davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-12-15

fact that the violet eye is the most diff
cult to make.
Wax dolls are old fashioned. the compo-
sition doll having taken its place from
the fact that it is quite pretty and
much more durable. The majority Of
children go through the same routine
with their dolls as their mothers do.with
them, consequently the doll must have
her face washed. and here the wax face
has proved a failure, for a new head is
generally needed after the little girl gives
her wax doll a bath such as her mother
gives her. Children love to initiate their
elders and are fond OF the toys which
will stand this treatment.
The assembling of the dolls anatomy.
too, requires more or less skill, for the
best jointed ones have stout elastic cords
on the inside to which the movable parts
are attached.
In the forests of Thuringia doll making
is home industry, as many of the
peasants fashion them in their cottages
These dolls are, OF course, not as perfect
as the ones turned out by the large fac
tories. but they are unique and please
children who like curious toys.
At st. Ulrich, a picturesque Tyroiian
town, the residents make carved wooden
dolls They are crude-looking affairs. but
the facial expressions are unusually good,
as some are carved to show a doll laugh
ing and others portray cry-baby.
The entire doll is never made by one
person alone and years ago. before the
art of machinery had been perfected. a
doll passed through the hands OF at least
twenty-five persons before 1t had been
completed, and even after this handins
it was a clumsy. awkward thing as com
pared with the dolls Of today. The bodies
in those days We're stiff. being without
Joints and often covered with kid.
Dressmaking for dolls furnishes work
for scores of women all over the world
as dolls are shipped I'm many instances
minus clothing and are dressed by the
women of the different countries to which
they are sent. Dickens Jennie Wren"
was no creature of the novelists imag-
ination, for in some factories scores Of
ner prototypes gather every day and
fashion with expert fingers dainty gar
ments for the dolls wardrobe. Delicate
lingerie, tiny silk stockings, slippers and
even gloves go with the modern dolls
outfit.
Hats. too, must be made. and of the
very latest style. The Partisan fashions
are copied to the letter, and in many in
stances the miniature copies compare IA
vorably with the original. Changes OF
clothing are required, for one of the chief
delights of a child is the dressing and I'M
dressing of her doll and recently it has
been found that when the little girl
writes to Santa Claus telling him of her
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-12-15

ed. In nearby room the mods are SET
UP in rows and here the woman workers
fill the moldS one after another in rapid
succession. After they cool a man by a
peculiar twist of his hands separates the
lead patterns and pulls out the dolls
head, leg or arm, as the case may be-
The polisher then trims Off the rough
edges and carries the heads to the socket
cutter, where holes are made for the
eyes
This work Is done by skilled workmen.
who use long. sharp knives. The sockets
must be absolutely uniform or the eyes
will not fit. The eye cutter rarely makes
a mistake, and it IS astonishing how
rapidly he works. The waste material
from the socket cutting is gathered up
and reheated and nodded again. Nothing
is allowed to go to waste. The next
this is usually done by girls who make
some pretense to being artists. The
cheeks are given the natural rosy tint,
the mouth Is touched with the lip color
and the eyebrows are painted either dark
or light to match the color of the eyes to
be used.
Setting the eyes Is an easy task unless
they are to open and shut, in which case
some skill is necessary in balancing the
small weight hung to the bow joining the
two eyes at the back. When the doll is
upright the weight does not move the
eyes, but when dolly is laid upon her
back the weight, maintaining its own
position moves around and brings down
the upper part. which is colored to re-
semble the eyelid, ball and socket The
wig is the finish Of the dolls head and
the crowning glory Of it's beauty. The
hair used for the cheap dolls is usually
goat hair and for the better grade real
hair is imported from China.
Hairdressing is special branch OF the
industry and the wigmakers watch the
hairdressing fashion plates for new ideas
with as much eagerness the most
fashionable city coiffeur does to give her
human patrons something new. The
same hair Is used for blonde dolls except
that the color Is extracted by a certain
process-another secret of these German
dollmakers. The bodies are stuffed with
sawdust, cork, excelsior, cows hair Or
wool, depending on the quality OF the
doll The arms and legs are sewed in
place by girls and the greatest care must
be used to have them in exactly the
proper angle.
Making eyes for Miss Dollie'' is a
dreary work, for the coloring used must
not be exposed to the sunlight until the
eve is completed. The majority of the
eyemakers do their work in cellars. They
are most secretive as to their methods.
and visitors rarely. il ever. penetrate
these underground workshops. Few viO-
let-eyed dolls are On sale. owing to the
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-12-15
Even the Bible.

