LONDON TOY-MAKERS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2420, 27 March 1915, Page 31

LONDON TOY-MAKERS

: A GROWING CRAFT • : .German toys, were-very much to-tho fore before the war. A writer in the .•'/Manchester--.Guardian", tells in this - article something of tfhat is being- doiio : in London in toy-making:— i The expedition, began with a search for the London-made doll—one could not believe the reiterated statement that she was * dead and buried—and it resulted in the discovery of unexpected flourishing toy factories in all parts of London and the conclusion that London was only beginning its career as a,toy trade centre. It was cheering to see how keen the manufacturers and dealers were about each other's successes, the pride with- which the maker-of toy drums and wooden engines declared that a 'Londoner, unrivalled by any foreign firm, held the English trade in toy soldiers, the soldier man's, pleasure in the fact that London could supply all England with the very finest of Teddy Bears and other plush toys, th 6 wholesale, dealer's satisfaction in the achievements' of a.new doll 1 factory where "Vera, the nicest doll made in England," has her birth; Vera's assurance—she is a composition doll, and therefore no rival—. that no Continental ' manufacturers ■could touch the rag dolls made in Tottenham, and the-, complacency with which the best Vest End shops vaunted the super-excellence of. London-made strong wooden , toys. All;-of these are growing trades. , is not easy for an.outsider to see the factories;' the. manufacturers, secure. in their trade, do not- want pub- ! licity,- and -this is, of ".course, their busiest time.' - At the first factory, far down in the East "End, , the; firm, regretfully declared-it had'no time & show, any visitor'through, its works! where the lighter kind of toys , were' being made; then it spent ten minutes sighing loudly for a reformed tariff, whioh would enable it .to meet foreign competition on equal terms, - while , within 'a few hours the manager of a prosperous factory in a healthy suburb was de-' claring that Tariff "Reform" would I ruin his business.-- ... ?r . ...

•It was most. extraordinarily difficult to'find tie idolls. One discovered at Inst that somewhere in : the South of London 'the making of wax dolls goes. . on busily as ever, that there is a never-' ebbing demand for the exquisite creatures with delicately modelled features. . which are quite human iu their individuality_ and so much more perfect in colouring than any composition doll can he." You may see them at then 1 best proudly displayed in a" Recent Street showcase, but their birthplace iemains % a secret—you only know' that it is in London. In a dingy'northern • street, guarded by a nonchalant proprietor who" curtly refuses'admission or information.

one Is told that there is a very large business in rag dolls, smiling creatures with bright blue eyes, bright pink oheeks.and very gay frocks; out. aftei all, "one feels that the hope of the doll trade is a factory in Milton Street, right in' the heart - of the city, the three-storeyed factory where Vera is produced. The firm talks very candidly about Vera's cosmopolitan composition. Her head comes from Germany, for- England' has not yet perfected 'the art', of' making and tinting .a doll's face, of putting in her finely balanced . eyes, nor of. fitting her tiny teeth, .and even when England learns do all this, the eyes must still be alien, of Bohemian glass. - Cowboys and Scouts. ''Vera" goes out into the cold world dressed in, a little shift, making her way perhaps, as thousands of foreign dolls do, to tie dolls' dressmaker who lives in Kentish Town, and who keeps his 'workroonis busy the year' through, dressing every variety of baby. Here ;,the youngest girls are at work dressing the elongated rag dolls that, babies'love to see on Christmas trees, and there are the elder, girls most happily, employed, each with her own doll, which • she dresses completely from, its little;shoes to its pretty hat. They say they like their work,; and one can well believe that, it is the prettiest employment a factory girl knows. Every top-shop in England .advertises the faotory in a northern suburb whichnot. only supplies the whole. English trade, but exports to America and Germany, and has,had to.build a branch factory in France to satisfy the foreign demand." This has been a record year for soldiers."' This year the pale-face sbldier—always rivalled to a certain extent by the picturesgueness of the painted befeathered Red Indian has a, new rival straight from the imaginative film, the cowboy with > blue or scarlet shirt and goatskin leggings, who whirls his lassoo in a leaden-hand. , The Boy Scouts are hero, .too, patent-handed Scouts adapted.to deal dexterously with, all their': woodland and warlike paraphernalia, but they are not so gay and popular as Tommy 'Atkins. Quite brilliant is the' scene in. the factory, where dozens of girls are working at tables bright with armies at review, infantry and cavalry, scarlet Grenadiers "and blue Hussars, white-aproned ambulance nurses, and regimental bands with their brass instruments, all of them, all of a.size,'.so that the small boy niav in time collect a whole British army. Your little ; lead soldier is not so simple as ho looks. It takes twenty-four operations with ■ tlio deftlv flicking- ; rtaintbrush before he has his nose and eyes right ; : _and his uniform turned out! in n detailed correctness that would satisfy I/ord: Roberts; but he is worth the trouble, for 'against all comers''he has conquered the industry. , The Grotesques. These trades, the doll-makers''and doll-dressers, the soldiers, : aud ' the

trade in heavy wooden toys, which is among the most- important, the making of wooden engines and carts, dolls' houses, and toy perambulators, are all carried on within the factories; they do not give employment to outworkers, but the fine, airy factory in the northwest which makes such excellent plush toys keeps a large number of home workers bhsy, in addition to the hundreds employed in the newly enlarged workrooms.

The. main room of that factory is ttie gayest place imaginable, a medley of vivid colour, soarlet, sky-blue, white, and a startling green. Here scores of young girls are ; at work, at the piledtip tables stuffing and putting the finish-ing-touches to hordes of Teddy Bears, toy dogs, and the highly fashionable •grotesques. This was the factory Vhich invented "Caesar," put him on the market at three days' notice, and spent the whole of. the following year supplying the enormous demand immediately created. He is still the most popular of little dogs, and his cute face peeps out from a woolly pile, which stretches across half the room. Brown plush Teddy Bears 101 l about in all directions, and many are sitting at the various tables, where the girls are finishing them off—you should see how their noses are trimmed—for if-Teddy suffered a partial eclipse some two or three years' ago, his day has returned, and tljis 'firm declares that he-is destined to outlive the distant memory of all his' fantastic rivals. The grotesques, however,' are most in evidence, for their variety is great, and new ones are constantly being invented. " The silly Billy Owlet, in his' scarlet, blue, and white suit, made, an undistinguished entrance into the world, hut has sold wildly since rumour said that Queen Mary loved him—or at least bought him. Guineapen, who is less absurd and therefore more attractive, here displays his-yel-low "webbed feet, and "It," the Humpty Dumptv figure with six faces, sits in rows along the shelves, the Fifi. dogs roll their fatuous, eyes, while the foolish flat-faced Fitchv-koos lie waiting to be hurled at the Vest End babies. It is not the Vest End baby, however, says the manager, wljo creates the rage for these weird creations so much as the "flapper," who likes to tuck some gopgle-eyed monstrosity under her arm and entertain her friends with its antics. She is the. patron saint of the grotesques.