes so hard that
the needle won't penetrate it easily. AS
soon as she finishes one head she passes
on to another, while the head she laid
OOWu is TAKEN up Ny u man.
This man cleans it first with kero-
sene. Then he paints it all over a
pleasant and inviting flesh color. He
tints the cheeks, the ears and the nos
trils with carmine, and he paints the
| lips with rouge. A girl, a professional
hairdresser, now takes the head in
hand, curls the hair and dresses it
fashionably and applies a coat of
French powder to the face. The head
is now finished.
Hands and feet are made, as a rule
Of papier mache, enameled and painted
flesh color, so that they look like the
best wax. Hands, feet, bodies, legs
and arms are made in hollow molds."
The dealer led the way to the back
of the shop.
Here" he said, "are some men max
ing forms Of papier mache now. Watch
them"
The workmen had molds of various
sizes and shapes before them-one the
mold of hand, another that of foot
third that of a whole figure from the
neck down to the ankles.
These molds were in halves. The pa
pier mache that was to fill them looked
in its dry state like blotting paper
Wet it resembled gray pulp. With thi:
gray pulp the wOrkmen lined the
molds' interiors well, seeing to it thai
every Granny and nook got it's thick
lining. When the molds were filled
some were in numerous pieces-they
were Joined together, covered will
their jackets and put away to dry.
The artists cannot protect, canno
copyright, their work in any way
Hence they are constantly being preyeC
upon by imitators and thieves A deal
er, for instance, will order an origina
head of a woman from a noted make
Of show figures. He will turn out ;
masterpiece. The dealer will make
mold of it and sell duplicates of tn,
head broadcast.
There were in the past only three o
four makers of show forms in Ameri
/ mi