at OTTA" CRABTREE. the actress.
II talking IN Boston about the winter
overshoes that she stands ready to be-
stow upon the horses Of the Hub.
These shoes which will prevent falls, -
she said, ARE badly needed in cold wealth
er. II the horses could voice their
Christmas wish. they would speak as
pointedly as q little lad knew.
This little lad desired q watch for
Christmas. He announced this desire
time after time, in season and out Of
season. He even utilized the Bible.
1T was the rule in his household for
the children to memorfse and repeat
every Sunday at breakfast q verse from
the Scriptures. The little boy repeated
one Sunday in December. this appropriate
passage:
And what say unto YOU say unto
all. watchr"
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-12-15

Millions of dolls are manufa ctured an
nually. and as one looks over the
displays in the toy stores about Christ
mas time one begins to ask, Where
do all these dolls come from. who
makes them and what is the process
of manufactures" Like the greater
part Of the toys used they are made
in Germany away up in the Thurin
gian forests. and in Bavaria around
the city of Nuremberg.
Thuringia, perhaps, furnishes the great
est number. for in that province whole
families are engaged in the industry.
doll making is hereditary in certain
families, and the greatest secrecy is
maintained by these families as to some
Of the formulas used in coloring, wig
making, etc. Sonneburg, little Ger
man city in Thuringia. contains sew
eral large factories where a small
army Of men. women and children are
employed-in fact, the dollmaking
industry is the source of revenue for
the entire population of the town.
X X
The factories there use certain kind
of enamel, which gives a beautiful life
like appearance to the faces of the
dolls. The formula is the work Of
German chemist who discovered it aft
err many experiments. and 1t is known
guard the knowledge Of it's ingredi-
ents with the greatest secrecy. Some
of the very best dolls are made in
Sonneburg too, for there Is an acad
envy Of design. where the children are
taught modelling and coloring by
artists.
This school was established in 1851,
and its model room contains many
excellent pieces of sculpture and rare
old prints. Modelling dolls 10 no easy
task. and it is remarkable what per
feet figures the students of this
school are able to turn out. Molds
are made from the models. and from
these leaden patterns the heads. arms
and legs are turned out-a special
machine being used for stamping the
hands. The factories. especially the
kneading room, are hot and filled with
steam, and for this reason the big,
brawny Germans who knead the mix
ture wear as few clothes as possible
while at work.
The makeup Of composition dolls is
composed of old rags and paper with a.
large amount of gum tragacanth. The
mixture is kneaded to a paste and heat
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-12-15
GERMANY Is the Real

GERMANY Is the Real
~ Home of the Toy-More
Than Thirty Thousand of
Her Citizens Engaged in the
Manufacture of Playthings
for Children-The Quaint
Old City of Nuremberg, in
the Kingdom of Bavaria, Has
Maintained It's Place as the
Center of the Toy Trade
Millions of Dolls Manufac-
tured Annually -Carved
Wooden Toys Are the Prod
uct of Tyrol-The Work Is
Observation-Disclosures Toys
Manufactured to Fit in With
Modern Ideas.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-12-15

