Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1904-03-31
MAKING WAX FORMS
SHOW FIGURES FOR SHOPKEePeRS
ARE COSTLY AFFAIRS.
The Way the Heads Are Nodded,
Dressed and Finished-The Hands
and Feet, as n Rule, Are Made OF
Papier Mache In Imitation of Waz

acal"r, "have iron feet. Why have
they iron feet: To weight them down,
so tlIat they will stand erect
He stood in his workshop. a room as
big as a concert hall. All around him
| helpers We're making legs heads hands,
trunks. tvet Floods of clear light from
the glazed roof trlt upon heaps Of
limbs, upon reWs Of heads, upon mounds
Of bodies. Tho pl,tc" lad a ghastIy
look. i roSpmbIrd the scene of mas
aacrr.
The art Of making show figures"
said the dealer. has improved. He
took III, in bis band the head of young
girl 'iEa red IFs smiled, revealing
white tee,h. ji.c= brown hair eurled
ssp-g- fuI4, ts4s=eyes Wsgr bright, tllele
n..a ii dHlI .ss=Ia tie check
y haa,l HE dis" ba ~aid, Is worth
! Sl3. i4o~d~ ra0-a in pric" from $40
80. .I1gy are made ut WHN, they are
hollow =tite eyes are=of slass and tie
dair i human hail FL toll Hou how
iAsS arc Mz,de.
Wax a--3..at quantity ri Il is lloit
sl=.,4## #t54 sslHle=uaju i'll la- the col9
z.ateHe}= =e1 water 1t is thla F1uret
iage 4 feW ii Jsa,l8w Helss=tHe mods
of heas}e tba5 land HWji.ia- it. / lie
m5ld@ 5.F,= =haH- uB and shaken about.
| This process causes t8e W8N=te eo4t
and 10 adhere in Il crust to the mold
| insido I hc agitation Il Kept ut unit
tle Gtust of WAX has reached the thjcb
ues> that tlIe operator requires. where
upon the bot wax, the surplus, iS por.r
ed back into Tie lpJtle About the
mold. which is made in two halves, Il
.Aeket IS placed. and tlie eoatIiVance is
| put dANay=tu dry.
WHEN the drying is complete tie
mold is taken eff. and a man goes over
the WAN head With Il sharp Instrument
clearing out tire nostlils ;nd ears and
smoothing away the lines er"at"d here
and there by the junction of the mold's
| halves. He also inserts. With Il deft
| movement, glass eyes in the empty eye
| sockets
NOW the head passes to a girl a
| girl with Il strange sort Of needle the
| eye of which is open, or split. at the
| top. The sirl first puts Oh the eye
| brows. She threads the needle with a
| hair, runs ii 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 it is put The girl works
With great rapidity. In Il few minute,
She has the head adorned With Il pair
of long and shaggy eyebrows
Next she puts on the hair. For this
| work she uses the same sort of needle
| the hair beinz III every case human.
| For the cheaper heads, however, it is
| Chinese Aal Il human, but very !uster
| less. COARSE variety Beside her stands
a thy spirit lamp. This she applies to
| the WAN When ii becomes so hard that
| the needle won't penetrate it easily. As
| soon as She finishes one head she passes
| Oh to another. While the head she laid
| down is taken up by a man.
This man cleans it first with kero
sene. Then he paints it all over
pleasant and inviting flesh color. He
tints the cheeks. the ears and the nos
| trils with carmine. and he paints the
lips with rouge \ girl. Il professional
| hairdresser, now takes the head in
| hand, curls the hair and dresses it
fashionaby and applies coat OF
| rench powder to the face. The head
| is now finished
Hands and feet are made. as Il rule,
| of papier mGche. cnameled and painted
| u flesh color, SO that they look like the
| best wax. Hands. feet, bodies, legs
l nd 1n in
The dealer led the way to the back
| of the shop.
Here" he said, ARE some men MAX
| ing forms of papior mache now. Watch
| them
The workmen had molds of various
/ sizes and shapes before them-one the
| mold of hand. another that of a foot
! d third that of a whole figure from the
| neck down to the ankles.
| These molus We're 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 this
/ gray pulp the workmen lined the
molds' interiors we'll, seeing to it that
every Granny and nook got its thick
| lining. When the moltls were filled
] some We're in numerous pieces-they
J We're Joined together, covered with
| their jackets and put away to dry
The artists cannot protect, cannot
! copyright, their work in any way.
Hence they are constantly being preyed
upon by imitators and thieves. \ deal
err, for instance will order an original
head of woman from a noted maker
OF show figures. He will turn out a
| masterpiece. The dealer will make a
mold Of it and sell duplicates of the
head broadcast.
There were in the past only three or
four makers of show forms in Ameri
ca. Now there are over POO. The aver
age workman at this business makes
from $50 to $25 a week. The artist of
7 great ability makes from $40 to $50.