Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-12-15

playthings. too. are the products of
the house industry" that is. they are
made in the homes Of the peasants.
only the members. of the family partici-
pating. This class of work, however.
is not as common in the towns as 1t is
in the nearby mountain districts. once
a week wagons are sent through the
forests to collect the toys that have
been made each week.
The villagers of the Err produce some
well made unique articles. A few play
things are turned out by the peas
ants Of the Thuringian forests as well,
but the people here devote the greater
part of their time to doll manufacture.
The toys made in Nuremberg are Of every
conceivable size and kind, but the prin-
cipa! products are metal and mechani-
cal toys-lead and tin soldiers. flying
machines. swimming and diving toys,
beasts that walk and birds that fly.
musical toys. magic lanterns. celluloid
toys, rattles. building blocks, puzzles.
etc.
Each Christmas season there is some
special fad In these playthings-a run,
SO to speak, on a certain article. This
year the demand is for soldiers 1t
seems curious. but 1t is nevertheless true.
that the events of the day shape the
playthings Of our children. Nine out OF
every ten boys until they are twelve
years of age at least want to be soldiers,
and the desire is much greater If there
is war In progress in some part Of the
world.
The Balkan war has caused an in
creased demand for play soldiers. and the
orders from America are fairly swamp
ing the German toy makers. Soldiers
representing the armies Of Bulgaria.
Servia, Greece and Montenegro are asked
for: Heretofore the toy makers had paid
little attention to the types of soldiers
found in these countries. and when the
flrst orders arrived they did not even
nave pictures Of these soldiers, to say
nothing of models of them. The manu-
1acturers at once sent a man out to
secure photographs from life and from
these have been made types of the in
Vlnclble troops which astonished the
world In their fight against Turkey, and
Tor the next year thousands Of Amer
lean children will re-enact the battles Of
the Balkan war.
These soldier men are made Of tin.
lead or wood. Thousands of them are
manufactured near the Troedel market
IN Nuremberg, where a large amount of
machinery Is used in their manufacture
The machines are ingenious contrivances
which are easily manipulated, and in
many of the factories they are operated
by girls. The little tin men are cut out
of Dig sheets of metal and then turned
over to the girls. who color them accord
ing to the clothing worn by the nations
they are supposed to represent. The lead
soldiers are mounted and will stand up
better than the others owing to their
weight.
The wooden ones are also turned out
by machinery and are in quality the most
inferior Of the lot. The tin soldiers have
the merit of lightness in weight, for at
the toy market in Nuremberg a one
pound box was found to contain $50
pieces-men Of the infantry. cavalry and
artillery, trees, bridges, wounded SOL
diers. etc.-everything, in fact which
goes to make up f1rst-class battle. This
can be obtained for about 60 cents, but
the price is three times as much in the
United States. owing to the customs
duties. freight, ETC.
The general interest in aeronautics has
made the aerOplane one of the popular
toys for Christmas, and various types of
flying machines have been placed on the
market. These are the products Of the
Nuremberg factories and the majority of
them are worked on the principle of
clock-that is. they are wound up with a
Key and Will run for given length Of
time.
A biplane suspended to a string will fly
around in a circle for several minutes,
dirigfble balloon rises and falls as If
blown by the wind, while the monoplane
is attached to a rod with a lead ball on