various kinds is almost as difficult as
making furs, for the seams must not
show. The covers for the difficult ami
mails are cut by girls, but fastening them
on the animal is done by men. There Is
a lot of trimming up and polishing rough
edges. putting in "feelers' or smellers
in animals such as lions and tigers, etc.
For many years Noah's ark was the
popular Christmas box, and who does
not remember Mr.. and Mrs. Noah and
their family! The animals were rudely
painted, to be sure. but what man or
woman will ever forget that childhood
delight Of setting the animals with Shem.
Ham and Japheth bringing up the rear.
Some years ago an enterprising tok max
er changed the cut OF Noah'S clothes. ana
from that time there has been a steady
the salespeople declare that they rarely
have a call for one. Larger and more
lifelike animals seem to have crowded
Mr.. Noah's' herd out Of existence.
Carved wooden toys are the products
of the Tyrol. and there the workers
carve out wooden animals with astOnish-
ing rapidity. The work is hereditary, and
an American who recently visited this
part of the world tells the story or an
old woman whose skill was confined to
sheep and elephants. She had carved
these six animals all her life, and had
no idea how to do anything else.
She made them in two sizes and turned
perhaps every year. sSuS udA
no model or drawing of any kind. but
from force Of habit she cut them exact.
She declared that she had learned the
art from her mother. and that her mother
had learned it in like manner from her
grandmother, and that she expected her
daughter to pass the art Of cutting these
six animals down to future generations.
Many Of the old woman toy makers load
their goods in baskets and walk many
miles to market. They are pathetic pic
lures Of industry as they tramp along
the roads with their heavy burdens.
Determinations Of human beings-have
been the plaything of the child since the
world began, and from present indications
It seems as If they will continue to be the
queens of tOydom as long as there is a
child left in the world. Away back as far
as legend or history can go the little girl
and her doll have been together. Indeed,
recorded history does not go back to the
time when there were no dolls, and it Is
the belief of many persons that the
mother impulse is so strong in the fe-
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-12-15

man before the arrival Of Europeans.
Maclear's visit whetted scientific inter-
est in the island without satisfying the
desire to know more Of the geological
formation Of its higher and more mac
cessible parts. Consequently. Capt. Aid
rich Of the surveying ship Egeria was or
dered the next year to make further ex
ploration. This visit resulted in the an
nexation Of the island to the British
crown in 1883. Soon afterward small
settlement was made in Flying Fish cove
by G. c. Ross. the owner Of the Cocos
Islands, TOO miles to the westward Since
then the settlement has grown and there
are now 26O Inhabitants on Christmas
Island. who celebrate the holiday it was
named for and eat plum pudding in a
summary climate with the thermometer
at a.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-12-15

loved to play with a mechanical toy in
the shape of a miniature stage about
one foot by three. On this three fig
ures dressed in satin danced in the
most animated and laughable manner
to the strains of a little musical box
concealed beneath the stage. The
whole was inclosed in neat little box
with a leather strap attached which
the queen used to put around her neck
when she played being a Snowman
X
Balls, tops and marbles seem to
have been used since the world be-
gan. and many of the games played
with these articles and supposed to
be new fads are older than our nation.
In the thirteenth and fourteenth GEN.
amusement in Japan. Toy soldiers, doll
houses and musical tops of all sorts
have been used for centuries. and many
of them have interesting histories.
1t is not the purpose, however, or the
writer to go into these details. but to
give the reader some facts regarding
the unique toys which Santa Claus will
distribute in America this year, and
to tell something of the wonderful toy
land across the water
Germany is the home of the toy. for
more than thirty thousand of her citi-
zens are engaged in the manufacture OF
playthings for children. Nuremberg,
the quaint old city in the kingdom OF
Bavaria, has maintained it's place as
the center Of the trade. One toy fac
tory, said to be the largest of it's kind
in the world. employs fifteen hundred
persons Many Of the smaller fac
tories make a speciality of some GER
tain kind of a toy-for instance. there
are fifty-two factories where wooden
and horn toys are turned out. and
twenty factories which are devoted ex-
clusively to the manufacture of re-
ligious toys. such as miniature affairs
churches for Christmas tree gardens,
etc.
Hundreds of small factories for gem
eral toy making are in operation. Many
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-12-15

