The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-12-25

 The United States gets 15.OOO tons of them from Germany alone. Some come from France, a few from England some from Italy and the Alps, to say nothing of the thousands of tons we make ourselves. Based on the weight and value of those we get from Ger many 1t Is safe to assume that foung America found 50.000 tons of them in it's stocking this morning. and that their aggregate vsfue Is not under $2O,- 900, ,Oe0 Think of Ie toys enough to make 5000 carloads. a train over four hundred miles long.
 When the Wise Man said there was nothing new under the sun Christmas toys had not yet come into existence One can even buy a full-fledged yacht race in toylapd these days. There are a half dozen of the yachts. and they sail on a painted ocean with all the dash of a cup defender against Lip ton creation. lighthouse marks the winning line. and when the winner crosses 1t the lighthouse runs up the pennant There Is no faking about this race. Each boat has an equal show to win. It Is operated by press ing a little electric button.
 Then there is the alarm clock that lights al, alcohol lamp and gets break fast for Lazy Boy. All Lazy Boy has to do is to put the proper ingredients in his chafing dish when he goes 10 bed When 1t is time for him to ses up the alarm sounds, and If ne rtses betimes the breakfast will be ready when he is ready for it. Someone has called the toys which sail in the water "pneunfonia toys'' There are lots of them even down to the deep sea diver with his full outfit on. A little ar pump is attached. and by mantputat- ing this he can be sent to the bottom of the bath tub or Drought to the top. There are swimming girls that use the trudReon stroke with all the grace or A trained athlete; bull-frogs whicn look so real that if they were. Tn country mill-pond hunter would sure- iy take a shot at them: ducks, geese and swans which swim apouf Wieh seemingly as much purpose as nse one going for its breakfast; and pat tIeships and subma rines that glide over and under the bath tub ocean with as much grace as one might see in the avolutfons of a world-cruistng Fleet.
 Then there are the automatic toys, the automobiles, the locomotives. the. fire engines, that glide over the t+oor. This year manufacturers have left out the springs and thrown away the keys. so they cannot get out of order. A very heavy flywheel is the secret or their motion. Just press the toy on the floor right hard. gliding 1t alohe several times until the flywheel IN given the requisite motion, then turn 1t loose. Some of these toys will run the length of a city block. Even the flying machine is here. Tie a thread to the ceiling in the center of the room, and then the other end to the flying machine, being careful not to make II long enough to allow the machine to collide with the furniture. The wind up the machine and let it go. It, flies around in a circular path with all the grace of a hawk circling about over some farmhouse hen-yard. Last, but not least, is the gyroscope top. start 1t to running in shell and 1t VIII throw off the shell and continue run ming. Set 1t on a thread after the man ner of tight-rope walker and 1t IS completely at home Put it into a glass and 1t will defy gravity fin new movement. /ss
 And so the list might be extended by the hour Every mechanical motion known to man Is represented in some toy or another. There are dolls or every race and color; animals of every kind and description; games of more kinds than one could play in a whole years time: blocks with which any thing can be built, from a steam engine to a ferris wheel or a noblemaH's cas- tie. And thousands of them are made so we'll and do such unusual things that folks older than those for whom Santa Claus usually exists, are inter ested in them. Recently a mother ana her two little boys went into Gotham ak0 In nId foa ahfnnaA tSaFa hafnR demonstrated. There were paper disks to be placed on the rotating top. some with co1ored figures on them. and some made plain. These gave kaliedoscopIc effects beyond description. The child- ren were vastly interested in 1t, and when the saleswoman had taken their order she told the boys she hoped they would enjoy 1t, They replied that 1t was flor father. He's sick"
 Germany leads the world in the nlak- ing of toys. That country aTinualIy makes 25,O00 tons of them. thelr%value being nearly $1O,000, ,000. or these only 25 per cent remain at home to cheer and amuse the children of the Father land. Nuremburg and Sonnebnrg are. the great metal toy manufacturing ceH-. ters The Saxon Ore mountains are the headquarters at wooden toys. Travel ing through that region one may see here a whole yard full of hobby horses, there another yard full of saints set out to dry, and at another place a whole army of wooden soldiery, with enough wagons to form an army train.
 1t Is said that 4s per cent. of the metal toys that come to the United States are made in Sonneburg. The whole town is supported by its toy business. Hundreds of families live entirely by the making of toys. One may see four generations of the same family working in single room. Home toy making is the general rule. though recently several big factories have been. built. Each family makes some par ticular toy, and each member of 1t some particular part. The wages, they get are something pitiable. Here you will find family that makes the little woody lambkins one sees in the aver age toy store. Six or eight people will work from o'clock in the morning to 10 at night and in a week they will turn out from 250 to 300 dozen of these. They get perhaps ~$5 for the whole weeks work. Another family makes little Santa Clauses and gets $4 a week. Girls who make dolls dresses pet perhaps $z a week. They make the ordinary cheap pencil boxes for 5s cents a gross.
 The papier mache doll had its birth in Sonneburg. The first ones sent out were not very satisfactory. One day a doll maker accidentally dropped thimbleful of hot wax on a dolls head. To his surprise 1t made a beautiful appearance and thus originated the dipping of the doll heads into melted wax. The doll trade is one of the most remarkable ever developed. Fashions In dolls change as rapidly as in clothes. and the doll maker has ever to be strIdYing the trend of the times. ,He