Arizona republican., 1916-09-28
TOY MAKING
 |S SUFFERING
 FROM THE WAR

BERNIE, Switzerland, Sept 27 - Perhaps no single industry in Germany has suffered so much from the war as that of toy making. In the last peace year Germany's toy trade aggregated 10000 000 marks, or $35 5,000, 900, of which more than twenty five millions was export, and the larger part to America. Since the war this figure has dropped nearly two thirds. What is worse still for the German manu- facturers, is the fact that other coun- tries have taken up this industry, and | the Germans will find it very hard to recover their lost markets.
 More than any other branch of in duStry the German toy trade sent it's products throughout the world Its | first development was after the Fran i co-PruSSian war but it was not until | twenty-five years ago that it's exports first assumed very large dimensions. | Before the war not less than 100 900 | persons were employed in toy making. mostly in SaXony around Nuremberg 1 It was largely a home industry and furnished work for thousands of wom- en and children.
 In 1913 the toy-eXports to the United States amounted to nearly $10,000,000, but since then, owing to the British blockade, the volume of trade has sunk to perhaps less than ne-fourth of this sum. The neutral states, Holland, Denmark. Sweden and Norway have bought more toys but their increased trade has failed to make up the losses of the transatlantic business. Aus tria- Hungary too has taken more toys and the home trade has been much better. But, in spite of all this, the total shrinkage in the annual turnover is estimated at between sixty and sev- entv per cent
 The shortage of raw materials toe has caused the toy manufacturers enormous inconvenience and the enor- nous rise in prices has injured theil trade still more. The war has caused the loss of business connections abroad which have existed for many years
 Foreign customers have been looking for new sources of supply, and foreigI
 manufacturers have been encouraged
 to go out after the German trade. II
 the United States, in England anC
 France, and Switzerland, new toy-in
 dustries have been started aided great
 ly by the increased prices which tn
 German manufacturers have beel
 forced to demand
 IL is said that ,500 kinds of German ! toys are now being made in Englan'
 and are being sold at the same price
 as the OrlSln artlcleS. Tn Frdnce tn
 trade is being pushed rapidly and on
 factory alone has already made over u million dollars worth of dolls. = French bank has been specially or ,s ganiZed to promote the interests of tn toy trade The Japanese competition
 too is greatly feared, especially in tn u American market.
 e Various projects are under consider
 ation in Germany to improve the sit 1T !, uation of what is after all season Il industry for holiday times. It is ----
 posed to establish oll-day' a neN " gift day when every child shall b :, given a dolk St. John the Baptist ' day, June 24, is suggested as a suitabl
 date. It is thought that this migh le not only greatly help the toy industr ,f but it might also be used to promot -a the interests of various juvenile asso ,e citations, through the manufacturer in devoting a portion of their receipts oi such charities. But the main point
 to do something to aid this very hard
 ly affected branch of German industr,
 and provide work for the many thous
 ands of families dependent from 1t.