far removed from the hard realities of
life. should fasten it's attention and in
terest on that class of objects which are
only limitations of the actual, but which
in some degree reflect and express what
has real existence.
No one of mature years who watches
the child playing with his toys can doubt
the reality of the world in which the toy
and the child are temporarily living, nor
doubt from the absorbing interest and
serious manner of the child that there is
something in that world created by the
toy which appeals to the child nature.
And especially at Christmas, The two
are linked indissolubly to each other. and
will always make the toy industry Sue
cessfuI business enterprise and an inter
esting study of child life as reflected and
expressed in the realms of toydom-
In all ages of the worlds history
children have loved toys. History records
the fact that figures of animals, such as
horses goats and dogs. were found among
the toys made of pottery years before the
Christian era. Even the mechanical toy
is not a new invention, for in ancient
Greece. where moving StatuaTy aston
ished or amused both rich and poor. there
was scarcely an Athenian house which
did not possess mechanical toy of some
sort.
Moving figures of saints We're used in
churches centuries ago. and automatic
angels which tapped their wings were
known as far back as 100. A silver
acrobat performing on horizontal bar
of gold was one Of the toys which
amused King Louis XVI In the six
teenth century Bernardino Bald, math-
ematician made great strides in per-
fecting a mechanical appliance to be
placed inside of large dolls. 1t was
crude clumsy affair. much too heavy for
a child TO use as a toy, but from this
has evolved the walking doll.
The Empress Josephine delighted in
mechanical toys. and gave hundreds of
them away TO persons whom she hap
pened to fancy. At that period the
mechanism of the toy was extremely
+delicate and many of them were manu-
featured to amuse the grown-ups rather
than for the playthings of children.
Queen Victoria in her childhood days
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-12-15

Christmas wants she Invariably asks for
a doll with trunk fun of clothes.
The dolls made in France. especially ac
Vincennes. have an exquisite finish. This
is accounted for from the fact that each
year there is prize offered for the best
design for dolls and new ideas in theiF
manufacture Doll dressmaking In Paris
is a genuine science, for the Partisan
article like her human counterpart of
that city, takes the fashions with her
everywhere. All her dainty clothes are
perfect copies OF the apparel of the
women who are seen on the boulevards
of the French capital.
Each year new fads in the doh line
are shown. and this year the beautiful
baby dolls. with their lfellke faces
painted from living models. are to he
seen in the shops. as well as the char
acter doll'-one modelled and painted
from living models of the nations they
represent. The dressmakers have found
It no easy matter to clothe the character
dolls correctly, for i'm many lands the
national costumes are a thing of the
past. having been superseded by the
styles from Paris, and the museums of
costumes of different countries had to he
examined before the exact style of dress
could be made
This year when the little girl awakens
Christmas morning she is likely to find a
little Swiss peasant or a German nurse
or a French lady of fashion in her stock
ing. The educational value of such dolls
is inestimabe for they impress upon the
mind of the child the salient character
istics both in feature and dress Of the
children of foreign lands
The indestructible rag baby IL wholly
American and is manufactured I'm several
large cities. 4 few of these have been
exported, but they have not proved very
popular with the European child. Rus
STA has several large doll-makng facto-
ries. but her exports are small. and Ire
land produces special kind of unbreak-
able doll, which is rarely seen in Amer
lea. although it is rather pretty and VIII
stand hard wear.
Altogether. the history OF this popular
toy is interesting, but just who invented
the doll. who played with the first
one, what it's form was. will perhaps
never be known. There is even some
discussion as to how the word "doll''
originated. According to We'll known
English writer the word was first found
in an English dictionary in 100.
However, the origin of the word, %
even of the doll itself, makes little difs
ference to the children OF the present
generation. Come how II may, il is here
to stay and form a never ending joy to
the little American girl So. here's to
Miss Dollie'-may she increase in
beauty as the years roll on. and may
her shadow never grow less!
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-12-15
The Main Question.

FREDERICK TOWNSEND MARTIN,
visiting the Bowery Mission in New
York, smiled, like the author of Lady
Clara We're de We're, at the claims of long
descent
patrician people," he said. when a
housewife goes to her grocer to buy cram
berries for her Christmas turkey oes
she say to the grocer. How high was the
bush these berries came FROM or does
she say. Was the bog located in an aris-
tocratic neighborhoOd?
mo! Oh, no! What she says is:
".Are these good cranberries?'
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-12-15

pet chickens. If a sailor wanted a good
dinner he had only to wave his red hand
kerchief and shout. and all the birds Of
the air few clamoring about his head and
he took his choice.
Maclear's men penetrated little dis
lance into the jungle, which everywhere
clothed the island in tropical green. and
to their surprise they found 1t overrun
with robber crabs and huge rats Of an
unknown species-rats so fearless that
coated bats fitting about in the shadows
they ran over the explorers feet as they
advanced. There were also large fur
coated bats fitting about in the shadows
Of the forest, and making a great noise.
Everywhere stretched the virgin forest.
never before entered by. man. Indeed.
Christmas Island is the only tropical
land that had never been inhabited by
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-12-15

OYS. though mani
mate. have a real
existence in the
child world-an ex-
istence which not
only amuses but in
Structs in days of
infantile freedom
from care and re-
sponsibility. 1t is
not unnatural that
the child, whose
mind and ideas are
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-12-15

W ESSELS bound down through the
" Straits of Sunda, making for the
Cocos or Keeling Islands, the pearl
fisheries of West Australia or some other
far place, sometimes on the second day
out sight patch OF green rising above
the horizon on the port side and, seeing
II. they sail no nearer. But vessels
bound up are often borne much nearer
by the trades that they can make
out the full extent of the Iand-a high
shouldered, green-mantled island, fringed
about with white collar of surf plung-
ing against its precipitous sides
1t is about nine miles long, with a hill
at each end and gently sloping plateau
between. If the skipper has been long at
sea he knows when he sees this island
that he is just DO miles due south of the
western tip OF Java. the nearest land and
800 miles from Australia. And though
he need water and food, he Is wary about
attempting To land on this inhospitable
coast, which Is known as Christina
Island.
Until recent years. however, its name
has been misnomer; 1t has known moth
ing of Christmas cheer. Vessels have
been passing up and down the Indian
ocean, sighting Christmas Island for
more than 800 years and yet knowing lit
tie or nothing about it and not daring to
explore II. On a curious old Dutch chart,
made by one Peter Coos in 1865, it is
given the name of Moni. In 1888 that
bold old seaman. Dampier. blundered
upon this patch of green while trying to
make the Cocos Islands.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-12-15
The Peculiar Romance of christmas island.

found that the shore of the island was. in
fact, the side of an enormous submarine
mountain; that when they let their lines
down even near the land there was no
bottom so far as ordinary soundings
were concerned: and that two miles away
the water had a depth OF 900 feet, or
nearly one and a fifth miles. But even
that was not the base of this huge noun
tain.
To the north lay the awful sea valley
known as Maclear Deep, nearly four
miles below the summit of Christmas
Island, and to the south was that other
valley, Wharton Deep, with a depth near
ly as great. Should the water suddenly
be swept from the Indian Ocean Christ
mas Island would loom up from the sea
bottom around it higher than any noun
tain known to man. And on all sloes It's
peak would be unscalably steep.
AS the result of these scientific inves-
LEGATIONS, the surveying ship Flying Fish.
Capt. Maclear. which was about to make
a voyage in the Indian ocean, was or
dered by the British admiralty to visit
Christmas Island. In December. 1886.
Capt. Maclear sighted the island on the
north. 1t seemed everywhere rugged and
forbidding, with high cliffs undermined
with surf and no bottom for anchoring.
But after sounding entirely around the
island, he discovered q small bay with a
bit of white beach, to which he gave the
name Flying Fish cove. There, by let
ting his anchor down deep and tying to
a tree on the land, he secured his vessel
and sent a party ashore.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-12-15

Then he learned another strange thing
concerning the island. All about 1t
swarmed multitudes Of birds. some Of the
sea and some Of the land. And 30 unac-
customed were they to the presence Of
man that they few about the heads Of
the sailors and allowed themselves to be
picked from the ground or the trees like
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-12-15

Then came scientists dropping leads
into the sea to see how deep the water
was. and they learned the first curious
thing about Christmas Island. They